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Fundamental philosophyof Snoezelen – historicalbackground, planning andconcept Ad Verheul

The term

The term ‘Snoezelen’ is a combination of the words‘snuffeln’ = to sniff, to snuffle and ‘doezelen’ = to doze,to snooze.

If someone in Holland asks what Snoezelen is allabout then the answer would often be “The way theword sounds speaks for itself.” With not so many

words, Snoezelen is a relaxing, recreative leisure timeactivity for the severely disabled. Since it originatedin the middle of the seventies it has been picked up,trialled and developed further with huge enthusiasm.Meanwhile ‘Snoezelen’ has become a well-known termin Holland and many other countries.

The term ‘Snoezelen’ represents an opportunityfor activity especially for the severely mentally disabled.Contingent on positive experiences, most of all inHolland, the country of origin, Snoezelen has beenacknowledged as a recognised activity and a form of

therapy for disabled people. In a casual atmospherevarious stimuli are offered, which address the senses,-touch, smell, seeing and listening – a new opportunity,for the mentally disabled to discover the world andtheir own body and thereby to make new positiveexperiences.

The calm island atmosphere gives a disabled personthe time, to occupy elaborately with the differentbody perceptions, something that is impossible ineveryday life. Therefore the effects can be absorbed inpeace. Snoezelen contributes to a large extend to theenhancement and further development of the world of experiences for severely disabled people.

History of the care of the mentallyhandicapped in The Netherlands

Looking back in time we see a picture withmany changes in the attitudes towards the mentallyhandicapped. In many ancient civilizations, and in theprimitive cultures even today, a great number of thementally handicapped died owing to inadequate medicaltreatment. At first they used to live among their fellowmen, their family. There were times when they were

deliberately killed (witch trials). In the Middle Ages thementally ill who showed maladjusted behaviour werelocked up in so-called madhouses. In such places bothinsane and retarded people were found. There wasno distinction made between them. There were notherapies whatsoever.

Treatments in the institutions constantly changed.Gradually people began to understand that insane andretarded people did not require the same treatment.By the end of the 19th century the first institutions forthe care of the mentally handicapped were founded.Because mental retardation began to be regarded

as a congenital defect the therapy was: bed nursing.This caused many objections because most of theretarded patients were not really physically ill: agressionincreased, as well as boredorn and apathy. There werealso regulatory disturbances to do with sleep.


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This situation changed for the better at thebeginning of the 20th century. The mentally handicappedpatients were kept occupied with several activities thatrequired great physical exertion. The aim of this wasto change their behaviour: less agression, regulation of sleep and a good physical shape. In those days there waslittle attention for the individual.

But slowly it was realized that there were other

possibilities to keep mentally handicapped patientsbusy. They were to be activated at a higher level. For,many of the patients could apparently be brought todo some kind of real work. And this soon turned outto have favourable results. Mentally handicapped peoplewon more respect and, what’s more, their self-esteemgrew because they did something ‘useful’. The activitiesbegan to look like work more and more. But there wasthe danger that these people would be crushed in theproduction drive.

The aim of occupational therapy, however, is that

you try to make the resident function as meaningfully aspossible, on his own level, in his work. The insight wasgained that many of the mentally handicapped couldbe approached in the field of their creative possibilities.The value of creative therapy was recognized, aimed atsupporting the pupil in exploring his creative abilities,making him familiar with the materials and teaching himthe methods.

The care of the mentally handicapped in TheNetherlands has experienced a turbulent development.Looking back we can see that attitudes towards ourmentally handicapped fellow men have radically changed.Because in the past decades there has been moreresearch on the phenomenon of mental retardation,numerous works on this subject have been published.Fortunately, we can conclude that this knowledge is notonly available to scholars but also to those who are, inthe first place, responsible for the care and the contactwith this group. For example parents, social workers,staff and others.

Education first of all takes place in the family. Whenit turns out that this is no longer possible or desirable,which can be due to several factors, the child will beplaced in an institution or visit a day-care centre.

Generally speaking, one might say that the careof the higher-level mentally handicapped is providedby extramural facilities. We can think of day-carecentres for children or adults, surrogate family units,etc. Patients of lower levels are mostly taken care of in large institutions, in intramural care. The initiallysharp distinction is fading, especially because thelarger institutions are increasingly trying to find otherforms of housing. This is an effort to give as manyresidents as possible the chance, if they can handle it,to live and work in society outside the walls of the

institution. Socalled ‘phase houses’ and ‘socio houses’have experienced a mushroom growth over the pastfew years. Apart from these aspects of integration, thedemand for housing on a smaller scale also plays a role.Institutions with more than ene thousand residents as

we know them now will certainly not be built anymorein the future.

However, we cannot deny that, as a result of what was mentioned above, the larger institutionswill increasingly be admitting the lower-level patients.Besides, there are also problems to do with the ageingpopulation of the institutions, resulting in a growing

number of long-term illnesses and bedridden patients.We were also confronted with this problem in our

own work situation. In the past, most of the attentionwas directed at the higher-lever residents. lt was nottoo much of a problem to find suitable occupations forthis group, but the problem shifted elsewhere as thelower-level residents began to out- number them.

Parents, staff and consultants were increasinglyconfronted with the question: what occupations can weoffer the severely retarded residents? That question mayhave been preceded by this one: should we offer anyactivities at alt to these residents? Is it not enough to

provide them with good care, from a medical point of view only? Before the fifties only morons and imbecileswere eligible for education and occupational training.The severely mentally retarded were excluded fromthese efforts. In the institutions there was only carefor them and, at the most, some training to teach themto do some of the fundamental things independently.Because they were supposed to require care only, theywere (and often still are) regarded as a ‘remainder’ inthe care of the mentally handicapped.

A different ontlook on the mentallyhandicapped and care

With the arrival of educationalists and psychologiststhere was a growing awareness that most of thementally handicapped had more possibilities than careand some training only. The social sciences indicateda number of possibilities for a certain degree of educability of the severely retarded. Apart from medicalabilities the nurses also needed social skills now.There was a demand for activities that could make ameaningful contribution to the residents’ existence intheir contacts with others. The startingpoint was: what

can we develop? Social feelings, for instance, if possibleand desirable. What should we preserve? Mobility, forexample, attention for the motor system. What mustand can we try to prevent? We could create suchconditions that residents grow demented less quickly.Here it concerns activities offering opportunitiesfor social contacts like: independence training, worldstudies and communication. But also music and song,handicraft sports, recreation, games and drama. Most of these activities have some educational use.

For a long time the view prevailed that the mentally

handicapped should also be educated, or a least develop.All this in the framework of socialization, normalization,etc. The mentally handicapped had too many obligationsand there was but little consideration for theirindividuality. Terms like ‘operant conditioning’ took



27FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF SNOEZELEN - HISTORICAL, BACKGROUND, PLANNING AND CONCEPT |

root. But certainly all this happened with the best of intentions. Today training is not absolutely wrong either,provided that there is an underlying view in which thementally handicapped person is accepted. In this sensehe is allowed to function in other ways too.

Starting from an arsenal of impossibilities is a badstart. lt is much more positive to learn to recognize thepossibilities of the severely retarded. Our acceptance of

him should be active; we should not reconcile ourselvesto his incapabilities but start from his capabilities.Create the conditions under which growth and changeare possible. We should also learn to give the retardedperson so much room that his experience will be:together we will work it out.

In this changing view the hierarchy is also discussed.Because non-mentally handicapped people possessgreater intellectual powers they are placed above thementally handicapped. But today it is rather a matter of being equal. In humanity there are no levels!

These changes can also be found in the terminology.In the early days mentally handicapped people werecalled patients (the medical model), then pupils andnow residents, housemates, visitors, etc. And similarlythey used to be called idiots, but now severely retarded,mentally handicapped, etc. Mentally retarded peopleused to be considered ‘really pitiful’, because theoutside world detected so many defects.

Move to a flat sharing community-model

The community model can be compared to a littlevillage in which mentally disabled people were able tolead a safe and peaceful live.

They lived together and could make use of theirown church, laundrette and restaurant and some largerinstitutions even had their own graveyard.

About 10 to 12 people would live together in eachof the flats. Within the flat a cosy, home-like atmospherewas created in which people can experience nice thingsas they would do at home.

The focus was on doing things together as a groupor as an institution as a whole. Even nowadays you can

see remains of the collective way of thinking i.e. at bigevents for the entire institutions.

Changes in the material domain

There have also been changes in the materialdomain. The rooms of the institutions used to be bare.They were furnished as little as possible because theythought that the severly retarded patients in particularwould only wreck the furniture, and they would notcare what furniture or attributes there were in the

room anyway. They would even see it. Now we knowbetter. It is obvious that severly retarded people arealso very sensitive to atmosphere and changes in it; afact that was long known before Snoezelen was everheard of.

We are very much hindered by our rationalattidude. As we pointed out before, this impedes amore primary use of our senses and purer experiences.Instead, we try to analyze them rationally.

Severely retarded people are not laden with such aweight of knowledge. When you observe them carefullyyou can see that they often act for the sake of acting

only. They use their senses and enjoy them in theirpersonal way. When they are involved in Snoezelenwe are often struck by the astonishment they radiatewhen confronted with new things. Their reactions arevery primary. Their surprise is real and the sensoryexperiences are authentic, although they cannot explainthem in rational terms and may find them strange.Learning is not a must, but they should be given theopportunity to gain experience. lt is up to the mentallyhandicapped person to do whatever he likes with it and,if he learns something in the process, that is a bonus. Atany rate his horizon may be broadened.

A mentally retarded person has his own way of playing, communication, etc. From the fact that heprobably does not consciously experience this worldwe may not conclude that he is inferior.

We pointed out that we as staff approach thementally handicapped too much with our ownstandards in mind. Many severely retarded people showodd behaviour, which they apparently enjoy. But becausewe find this behaviour disturbing we label it ‘disturbed’.lt can be very refreshing for the severely retarded if we go along with this kind of behaviour working withdifferent standards. Obviously, there is a constant appealto our creativity and inventiveness. Over and over againit has to be stressed that the resident should not adjustto life in an institution, but that the institution and itsstaff should meet his needs and wishes more.

The term ‘integration’ comes in now. According tothe dictionary it means: “bring or come into equalityby the mixing of groups or races”. In this special case itmeans that the rnentally handicapped person is broughtor comes into society outside the institution. This isno passive process. The words ‘bring’ and ‘come into’

involve action. This action has to come frorn two sides.

The mentally handicapped person has to find hisplace in society, even if he is there only now and then.On the other hand, society should also open its gatesfor him. lt should not be one-way traffic in the sensethat: these are society’s standards and the mentallyhandicapped better adjust to them. The other wayround is also impossible: the mentally handicappedperson imposes his standards (as far as these can dedefined) on society.



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Change of the philosophy

In the meantime the way of thinking had changedfrom collective to individual thinking. The philosophysays that the mentally handicapped to not have to livein the institutions anymore like in a safe harbour. Somecritics go as far as comparing the system of institutionsto ‘apartheid’. They call it discrimination to lock people

into institutions just because they are different or havea mental handicap and because of that are not given thesame rights as you and me.

It is an interesting point of view. More and more youcan see that the whole care system in the Netherlandsis influenced by the philosophy of considering ourmentally handicapped people as normal civilians.Normal civilians means, they have the same rights aseveryone else in our society.

Just saying it is not enough, it means a lot will haveto change. The whole system has to change from

caring to supporting, from taking care of a mentallyhandicapped person to give support to a mentallyhandicapped person. We will have to learn to supportthem in parts of their lives and their way of livingwhere others would be able to do it by themselves, butthey cannot due to their disabilities. We have to stoptaking over the lives of mentally handicapped peoplecompletely.

Because of the philosophy of a life as a NormalCivilian we do also believe that people with a mentalhandicap should no longer live in an institution. Theyshould be allowed to live in a normal home, in a normalstreet, in a normal village. They should not live in thiswonderful area in the middle of the woods far awayfrom society. They should live like normal civilians in anormal society. They have the right to have their placewithin society and not outside society.

Here in the Netherlands we are currentlyundergoing the process of changing from communitythinking to the philosophy of Normal Civilians. Lotsof parents of mentally handicapped people, and eventhe mentally handicapped themselves, are not entirelyhappy about leaving the institutions and with that thesafe place they represent. Parents are scared for their

children to live outside and to be confronted by newdanger i.e. cars driving too fast. Even the institutionsthemselves are not totally convinced about the newphilosophy. How will the mentally handicapped copewith life within society? Will they be all right?

We as carers of these institutions are so used tohelp, to take over and care for these people. That makesit very difficult for us to let go and hand over the leadto the mentally handicapped and only to support whenwe are asked to.

I think it will take some time before we reallyknow how to act and we have learned how to behave

towards our mentally handicapped fellow citizens.

Financial structure and person boundbudget system

There is help available for the new developments.The existing financial structure is currently changing. Sofar we had a collective system, where all the financialgrants are paid directly to the institutions and theywill then have the responsibility of how to spend it. In

the new system every person with a mental handicapreceives an indication. This indication says how muchand what kind of help, care and support the personneeds. Based on that, a set amount of money to buythe care and support needed is given to the mentallyhandicapped person (or the parent). The handicappedperson can then go to care providers, such as ourOrganisation ,s Heeren Loo Midden Nederland, andrequest for the care/support they need or want for aspecial price.

That system is called the ‘Person bound budget

system’. ( in Dutch: PGB) The money follows thehandicapped person.

For organisations, such as ours, this will be a greatchange. The mentally handicapped people will becomeconsumers.

The essential financial grants will no longer be paidannually to the organisations directly. In future we willhave to negotiate with the mentally handicapped ortheir parents.

And if the consumers – the handicapped person andtheir parents – are not entirely satisfied with the qualityof care they receive then they can go to a differentorganisation and obtain the needed care from them.

The change in the financial system does give ourconsumers the power to be treated like an ordinarycustomer with the choice to change shops if they arenot satisfied with the product or service they receive.For us as organisation that means a great incentive tomake sure the service we deliver is of high quality. Itmotivates us to listen well to the clients to make surethey are satisfied with what they get etc. I think this isall very exiting. It will be a big change offering lots of new possibilities but also some dangers. We will have towait and see.

Lastly I would like to talk about the developments in

the care and the new care products this new financialsystem offers. New products chosen by the consumers/clients are:

Homecare

There are different kinds of homecare available.Carers do offer their services in the house of thehandicapped person. Especially for the handicappedchildren we feel it is very important to live at homewith their parents rather than in an institution. And if

the care for the child is too intensive for the parents,our staff can come to their home and support theparents for a few hours. Our help can be a few hoursa day or a week, just as the situation back at homedemands it.




Part-time-living

Some clients are staying with the organisations forthe weekend or the holidays. The parents cannot takethe responsibility for their children 24 hours a day, 7days a week. So we are able to offer them all kinds of part-time support.

The newest developments are homes initiated by

parents. Parents do have certain ideas and dreams of how they want their children to live, for example, if they have a special religion or if they live in a particularvillage and would like their child to live close by.Nowadays it is possible for clients or the parents torent or even buy a home. It will be the home of theclient and the parents, they will lay down the homerules and buy the furniture together etc.

We, the organisation, have a contract with theclients (or their parents) and that contract is the basisfor the amount of care /support they will receive intheir special home.

I think that this is a way of living where theindividualism of our clients is respected and theirwishes of how they would like to live are acted on.

In these homes they can be themselves as ahandicapped person but also as a person with his orher own identity.

Daily activities program

Our daily activities program is very wide-rangingand has grown over the past few years. During theearly years of the De Hartenberg Centre, part of theOrganisation ,s Heeren Loo Midden Nederland, thedaily activities program was not a major focus of ourorganisation. It was only available for disabled peoplewho were able to do some sort of production work.The external budget was based on that.

But that has changed over the past few years. TheDe Hartenberg Centre started to allocate the budgets,internal departments were partly or completely closeddown and the money saved was used it in favour of thedaily activities program.

Additional grantsIn the middle of the nineties the government made

further grants available. These grants can only be usedto extend the daily activities program for the severemultiple disabled people.

1 to 1 care

Just recently the possibility arose to receive furtherfinancial grants for disabled people with conspicuous

behaviour problems such as aggression or self-harmingbehaviour etc. These grants are used for 1 to 1 care.

Wide range of activities

We are offering a wide range of activities that aredetermined by our client’s demands. Daily activities canbe used by small groups or individually. They can takeplace in a separate area or amid society, the activitiescan be aimed at support, can be work-like or creativeand they can take place indoors or outdoors.

There are daily activities for children and adultsavailable and there are also suitable daily activities fordisabled older people on offer. The total number of 750participants is a guaranty for the wide range we areoffering.

We are also offering an extensive range of activitiesin the surrounding area. In an industrial estate some of our clients are working, preparing toys and tools fordispatch. One of our clients is helping as a caretaker ina nearby school. Some others are helping in the libraryin Ede. Other participants of the daily activity program

are helping out under supervision in care homes,serving tea and coffee, taking care of pets, cleaning etc.Individual work is also done in a large bakery in Ede, apet shop and a garage in Harskamp.

There is also a wide range of products we makeourselves, such as candles, soap, art and promotionalgifts. We also pack Christmas parcels with our productsfor clients.

Integration in society and offering work-likeactivities are major points in our care politic.

The development of Snoezelen

Reason

CLELAND and CLARK (1966) from the USA werethe first to come up with the idea to create a ‘sensorycafeteria’. That means a room in which mentallydisabled people could have the chance to experiencethe different senses. Snoezelen can be comparedto that early approach. But since I don’t know howfar this information from America has affected theDutch development, I will just talk about Snoezelendevelopment in the Netherlands.

In the middle of the seventies the Dutch institutionsfor the mentally disabled were also confronted by thegrowing problems with the severely disabled. As Verheulstates, most of all there was a lack of activities whichwere suitable for the needs of that group, since theoccupational and leisure time activities which could beused by the less severely mentally disabled people – atleast in a modified form – weren’t of any interest to theseverely disabled.

From the different efforts to create new playing

material or activities for that group, it was developedon one side the ‘adjusted material’ that means playingmaterial which shape, size and function tried to do justice to that group of the disabled and on the otherside there was ‘Snoezelen’.



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There are inter-relations between these twoactivities since Snoezelen does express a different viewtowards the occupational and leisure time activities of severely disabled people, which are also obvious in offerand function of the playing materials. It is used less aslearning material but more with the aim to let disabledpeople enjoy it and with the conviction, that they willlearn enough by doing so. On the other hand due to

the development of so called Snoezelen objects, thatmeans things that are offered in Snoezelen, the poolof playing materials for the living and life situations of severely disabled people was very much enriched.

The development of Snoezelen in theNetherlands

The beginnings of Snoezelen are closely linked tothe expansion of occupational activities for peoplewith severe multiple disabilities in the middle of the

seventies, starting in the Netherlands. That is to saythat for that target group there were no recreationalactivities on offer at all. To get an impression about theaccommodation of people with severe disabilities, I willdescribe life in the Centre De Hartenberg.

Since 1968 there have been approximately 440mentally disabled residents in the institution. Theircare was focused exclusively on their accommodation.Approximately 70% of the residents could be describedas severe multiple disabled, this means, that there wasonly a small group of people active enough to go towork at the daily activity centre. In the workshop theyproduced simple articles. The residents with severemultiple disabilities stayed behind in their flats or thepavilion. There was always a reason why they couldn’tleave the building: One day it would be too warmoutside or too cold or it would be too wet or toodamp. Apart from making the journey to the necessarytherapies or to a doctor, there was no reason to leavethe house. The people with severe multiple disabilitieswere protected like porcelain dolls, a frail material thatwould become ill once it was exposed to the outside.The living accommodation of these people was linkedto a hospital that followed tight medical guidelines.

The living conditions of these disabled people werevery sterile and cold and the wards reminded you of a hospital with beds and oxygen bottles right nextto them – everything was absolutely spotless. It wasanything but a cosy environment, no atmosphere tofeel good and sojourn for long. The doctors and seniornurses determined the routine, one talked about‘nurses’ not ‘companion’.

In the early seventies under these quite afflictingcircumstances grew the idea of offering occupationalactivities to severely multiple disabled, called

‘Bezigheidsbegeleiding’. Initially that focused only onthe living accommodation, since it wasn’t possible tomove the residents to a different building. The membersof staff, so called ‘Bezigheidsbegeleider’, meaningoccupational therapists, worked in close proximity to

the living quarters of the severely multiple disabled,developing materials and concepts, to trigger interestand to activate: They made mobiles, musical objects,used bubbles and massaged with coloured sheets.Natural materials were also used to make touch objectsetc. Even the nurses were impressed by the use of these materials in the living quarters and incorporatedthe plans to make further objects. We are talking about

the very first objects used for Snoezelen, it was allvery simple and not expensive. Jan Hulsegge as musictherapist and Ad Verheul as occupational therapist wereresponsible for the very first leisure time activities forseverely multiple disabled people in the Centre DeHartenberg.

At that time Ad Verheul and Jan Hulsegge cameacross an article by American psychologists Clelandand Clark. By 1966 they had already reported intheir findings about the possibilities of developmentpromotion, improved communication and behaviour

changes achieved by selected sensory offers todevelopment-delayed, hyperactive, mentally disabledand autistic people. These target groups should receivemotivation to see, hear, smell and feel and for thestimulation of the kinaesthesia in accordingly designedrooms. At that time the two authors had alreadyinsisted, that a so-called ‘Sensory Cafeteria’ should bethe most logical first step to stimulate and guide thesensory process.

The idea of ‘primary activation’ was developedfurther by the two Dutch experts, because it wasrecognised, that not only people with a higher mentallevel but all disabled people were in need of such aspecific offers.

A big force was the parent’s interest, because theydiscovered all of a sudden new opportunities for theirchildren. Passive education was turned into activity, toinitiate contact again, to communicate with a disabledchild and to activate the process. In the Centre DeHartenberg the concept Snoezelen was still unknown.Only through the link with another institutionHaarendael, where at the same time similar activitieswere tested, the name was made public.

First approaches in different institutions

Since, like already mentioned, the search for newactivities for the severely disabled was the problem formany institutions, different approaches of Snoezelenwere developed in various institutions at the same time.Their experiences were only exchanged some timelater.

A first project and at the same time the nameSnoezelen was developed in 1974 in the ‘Haarendael’

institution in the relaxation service with the thoughtthat the physical effort was not the goal but thepossibilities of experiences and the relaxation. The aimwas to let the disabled person experience well being,by trying to create a situation in which they could get




to one or the other activity but could also enjoy itpassively.

These goals should be achieved via the sensualperception. In the so-called relaxation service of theinstitution two civil servants Niels Snoek and KlaasSchenk and a staffmember Rein Staps organised thefirst project in the assembly hall. With the help of light,

music, smells and objects a dream atmosphere wascreated in which stimuli for every sense could be found,for example:

• Visual stimuli:darkened rooms, orbiting pictures, mirrors

• Auditory stimuli:calm music

• Tactile stimuli:Ball pond, hay, hammock

• Scented stimuli:incense, 4711, scented water

• Taste stimuli:different tasting food

Since there was only little money available, creativeinitiative was needed. The project was very successfulbut after expiration of the civil servants service, theproject had to be stopped for the time being due tolack of time and personnel.

Later the institution ‘Piusoord’ picked the ideaup again and improved it even more. The institutionintroduced ‘Snoezelen’ under its name on an NGBZconference in March 1979 (NGBZ=NederlandsGenootschap ter Bestudering van de Zwakzinnigheiden de Zwakzinnigenzorg) themed PLAY and they invitedthe entire personnel to take part.

There the staff of De Hartenberg learned of thename and realised, that they were working on the sameideas. Since there was obviously a demand for activitiesfor the severely disabled, also seen at the annual

summer fairs of the institution where a varied programwas on offer without being able to consider the needsof the disabled, the idea was born to create, with thehelp of primary sense stimuli, a world in which severelydisabled people could feel good.

The idea was put into action for the very firsttime at the De Hartenbergs summer fair in 1978.An experimental sensory tent offering multi sensoryexperiences was put up. It was only at that conferencethat one became aware of the other institutions efforts,received further information and took over the term‘Snoezelen’.

In August 1979 in the course of the next summerfair another 10 day Snoezelen project followed forwhich many of the objects were handmade.

Because of the big success, that means most of all the positive effect it had on the severely disabledwho used the offer, mostly fortnightly projects wereorganised in the following years on a regular basis untilFebruary 1984 when Snoezelen could be offered on apermanent basis in it’s own rooms.

Due to the ‘open days’, reports about differentprojects and an intensive exchange of information,Snoezelen quickly became well known in otherinstitutions. Today we can assume that not only theinstitutions for mentally disabled people but also theones for the psychologically ill and from senile dementiasuffering people know the term and partly use it inany form in their work. It is also safe to assume thatSnoezelen is mentioned in the training of the group

leaders.

First Snoezelen team, Haarendael, 1974

left to right: Niels Snoek, Rein Staps, Klaas Schenk

‘ Snoezelen team’ the centre De Hartenberg, 1977

1st left: Ad Verheul; 3th left: Jan Hulsegge



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The activities tent

In 1978 we received a letter from a colleague whothen worked at the centre for the mentally handicapped‘Piusoord’ in Tilburg. He was very enthusiastic about allthe positive response they had had to an ‘activities tent’.The activities were meant for the lower-level residents,and they made use of sound, lights, balloons, hay, etc.Because there was going to be a summer fair at DeHartenberg it seemed a nice thing to organize a similarfacility for the lower-level residents there. To be honestwe must confess that we were not very enthusiasticat first. We began working it out with some of ourcolleagues. Since it was to be only a temporary affair wewere given a kind of shed to use, or rather, a roof onpoles. We turned it into a Snoezelen room by screeningoff the sides with sail cloth and created corridors withagricultural plastic. In this ‘maze’ we located a series of activities.

These were separated visually but not auditively,which was sometimes disturbing. Some of the activitieswere:

• a room with a blower that blew shreds of paperand balloons through the room;

• a comer with soft cushions and hay in whichsqueaky toys were hidden.

• There was also a room with an overheadprojector on which a bowl of water was placed.

By dripping ink into the water fabulous colourpatterns were created on a white screen. Onthe platform of a record player we had placed a jam jar with pieces of coloured paper stuck onit. Behind it we had placed a lamp. The jam jar

worked as a lens and while it turned, colourfulbeams were projected on the screen.

• One corridor was the sound department. Allkinds of sounds could be heard from speakers orheadphones.

• There was a rack with several musicalinstruments mounted on it which looked veryattractive.

• There was also a ‘smells’ department: a table onwhich a selection of fragrant objects was placed,like scent bottles, soap, herbs, etc.

• We also hung tactile objects from the ceiling: awoollen curtain and squeaky toys.

• There was a water and sand tray, a papier-mache

table and a foam tray.

• There were trays with foods that tasted eithersalty, sweet, sour or bitter.

• At the end of the maze there was a large traypartly filled with gravel, another part with sand,etc., so you could experience different soundand walking sensations.

After a few days it became clear to us that we couldput aside any doubts we might have had, as there were

so many positive verbal and even more non-verbalreactions. It was a tremendous success. Encouragedby this we and a few colleagues got round the table todiscuss the future developments.

blower unit

room with a blower entrance

light wall

projector

schadow play

mirror wall

The activities tent 1978




Floorplan: the first Snoezelen room: the activities tent

1978

1. Entrance

2. Room with blower and shreds of paper, balloons

3. Corner with shreds of paper and balloons

4. Corner with soft cushions

5. Projection room and schadow play

6. Slideshow with liquid projection7. Mirrorwall and sound pillars

8. Sounddepartment and rack with several

musical instruments

9. Soap bubbles

1

2 3

56

7

8 9

10

1112

13

14

15

1617

4

10. Soft corner with hay and tactile objects

11. Water and sand tray

12. Foam and water tray with soap bubbles and air

tubes

13. Papier-mache table

14. Mirror wall in combination with ‘slime’

15. Large trays filled with gravel, sand, little stones,etc. Experience different sound and walking

sensations

16. Smell department and taste trays with food

17. Exit






At the summer fair one year later we weregiven the use of a number of rooms in the day-caredepartment. We got permission to fit up these fairlylarge rooms as temporary Snoezelen rooms. They wereproperly partitioned off so there were no irritatingvisual or aural stimuli from the other rooms. What´smore, the rooms were very spacious so the activitiescame out much better than they did the first time. It

was also possible now to create a transition area atthe entrance between the daylight outdoors and thetwilight inside.

During these summer fairs we kept open house.In the second year of the Snoezelen activities we hadmore than four hundred visitors in two days, mostof whom were colleagues from all over the country.Since that time both the internal and the externaldevelopment of Snoezelen has seen a rapid growth. In1979 and 1980 two reports were produced about our

experiences with Snoezelen. These primarily discussedthe experiences of residents, parents and staff. Theyalso included a list of the materials that were used.These reports were read by several people all overthe country. We had many invitations from colleaguesto come and see their permanent and semipermanentSnoezelen experiments. We exchanged lots of information and new ideas were born and tried out.Articles were published in various magazines and therewere lectures. In short everybody was interested in thisphenomenon.

Although many institutions in the country alreadyhad permanent Snoezelen rooms, we did not. Fromour own experiences and suggestions from outsidewe had formed a picture of what a permanent facilityshould look like. We wanted to fit it up with all theequipment that we thought was necessary. So weneeded permanent quarters and we had to find thefunds. In the planning stage we were confronted withthe severity of the fire safety requirements in this field.We just had to meet these, which had its f ’inancialconsequences, of course. In February 1984 the job wasdone, our permanent Snoezelen room was finished.There were certain limitations: some of the rooms

should have been a little bigger, some of the materialsused had to be changed to such extent to meet thesafety requirements that their educational valuedecreased. And of course there were some teethingtroubles to overcome. If you should think that we havefound a definitive solution we have to disappoint you.We are always looking for improvements and new ideas.The latest developments in electronics, for instance, willhave to be watched closely, though they should nevercome first. We should never think we know everythingabout the severely retarded and his experiences withSnoezelen.

The centre De Hartenberg

The centre De Hartenberg belongs to theorganisation ‘s Heerenloo Midden Nederland. With thehelp of approximately 1030 members of staff it caresat the moment for 756 mentally disabled in an areaof about 40 kilometres. The centre is situated in vastpinewoods covering 85 hectare.

De Hartenberg was built in 1968 with the intentionto offer approximately 800 to 1200 mentally disabledpeople a place to live. Due to the changed way of thinking about mentally disabled and their provisions,it was decided during the process of constructionto accommodate no more than 400 residents.Meanwhile due to faulty building materials almost 80%

of the buildings constructed in those days had to bedemolished – including the pavilion that was built in1983.

Today De Hartenberg is made of different livingquarters, partially linked to little day activity centres.The main part accommodates approximately 210inhabitants. That should be down numbered to 140over the next few years and reduced to zero in thenext fifteen years. Today’s philosophy concentratedliving quarters for the mentally disabled are no longerneeded, especially not living quarters completely

isolated from Society.

The first bubbleunits in the temporary Snoezelen-rooms



36 | SNOEZELEN

In a nearby village are 15 integrated living quarterswith a day activity centre. In other surrounding villagesare 10 more integrated living quarters, which arepartially linked to day activity centres. In the main partthe residential groups are small: 6 to 8 residents. Eachgroup is put together differently, concerning age andabilities.

Each of the flats is a self-sufficient unit, doing theirown cooking and shopping. All flats have a certainbudget available. Each residential group has a very bigdirect influence on the entire management.Starting point for that philosophy is:

-“as normal as possible, specific only if needed”-

The smaller living quarters are different in theirplanning: Detached houses or chalet-like bungalows,which go well with the scenery. These flats surrounda little square, which serves as a meeting point atthe same time. For the living quarters are facilitiesavailable such as a big swimming pool, hydrotherapypool, gymnasium, departments for the physiotherapy,logopedics, special needs school, day-activities and a bigSnoezelen Centre.

The day activities in the main part take place in 4different buildings, which are spread over the grounds.That way traffic takes place and brings liveliness in tothe area.

Principally all residents are at their workplacesoutside the flats during the day. That is based onthe philosophy of a daily routine: Living – Working – Relaxing, which plays a role in everybody’s life. -Outside

the flat one can meet other people, the coffee tastesdifferent, the building smells different etc.- One shouldmake the effort to go somewhere, once one is on theway one can experience so much, one can feel that thesun is shining, that it is raining or that the wind blows.One will meet other people, feels warmth or cold etc.

Snoezelen is part of all that. In De Hartenberg onecalls ‘Mini-Snoezelen’ the type of Snoezelen that takesplace in the residential group or in a room equipped ona short-term basis. Otherwise we use the Snoezelencentre, which measures 410 square metres. In

September 2000 the centre took over from our initialpavilion, which we had since 1984.

De Hartenberg, cultural centre and tea house-café

De Hartenberg, living quaters





38 | SNOEZELEN

Theory of Snoezelen

The aims of Snoezelen are closely linked to theproblems and possibilities of the target group. Here aresome possible definitions:

• ‘Snoezelen’ is a selective offer of primary stimuliin an attractive setting.

• “Snoezelen means a specially designed

environment where well-being is to be caused bycontrollable multisensorial stimuli.”

• “‘Snoezelen’ offers the opportunity to functionin other ways. Particularly their being active,tasting, smelling, touching and moving becausethey like it, not to acquire information or tolearn from it or develop, suits the needs andpossibilities of the severely retarded muchbetter.”

• ‘Snoezelen’ is a primary activation of severelymentally handicapped people, especially aimed atsensory perception and experience, by means of

light sound, touch, smell and taste.• ‘Snoezelen’ is creating authentic experiences for

those who are different.

Target group

For the severely disabled who can visit the dailyactivities centre, Snoezelen is special leisure timeactivity. That gives them the chance to ‘go out’ foronce, which means to go into different rooms and toexperience all together different things.

One does assume that that particular group of disabled people does depend on their primary senseswith the appropriate feelings and movements toexperience their environment but that they are notcapable of experiencing them properly or work throughthem in their every day life.

In one of the institution’s report the opinion isrepresented that for these (severely) disabled peoplethe world must seem like a ‘chaos’ in which everythingseems to be complicated and puzzling and that theyare incapable of influencing these stimuli, to get them

in order and to understand them in such a way that wewould judge as normal. Because of that every day lifemight feel threatening and scary for these people sincethey cannot really do anything about it to avert againstall these things, which are literally ‘coming over’ them.

Definition, Aims, Principles

Snoezelen is a leisure time activity for the severelydisabled, where they can relax and find themselves.

To do that a situation is necessary for which in

contrast to every day life the senses are not addressedsimultaneously but where they have to concentrateon individual sensory perceptions for example totouch only. The senses shouldn’t be addressed in widthbut in depth. To achieve that, we try to offer stimuli

in a selected way and reduce unnecessary stimuli atthe same time. The offer of stimuli should be chosenin such a way to make nice and pleasurable sensoryperceptions possible for a disabled person as well as tooffer special experiences that can’t be made in everyday life. One should feel good and safe.

It applies the principle to give the disabled the

necessary space and time, to choose for himself orindicate which stimuli he enjoys, what he wants toconcentrate on for longer or what he wants to do.

The encouragement of the residents shouldn’t comefrom staff but from the things in the room: materialand environment should be inviting and stimulating toactivate the disabled person to for example reach forsomething or lie on a soft mat etc. At the same timethe environment should bring the necessary peace andquiet to make relaxation possible because experiencingthe direct environment, taking it all in and passivelyenjoying it are already enough aims.

The intention, Snoezelen should serve the residentsrelaxation, is of big importance to the De Hartenbergas opposed to other Dutch institutions. To understandthat, one has to realise how much pressure andtension the disabled in the housing group are under.We understand ‘relaxation’ mostly as counterpart to‘tension’, with which we associate work and physicaland mental activity, which we, after a first glance,wouldn’t necessarily expect in the daily routine of aseverely disabled person.

In conversation it was established that theconstant presence of the many other residents withtheir peculiarities and possibly disturbing behaviour(screaming, lashing out etc.), space restrictions as wellas the high expectations of the environment, whichthey can’t understand, can to a high degree cause themtension and stress.

Van Gennep ( 1982) does point out, that too biggroups in to small living space can cause behaviouralproblems like aggression, hyperactivity, stereotypes etc.

Snoezelen with its dream atmosphere is meant tobe a place where one can leave everything behind andfind complete relaxation.

Accordingly calm music and dimmed lightsshould help to create a special atmosphere. Otherinstitutions state besides or instead of our aim of restand relaxation the stimulation of the development ortherapeutic intentions for example consciously to useSnoezelen to make worried clients well balanced again.

Another principle in Snoezelen is

“niets moet, alles mag”

which means, “nothing has to be done, everything is allowed”

Unlike in the housing group where certainrestrained ways or activities are demanded from thedisabled (to clean, to eat, not to run away, etc), duringSnoezelen he should be allowed to be himself and to do




whatever he likes. The accompanying members of staff should therefore distance themselves from their ownideas and expectations and let the clients have theirown way, even more so than ever. Free use of Snoezelenmaterial is permitted. If for example someone doesnot want to smell a smelling device but would like torotate its stand that would be accepted. The voluntaryintention of the offer is particularly important. It is not

about a collection of material experienced accordingto course but about a varied and atmospheric offer of sensual impressions that should be used voluntarily andgladly. Who does not like it after a settling in perioddoes not have to take further part in Snoezelen.

Company

The residents usually do not go to Snoezelen alone,but are accompanied by a member of staff. For mostof the severely disabled that is necessary due to their

immobility. Often they cannot move towards somethingon their own or cannot get away from unwantedstimuli. Also in the beginning they might be scaredof the strange room and the objects, which could belimited if a trusted person is around. Beside the fewinstitutions where employees of the accompanyingservice stand by the residents, group leaders of thehousing groups also full fill the task.

There is no question among the institutions aboutthe necessity of company. But what importance it has,how the accompanying person has to behave duringSnoezelen, varies among the institutions. In Pinsoord forexample they are trying to achieve the aim of relaxationwhereby the group leader does accompany the residentinto the room indeed and place them in such a waythat they are able to use the materials on offer. Thenthey leave the Snoezelen environment and observethe resident through a one way mirror. They will onlyinterfere if help is needed.

In contrast to that distant observing method,experiencing Snoezelen together is very important tothe De Hartenberg. Snoezelen is actually seen as a goodway to build and maintain an intense contact between

client and carer. Through that even Snoezelen itself experiences an enrichment and intensification.

Of course the carer shouldn’t get involved toomuch or let their own interest stand in the way of experiencing the atmosphere and the objects. To dothat it is very important that the carer can put hisown standards and ideas in the background, to givethe clients as much freedom as possible to try out andexplore. They should not for example show them howto move the waterbed and how to be moved on it butlet the disabled person himself experience it.

It requires good observation to recognise clients’wishes and needs and to act on that for example byadjusting stimuli individually (switch on/off certaindevices), changing the place or room or returning tothe group.

Here one is reminded once again of the principleof own choice and speed that for most of the severelydisabled can only be achieved with the help of open-minded carers.

How far such an individual company makes help andexperiencing Snoezelen together possible does dependon the relationship between carer and resident, which

on the other hand has to comply with the degree of disability. If one aims at physical contact and constantattention, when care and supervision are needed, arelation of 1 to 1 is necessary. For clients who canmove themselves, can approach things and keepthemselves occupied with an object for a longer periodof time, Snoezelen is also possible for groups of up tosix clients.

In De Hartenberg it depends less on the objectivelyreserved observation but on company for the purposeof an emphasising contact in the respective Snoezelen

situation and the influence that such consciouslytogether experienced Snoezelen situation can have onthe relationship between carers and residents.

Instruction of the staff

A good company of the disabled person by thegroup leaders, in the sense that the employees knowwhat is important, which principles and rules they mustfollow and which possibilities in the Snoezelen roomsare generally offered, does depend on a good training.With often high fluctuation of group leaders andtemporary work of trainees, the necessary continuity of success in Snoezelen can only be achieved if excellenttraining and education can be provided.

Technical Instructions

Members of staff have to know how to use differentapparatus to get all the possible effects that areproduced by different devices (for example Slide-, Film-,Liquid projectors, Sound systems, Lights, Fans). Onlywhen all the technical details are known and used by

the staff accordingly then the specific dosage of stimuli,that takes into consideration the wishes and needs of the disabled person, can be guaranteed. It does dependon the staff’s knowledge about the use of the deviceswhether existing offers are generally recognised andused.

To learn Snoezelen

Disabled and non-disabled people practiceSnoezelen in different ways due to their different

abilities and needs.After my experiences non-disabled people havebig difficulties getting involved in Snoezelen. To takethe shoes off alone is hard work (feet could smellunpleasantly). To simply lie in the ball pond or on a



40 | SNOEZELEN

waterbed, to perceive ones feelings, to accept themand enjoy them, is often difficult and feels unsafeand embarrassing. One feels especially embarrassedshould someone be present and watch. Experiencesand sensations like for example feeling safe on a lightlyswinging waterbed, to snuggle up in a warm fur orto dive into a ball pond and to feel comfortable andsurrounded, we barely admit to as adults in our every

day life. To get involved in it requires overcominginhibitions and fears, which severely disabled peoplecannot do.

Non-disabled people often tend to recognise theirenvironment very quickly visually. They ‘forget’ theother senses and must be trained again to consciouslytouch, smell, listen and taste again. They have a tendencyto question everything and to rationalise. To be calm, torelax, to perceive sensations and to enjoy them doesn’tusually last very long. The urge to be active standsin the way. They prefer things they can play with or

experiment (technical).

To provide Snoezelen in a sense of the aims andprinciples as mentioned above, it is necessary for thestaff to experience the stimuli and range of experiencesin the Snoezelen rooms and learn to handle them. Thatwill prepare them better for the Snoezelen experiencethey will have together with the disabled person.

However, in practice it is often found that newemployees of the institution take disabled people to theSnoezelen rooms on their very first visit and get theinstruction on site from other present group leadersor they will simply work things out together with thedisabled person as far as it is possible. The time forthem to experience for themselves is often missing.

Types of Snoezelen

The Snoezelen definition is a vast one and doesallow many possibilities of application.

Snoezelen in Nature

The most obvious would be Snoezelen in Nature,which means, one does concentrate very consciouslyon sensory perceptions available in nature.

Snoezelen does support the recollection of experiences, how they can be consciously experiencedfor example during a particular walk through thewoods, which addresses all our senses and leads to restand relaxation. In the woods one can hear the rustlingof the trees and birds singing, one can smell the flowers,leaves and wet grass, one can feel bark and moss andamongst other things one can see greens and browns in

constantly changing sunlight.

Similar things apply to the coast area with all thesand, wind and water. Employees of the institution didrealise, that while dealing with severely disabled peopleall these things could be explored again to be able tooffer them most authentic experiences.

For example, one should simply take the clientfor a walk in the rain or snow instead of standing himunder the shower and one should let them experiencenatures own materials like earth, sand, grass or strawin the natural habitat instead of sprinkling rice orpackaging materials all over them.

We only realised the importance of these naturalexperiences during our work with the severely disabledafter successfully using the artificially prepared sensory




objects, partly also because we do not see the disabledperson as ‘ill’ anymore and has to be kept away fromharming influences such as wind and weather.

Such natural experiences are not always availableand can’t be adjusted to the momentous needs of theindividual. There will still be the need for the artificiallyprepared situations.

Snoezelen in the living quarters

In De Hartenberg we call ‘Mini-Snoezelen’ theSnoezelen that is practised in the living quarters or inindividal small rooms that are equipped for short-termuse. In this institution this used to be the most commonway to practice Snoezelen apart from the Snoezelenprojects at the mostly fortnightly summer fair, sincethere were no possibilities during the rest of the year.

The room used for the ‘Mini-Snoezelen’ is darkenedmost of the time. Atmospheric lights and music areswitched on. The intense contact with the clientsthrough physical contact, playing together with soft toysor Snoezelen objects or simply to experience rest andrelaxation together plays a very important part.

The living quarters could also have cosy cornerswhere elements of Snoezelen could be integrated.

De Hartenberg’s view on the Snoezelenroom

After all the success of Snoezelen at the summerfairs and ‘Mini-Snoezelen’, one was longing in DeHartenberg to be able to provide one big room justfor Snoezelen. The summer projects did demand a longperiod of preparation and vast amounts of helpers andthe possibilities at ‘Mini-Snoezelen’ were very limited.One employee used the comparison that it is nice tohave a bath in one’s own bathtub but once in a while itfeels good to go to the swimming pool. With Snoezelenits fairly similar, one would like to experience differentthings as well as leave the usual environment to ‘go out’.

The institution is very much aware of the fact

that Snoezelen is still very much in its early days of experimenting even after all the years of work andexperience and that the Snoezelen room is still far fromperfect even though the equipment is of a very highstandard.

However, one has consciously decided to take thatunsafe route of gaining practical experience on site, toget a bit closer to severely disabled residents and to be

able to fulfil their needs. One is aware that there are noalternatives to Snoezelen. One of the reasons for that isthe fact that one can see the danger, that there are noalternatives to Snoezelen, and therefore in institutionswhere it is refused, there are no offers at all.

For critics who may say that once Snoezelenbecomes a habit it will quickly lose its appeal andbecome uninteresting that objection will be declinedstraight away. The euphoria and interest may die downquickly for the members of staff but disabled people feelespecially at ease in a familiar environment and are able

to stay interested in an activity they like for long periodsof time. The mentioned objection could also be raisedregarding swimming pools or other leisure time activities.

Members of staff did mention that continuingSnoezelen in the form of large projects will require agreat amount of time and personal expenditure, whichdoes bear the danger that those projects will be offeredon fewer occasions or even stopped completely.

Now the permanent installed room does offer theemployees the chance to make use of this facility withoutany preparations.

Statement

The Snoezelen room, which can be used directly bythe group leaders without any preparations, does, in myopinion, make the work considerably easier but it couldlead to attitude of assumption or carelessness whilehandling the devices and objects for which the groupleaders are not directly responsible. Since the personnelwill have to work with and get used to an already madeup offer of objects which they have not thought of ormade up, training is absolutely necessary.



42 | SNOEZELEN

To me the danger seems to be less when groupleaders are involved in the organisation of Snoezelenin the form of Snoezelen workgroups and having theresponsibility to schedule appointments, preparations aswell as tidying up and cleaning.

Atmosphere

While listening to the description of the roomsand the individual elements one could easily get theimpression, that these things are simply available in theroom and one just has to chose anything like one wouldtake a toy from a shelf or use a the activity on a playground.

But, based on my own experience, as soon as oneopens the door and enters a Snoezelen room it feelslike diving into another world. The first impression isone of the complex atmosphere without recognising

the individual elements or reasons for the effectsstraight away. Once one let the impression take effectand get used to it gradually only then individual objectsone is interested in come in to the foreground andstimulate to see, feel, hear and experience.

The impression is probably comparable to enteringa disco, a fun fair or a church where at first the entireatmosphere and mood will be taken in and only latervisual, auditory and olfactorisch sense perceptions canbe differentiated and put in order.

In Snoezelen it is the impression of a dream worldin which one can dream and relax and by experiencingthe environment one will be able to perceive ones ownbody more consciously. Very important elements of Snoezelen are colours, light, movement and most of allmusic.

Music

Music is a significant part of the special atmospherein the Snoezelen rooms and can be heard asbackground music everywhere. The purpose of themusic is to support the calming effect of Snoezelenand to ‘fill’ the rooms with a warm atmosphere, whichmakes it easier to relax. Only the studio has its own

sound system, since the consciously playful way of usingthe music and the stimulating effect it has matter therethe most.

In all rooms are regulators to adjust the music tothe needs of the individual resident. Condition for themusic to have that effect is of course that the music isquiet and calm that means it has no hyped up melodies,rhythm, tempo or harmonies and is not too loud. ASnoezelen room is not a disco even if a lot of the lighteffects are the same.

Short interruptions between the musical piecesor switching off temporarily can result in the visitors

being surprised and missing the music thereforeregistering music altogether more consciously. Musictherapist have the view that one is not very active whilelistening to Snoezelen music but not passive either. Asort of ‘swinging along’ takes place appropriate to thedisabled person’s level. Light classical music, vocal orinstrumental pieces with preferably only one voice orone instrument or one instrument in the foregroundas well as light entertaining music are very suitable asSnoezelen music.

One can put the tapes together in different ways forexample only entertaining or classical music, offeringboth types in turns or one can let very contrastingpieces of music follow one another.

Besides the relatively short pieces especially foundin entertaining music (approximately 3 ½ minutes)longer musical pieces i.e. 10-20 minutes of a single panpipe could be played, to make it possible to listen intoa musical piece and to avoid letting it fly by as couldhappen by listening to shorter pieces.

The so called principles for the arranging of themusic and the use of it is based on the experiences of music therapist of the institution and are passed on by

him as advice to the group leaders

Snoezelen room: white room





44 | SNOEZELEN

room. With the help of a CD player music can beplayed. If one uses cordless headphones, the great effectcan be enjoyed even more, it feels like being in a hugegrotto. A seating element does provide the comfortneeded.

A soft border along the walls surrounds the ballpond. It serves as a seating or lying down area as well

as padded protection between wall and balls. On theceiling above the ball pond is a semi-circular mirror andalong the walls are mirrors too. One can keep occupiedby simply observing oneself and the depth effect of theroom is increased. Sound and light apparatus are as faras possible based in a separate central room, to avoid,visitors handling them wrongly unintentionally. Thatmeasure was also essential for fire safety.

Experts have installed the entire Snoezelen complexin De Hartenberg. That was necessary to meet theterms of fire safety, servicing and maintenance etc.Meanwhile the higher investment costs have been

proven to be justifiedThe cleaning does take up relatively little time; only

the ball pond requires half a day of maintenance once afortnight. Defects are rare up to date, the biggest costfactor as ever is the regular needed change of projectorand light bulbs.

There is a huge interest even beyond the DeHartenberg Centre. At certain times groups from otherinstitutions have the chance to come to us to practiceSnoezelen.

Many non-disabled children make use of ourSnoezelen rooms too, for a birthday party for example.

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floorplan of the first Snoezelen premises in De Hartenberg near Ede

floorplan of the new Snoezelen Centre of De Hartenberg



46 | SNOEZELEN

Description of the Snoezelen room inDe Hartenberg Centre

There are different possibilities to equip a Snoezelenroom:

1. One does create a room to serve all the senses

2. One divides the room in such a way thatdifferent areas are created in which one or twosenses can be addressed

3. One has several rooms available in which onesense at a time can be addressed.

Such divisions depend on the space availability in theinstitution rather than the content of ideas.

floorplan of the new Snoezelen Centre of De Hartenberg

In De Hartenber are three rooms and a corridorto link them available but one does only talk about‘the Snoezelen room’. One can expect that in each of the rooms a certain atmosphere will be present orrather a certain area of perception will be addressed.An exact separation between the senses is not givenand can hardly be realised anyway. But that is not theaim, but the elimination of unnecessary, unpleasant and

distracting stimuli

To get a better picture, I will describe the rooms’one after the other with their special possibilities anddifficulties. A few overlaps cannot be avoided.

acoustic room with vibrant floor 5,60 m white room 5,62 m ball pool 5,60 m

colour of the room: soft yellow colour of the room:

white

colour of the room: soft yellow

convex mirror plastic decoration balls

convex mirror

convex mirror

mirror ball

mirror ball

decoration bird

Treppe

support room with soundsystem

colour of the room: soft yellow fibre-optic mobile fibre-optic mobile fibre-optic mobile

roof window with coloured glass

coloured spotlights

roof window with coloured glass




Cross-section of the new Snoezelen Centre of De Hartenberg

acoustic room with vibrant floor 5,60 m white room 5,62 m ball pool room 5,60 m

light & sound wall

acryl mirror

Platform with bubble tubes

fibre-optic

waterfall

vibrant floor

soft floor leaf rocking chair

a c r y l

mi r r or

ball pool

t a c t i l e

w a l l s

tactile walls tactile walls

Konvexer Spiegel

soft floor

fibre-optic waterfall

soft cabin

slide

staircase

storage of equipment

under the support

room

entrance with

mit line-lite curtain

floppy cushion

t a c t i l e w a l l a n d

c o l u m n s

light floor

floor chimes

tactile walls

light floor

tactile

columnstactile columns

smell wall

water bed with

vibrant floor

leaf rocking chair

cieling with climat control system roof window with coloured glass

mirror ball

plastic decoration balls

platform with bubble tubes

floor heating system


support room with special effects projector

fibre-optic

waterfall

Floorplan of the new Snoezelen Centre of De Hartenberg



48 | SNOEZELEN

3D view Ball Pond

convex mirror

convex mirror

entranceFarbspots

coloured spotlights

soft cabin

floppy cushion

entrance

light floor

floor chimes

light floor

staircase

leaf rocking chair

hammock

seat

ball pool

acryl mirror

emergency exit

floor heating system

corridor

mirror ball

3D view of the new Snoezelen Centre of De Hartenberg

Kletterrutsch




Ball Pond

Ball Pond

In the 6 by 11 metres big room, painted yellow,are two ball ponds. Surrounded by a 70 centimetrehigh yellow and red border of soft play material thereare approximately 60 000 coloured balls each with adiameter of 6 centimetre. One can lie on top of theballs, bury oneself or other people in them completely,

throw the balls, feel them individually and play withthem. A slow approach to the unknown situationis possible since there is enough free space in theentrance area (also important for wheelchair access) tosimply watch the ball pond and those already present.It is possible to walk around the pond on the 50centimetre wide edge. It is also possible to approachthe balls by simply sitting on that edge and allowingthe legs to dangle and play with a few balls. To glideinto the balls is unusual since they will move in to alldifferent directions and one will sink in faster the moreone moves. Many residents have fun; others do feel

frightened that the ground underneath their bodiesis so uncertain. Experiences made here are of a moretactile nature.

The PVC mirrors on the walls as well as the semi-circled mirror on the ceiling above the balls offeradditional stimuli.

One can observe oneself in the mirror on theceiling while lying on the balls and throw the ballstowards the mirror. They will seem to get bigger thecloser they get to the mirror.

A passive experience of the situation as well as allsorts of playing activities, are possible in this room.

The white room

The room measures approximately 6 by 11 metres,is 5.5 metres high and completely white.

Here mainly visual stimuli in the form of light effectsare offered. Due to the white interior the room issuitable as a projector screen for:

• Slides

Mainly pictures of nature

• Films

Due to the variety of colours, slow cameramovements and slow movements of the animals, filmsby Jacques Cousteau about the under water Worldwithout any sound are very suitable

• Liquid projectors

The apparatus produces a round, slowly rotating

picture, in which multi coloured objects shaped likewater drops float into one another

All these projectors are kept in a little room onthe first floor of the building and point into the whiteroom through a window in such a way, that they can beprojected onto three walls. One feels like standing inthe middle of the play of colours and lights.

Further light effects are achieved by illuminatingrotating mirror balls as well as so called bubble unitsand fibre lights. There is also a device to produce soapbubbles.



50 | SNOEZELEN

• Bubble units

Bubble units are perspex tubes filled with water;underneath each on is an air pump a lighting fixturesattached.

With the incoming air, air bubbles rise constantlyand are illuminated by a light which has a multicoloureddisc and changes colour every 15 seconds.

There are three of these units in the room, all of them embedded on a hexagonal stage. Two of the tubesare 1,80 metres high and the third one is 2,30 metres.They each have a diameter of 20 centimetres and canbe switched on individually or in combination.

• Mirror balls

There are two balls of different sizes, which are

covered in little mirror tiles and rotate with the help of a little engine. Spotlights illuminate them.

This creates the effect of slowly moving light spotsover wall and ceiling, which can constantly changetheir colour because of the multicoloured rotating discmoving in front of the light. These balls are also knownas Disco balls.

• Soap bubble machine

Soap bubbles are blown into the roomautomatically.

The described apparatus and lights can be switchedon and off via a control panel, using a remote control.The fibre lights can be switched on and off using theswitch beside the lamps.

By choosing varied combinations of the activitiesone can create all different effects.

In the white room half way up the wall are besidesthe mentioned mirrors other objects attached toadjustable rails, which serve the purpose of decorationas well as play, for example big wooden birds whichswing once someone pulls on the string. There are alsolong PVC tubes filled with air hanging down almosttouching the floor.

The entire floor is covered in a soft play material.Two of these mattresses close to the door can beremoved to allow wheelchair access if one does notwant to lift residents out of their wheelchairs.

One thick air filled PVC tube is moving on the floor

along three of the walls to allow a comfortable positionthat makes it easier to observe the light effects on thewalls.

The room does impress with its height and whiteinterior alone and is very popular with the groupleaders and residents. The different light effects changeby colours and movements never get boring and inviteyou to dream and simply switch off. In there the feelingto be in the middle of a dream world is the strongest.

Similar to the ball pond here the different demandsof the individual visitor can be met too. The fascinating

atmosphere alone does have the effect on people tofeel very relaxed and invites you to just watch and beamazed. Some people do only react to strong light anddark contrasts, which can be created by switching onand off several devices at the same time.

3D view white room

plastic decoration balls

fibre-optic waterfalll

mirror ball

bubble tubes

bean bag

line-lite shower

light floor

light floor

floor chimes

entrance

projections window

soft floor

light floor




Others just walk about the room and touch thedifferent air tubes hanging down from the ceiling, playingwith them or approaching the lights and bubble unitsto investigate those. Some do even understand the link between remote control and light effects and try toexperiment with them.

The devices used in that room like bubble units,liquid projectors and mirror balls are also used for

Snoezelen in other institutions, since they are verystimulating. In the meantime they are a permanent partof a typical Snoezelen atmosphere.

Anteroom

Between the corridor and the white room is a smallanteroom (2 by 2 metres). In the centre a curtain of phosphorescing PVC strings is hanging down as well asa persplex mirror that is put up the wall with the samestrings attached to it. By illuminating them with black

light they shine in very groovy colours.

These coloured strings are for the non-disabled arather optical, nice decoration whereby many of ourvisitors often grab them and play with them shakingthem back and forth, to hear the rustling noise, putthem around themselves or put them into their mouthetc. The thick knotted woolly ropes in the corridor aretreated in a similar way.

Tactile and Auditory room

This room is covered in soft play material apartfrom one space. In there is a waterbed with a soundfloor embedded. The water temperature can beregulated. The waterbed is the most attractive and mostused object in the room. Attached to the walls areboards covered in all different materials and furs. Theyoffer various tactile experiences. There is also sort of anigloo made of soft play material, one can crawl into.

Hanging down from the ceiling and almost touchingthe floor are various soft and sound toys, attached toelastic rubber strings. The strings are meant to make it

easier for the disabled visitors to reach the toys even if they let go of them once in a while. There are more softtoys on the floor. The earlier mentioned wooden birdscan be found here as well hanging from the ceiling.

Many different coloured ceiling lights, whosebrightness can be regulated with a dimmer, provide light.

In this room opening the shutters can let in daylight.The window glasses are green, red and yellow andcreate a different view into the outside world. For manypeople the suddenly changing intensity of the daylight isalready a variation of stimuli they perceive and clearly

react to. The contrast of light makes one aware of how used one was to the dimmed warm light and theatmosphere of cosy safety, once the room turns brightall of a sudden.

In the same room 3 by 4 metres a vibrating flooris built in and linked with a screen. The combinationmakes a conscious experiencing of music and soundsand the playful use possible.

The lights of a big light organ are linked with thesound system and pointed at the perspex mirrors onthe wall, which then project lights onto a screen. The

observer can see the music matching light reflexes onthat screen which measures approximately 3 by 5,50metres.

The light organ can also be linked with an echo-microphone so that the light effects can be triggeredby ones own voice, musical instruments or othersounds, which then can be heard strongly delayed.The acoustic impression when using headphones isextremely fascinating. For residents who perceive veryslowly, the delayed playback of their own voice is quitean experience. Once they realise the link between their

own sounds and the light effects, they become verymotivated to make new noises while under normalcircumstances not everybody would have been up forthat.

In the room a vibrating floor is built that swings insuch a way that the music can not only be heard andseen through the light effects but the vibrations canalso be felt with the entire body.



52 | SNOEZELEN

coloured spotlightslight & sound wall

tactile walls

coloured spotlights

vibrant floor

soft floorleaf rocking chair

water bed with

sound system

light floor

entrance

corridor

The corridor

The corridor does link all the rooms described sofar and does offer many more interesting perceptions.For example the biggest part is made of a light floor.The persplex surface is set on wooden planks set outin a grid format. Each square of the grid does containa coloured light, which is linked with the sound systemand react like a light organ to rhythm and melody.

Constantly changing combinations of the lightsdo first of all create very interesting light effects andsecondly heats the floor in the different areas to give awarm feeling.

In the middle of the aisle is the carillon. It is made of

nine 40 by 40 cm PVC tiles, which are embedded in thefloor. Stepping on one of the tiles activates a bell to ringand a light to flash. Bells and lights are located in a lightpanel on the wall and can also be activated by touchingthis light panel.

There are also touch boards with sponges, brushesand other materials as well as a PVC mirror in onecorner. As already mentioned, thick knotted woollyropes are hanging down from he ceiling.

In the corridor besides these visual, auditoryand tactile stimuli are also so called ‘sniff snakes’ tostimulate the sense of smell. These are two rotating

stands each of them has a wooden board attached tothem with coloured P-traps known from pipe work fixed onto them. Attached to those are elastic PVCtubes, similar to those used for cooker hoods. Aconcentrated scent will be placed on the wooden

board, which can be smelled intensely through thetubes. Due to the flexibility of the tubes it is possible toreach different positions to allow wheel chair users andtall people the same comfortable position to make useof the activity.

The equipment of the described rooms is only oneof many.

Which devices, materials and playing materials willbe chosen for the equipment of a Snoezelen room doesdepend on the individual views but also very much fromfinancial resources and spatial possibilities.

For the summer fairs at De Hartenberg for examplea water-organ was hired, which was very attractive butmuch too expensive to purchase for a permanent room.

3D view Auditory room with a vibrating floor

Corridor




white room

3D view corridor with light floor and floor chimes

Some ideas like putting up large pieces of cloth inthe tactile room had to be scrapped due to fire safetyreasons. Others could not be realised due to spacerestrictions. It is obvious that there are no activities at

all for the sense of taste. In De Hartenberg we haven’thad very pleasant experiences during our summer fairs.Hygiene is a big problem and most of the residentsdo not try out food consciously but stuff themselveswith everything. It was therefore decided against thatfor educational as well as organisational reasons in thepermanent Snoezelen room. But in other institutionsone can find offers like that. There a member of staff will make food available just before a Snoezelen session.It has happened in individual cases that disabled peoplehave stuffed themselves with the food until they havefelt sick but it is of course a question of the quality of

company.

room with climat control system, special effects projector, pinspot

with colourwheel and soundsystem with 2 x 24 CD player coloured roof window

entrance

window to white room

coloured roof window

fibre-optic mobile

light floor

smell trays

smell wall with blower unit

light floor

floor chimes with light floor

Sound and light wall

tactile column

mirror box


fibre-optic mobile

tactile wall

staircase to support room



Literature:

Cleland, Ch. C.; Clark, Ch. M.: Sensory deprivationand aberrant behavior among idiots. In: American Journal of Mental Deficiency (1996/67) 2, 213-225

Hulsegge, J.; Verheul, A.: Snoezelen - Eine andere

Welt. Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe für geistigBehinerte (Hrsg.). Marburg 1997, 6. Aufl.

Mertens, K.: Snoezelen – Eine Einführung in diePraxis. Dortmund 2003

Verheul, A.: 25 Jahre Snoezelen – Entwicklung und

aktueller Stand. In: Mertens, K.; Verheul, A. Hrsg.):Snoezelen – viele Länder – viele Konzepte.Berlin 2003, 19-51

www.ISNA.de

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Stimulare senzoriala