Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
FAQ: Accessibility Is Discipleship: Making The Gospel Reach Every Body
We share practical ways to make worship accessible for people with sensory sensitivities, from simple bags to mobile carts and affordable rooms. The focus stays on dignity, choice, and volunteer training so inclusion becomes a repeatable habit, not a one-off project.
• scale from sensory bags to carts to rooms
• what to stock: headphones, earplugs, sunglasses, fidgets, writing tablets
• visual schedules and low-cost communication bracelets
• creating calm corners with timers and alternative seating
• zoning rooms by input level and adjusting lighting and textures
• training volunteers and setting clear expectations
• focusing on budget-friendly, realistic builds that serve families
• centering gospel accessibility as the goal
If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the Indispensable People blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People
Hey, hey, my name is Tracy Coral and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a pastor, a teacher, a missionary, a mom, a wife, and I believe that every person should have access to the gospel so that they can know Christ, grow in him, and serve him with the gifts that he has given. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 15 to 20% of every community. And over 85% of those individuals do not attend church. 90% of pastors believe that they are a disability-friendly church, but only 20% of parents and families agree. Let's dive deep into hard topics, big questions, perceptions, stereotypes, and so much more. Hey, thank you for joining me for today's episode. We are answering some frequently asked questions, and we figure that if our readers, our listeners, our supporters are asking this question, you might also be too. So today we're talking sensory room and the necessities. First of all, I want to say that not every church can have a sensory room. Not every church at every point in time will need a sensory room. But if you are interested, there are lots of different ways to do a sensory space, sensory room, sensory cart, sensory bag. So let's start with the small and then we'll go to the big. And the first is a sensory bag. So here's what I do in our home church. We have sensory bags in there available in certain spaces of the church. One primary space is the children's check-in area. They're also in the sensory room and in the kids' spaces. And we also have them in our adult special needs room. So it's available, it's available in multiple spaces. And here is how, well, here's what the purposes are and how we use it and what's in it. So first the purpose is an individual maybe attending church for the first time. They don't know what to expect. And maybe they utilize certain sensory items on a regular basis and they didn't bring them with them because they didn't know what to expect at church. Maybe they forgot them. Maybe it's not, maybe the items in the sensory bag are not things that they are aware of that they could have. And so they don't own them themselves. And so taking into consideration the environments in a church and the needs that might arise with sensory sensitivities, that's why we have the sensory bag so that we can serve every individual that comes into the church with potential needs that they could have. And so with that, we have them located all over the church. We know that the individuals may need them based on their sensory sensitivities. And I will tell you that a lot of those sensory sensitivities are typically heightened on their first few visits because they're unfamiliar with the space and the people. And so everything seems a bit more intense than maybe on their fifth or sixth visit. So things they may have used at the beginning they may not need later on, but that's okay. We have that provision and that availability, and we want to make sure that they're accessible for those individuals who may need them. So what's in the sensory bag? In the sensory bag, we always have a pair of noise-canceling headphones, but we also have a pair of disposable earplugs simply because you may that individual may have a preference on what feels most comfortable to them and how they use them. So we have both options. We typically also have a pair of sunglasses, and that's because a lot of times fluorescent lights are a little too intense for an individual with sensory sensitivity. So we have those in there. We also have a few fidget tools, and I will always call them tools. They're not toys because tools help people. Toys are just for fun. And so we have different types of things in there. I try to have something that will help someone who needs a soft sensory impact or an also an item that would be more intensive for someone who requires a hard sensory impact. And in addition to that, I have, and I wish I could think of the name of what they're called. They're these little screens. When I was a kid, it would, you drew on this paper and then you flipped up the paper and it erased everything. This is very similar to that, but you don't flip up the paper, you hit a button and it all goes away. Kind of like an etch a sketch, but not so much, not so intense. And you can buy them in bulk on Amazon. I like those because for someone who has more intense like ADHD or something that it makes focus difficult. This allows for them to participate and guide their focus while using that little pad to draw on. And it can help them be interactive with the lesson that's going on because they can write what they're they're hearing, they can draw what they're hearing, that kind of stuff. So it is a little bit more intensive like that. So this the sensory bags are are quite simple. They're not, like I said, not super intense. I do also put a visual schedule that I have just created, laminated, and used some velcro pieces and also a communication bracelet. And the communication bracelet just has it's a slap bracelet. You can buy plain white ones on Amazon. I think it's like 80 of them for less than$10. And I just print out a little sheet that has bathroom, a drink, stop, go, and just tired on it so that they can have some basic communication modes as a part of it. So those that's a sensory bag. That's what is simply in it. It is not incredibly costly, it is reasonable and it is available around the different places of the church for those who need it. The second consideration is like a mobile sensory thing. So a lot of times I'll talk with leaders and volunteers at churches and they'll say, we just don't have a room, we don't have space to make a sensory room. So I don't, it's just not something that we could do. So in that thought, if you had a cart that had that was mobile, had wheels on it, you could put some of the items that you would find in a sensory room on that cart. So extra, you could put the headphones, you could put the visual schedules, you could put communication bracelets, you could also have extra fits available there. So all of those items would be mobile in whatever space that you're in. Now you're gonna think, well, that sounds like a sensory bag. Why don't I just have sensory bags? You could also add some other items that might be a little bit larger that wouldn't fit in a sensory bag that work for the individuals that you have. Maybe a weighted stuffed animal. You could also have some bigger fidget type things that might engage them, that kind of thing. So your bigger items can go on that cart and be available wherever you are at. For example, you could also create from that cart like a calm down corner, a space to go when you just need a moment away for calm and for quiet. And you could have timers, you could have a sand timer, whatever kind of timer you want to use that works for that child or that adult or teen. And that those kinds of things might be very valuable in that space in that cart. So I would say all of those kinds of things. Plus, if you're gonna have the cart and have the mobile area in the spaces that you're at, whether it's youth or kids in the sanctuary, it's a little bit harder. But if you had some alternative seating, something that rocked, something that maybe uh quietly spinned, or just different options for sitting in the spaces that you're in, that would help to kind of complete that sensory, that mobile sensory space. So then we're gonna jump right into the sensory room. If you have the opportunity to do that, I want to also say, whenever it comes to a sensory room, not only do people say, hey, listen, I don't have space for that, but then they'll also say, we don't have the budget for that. And we totally get that. And we have created a sensory room. The first sensory room that we created, we spent$300 and we did that purposefully so that volunteers and leaders could see that, listen, hey, this is actually really it's it's doable. We can make this happen. Now, you could spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on therapy grade things, but it's not necessary. You can have it and it's beautiful and it's nice, and parents might be impressed by that. But the more doable, realistic sensory room is what we're gonna focus on. Always, always, always going back to the noise-canceling headphones. Those we just put hooks on the wall, put the headphones on there so they're available. We consider flexible seating options. So whether it is a ball to sit on, an exercise ball to sit on, whether it is a rocking or a spinning option, a swing type thing, those things are going to be incredibly valuable. Different types of lighting, so you can turn off the overhead lights and have maybe some different fiber optic lights, some low lights going on in the room. That's going to be really important. Different textures in our sensory room. We have a giant tree. The the base of the tree is made with sequence fabric, and the top is just a fuzzy green thing, so they can touch it and feel it and interact with it. So textures are going to be important. And I would say being able to compartmentalize some of the spaces in the room because you're going to have different sensory seekers in that space. And so you might need a quieter space, you might need a more interactive space, and they're going to clash at times when they're in there together. So that's just a consideration that you'll have to make as you're setting up that room. Whether you use a room divider, whether you just kind of my dream of my sensory room was to create a sensory cave. So essentially a closet where people could go in and experience lights and touching and all that kind of the sensory textures that they could touch throughout the thing, whether it was the sequence walls, the fuzzy, the bumpy, you know, all that kind of stuff, the five senses. So lots of different options. You may even want to consider a few games in the room, just because if you need to, if a child needs a break and they need a redirection, that's a game that they enjoy is a great brain switch. So those are some great options for sensory rooms. So you can have the sensory bag, you can have the mobile sensory unit, you can also have the sensory space. I will add a pop-up tent is really helpful, especially for younger kids. Don't get me wrong, I have adults who enjoy kind of climbing into their own space as well, but sometimes that's not doable depending upon the environment that they're in. And so a pop-up tent is great for a mobile sensory space and also in your sensory room. The options are literally endless. You can do this in the most affordable ways, and you can do it in an incredibly costly way. It is what you choose and what your church can do. I will tell you that just the efforts to include the efforts to accommodate speak volumes to that individual and to their family, and they see your intentions, even if you don't have all the things. And I don't know that they expect all the things. Actually, I know that they don't expect all the things, but they're grateful for the things that you have chosen to do. And so a sensory room seems as though it might be an extra. It can be an incredible accommodation that makes the gospel accessible for people who may need a break, who may need to step away from what's going on, so that they can fully participate in what God has for them in the church. So make it accessible, make it doable, be reasonable for the space that you have, but also don't forget to train your volunteers on how to use it, as well as educate the people who are using it on what is okay and what isn't okay. So expectations are incredibly important when it comes to those spaces as well. So you set them, you direct them, you train them, but but all of it sets the gospel up for being accessible. But here's what we are gonna do: we're gonna keep this conversation going. We're gonna make the accessible gospel available to individuals with disabilities in our churches and in our communities so that every person has the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in him, and to serve him with the gifts that he is given. If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the Indispensable People blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
