Snoezelhuset

Wow...it has been quite a week! With my "Children with Special Needs" course coming to a close, my love for adventuring and living the Danish life has come to bite me in the butt because I've been writing lots and lots of short papers this week (apparently the procrastination bug still bites in København). For the class, we had 8 short, 3-5 page papers. In all, it added up to 32 pages of writing! That's a lot for three weeks, and I still have one to finish, but I'm going to do that in the morning when I'm fresh...I mean, it's not due til 5pm tomorrow anyway!

So, here's a recap of the week since I became a blonde...

This is for Brittany: Monday, after the hair dying adventure, we had DIVINE tacos with nearly every topping imaginable for dinner. This was my first one:

Tuesday our class did some field study time, and we visited a Snoezelhuset (pronounced snoozlehoose), which is best described as a facility that provides a multi-sensory environment. Snoezelhusets provide a space for sensory integration and stimulation to individuals who have deficits or excesss in sensory stimulation. This particular Snoezelhuset has four rooms, each of which is meant to provide different types of sensory stimulation to its users. Marian, the Occupational Therapist (OT) who works at the Snoezelhuset, was clear in stating to our class that this facility is not Tivoli (an amusement park in København). Rather, it is an environment where they identify a problem for an individual and determine how they can provide the necessary sensory input. The idea of Snoezelhusets began in Amsterdam in the 1970s, which to me is no surprise with all the trippy & psychedelic features that are included in these rooms. After we heard about the facilities, we got to try out all four of the spaces and imagine what it would be like to have sensory integration issues that could hopefully be supported by the Snoezelhuset. It was very cool, and nothing like anything I had seen or experienced before. At the Meredith Autism Program we have had a couple girls who are pre-OT do basic studies, most notably involving a platform swing, but this facility was a complete extreme compared to that swing! Very cool!

Here are a couple pictures I shot at the Snoezelhuset. They really do not do the facilty justice, particularly since you can only use one sense to experience these rooms; however, they'll help to give you a bit of an idea.

The red room: This mattress has speakers in it, and this room had a very harsh, highly stimulating feeling, so the bass really made the bed vibrate! Very cool.

This is a giant waterbed which has speakers beneath the water. Therefore, vibrations from the music come through the bed, giving sensory input of both the vibrations and the water movement!

We got to test out the bed & relax a little! Sarah's on top of a huge mattress, used to give additional pressure to whoever is using the room.

The Ball Bath

The black room: When we were in here the overhead lights were off and only a black light was on. Everything glowed, so it was pretty cool!

After the visit to the Snoezelhuset, we were planning on going to Tivoli (ironic, huh?), but things didn't quite go as planned so we had lunch, did a bit of shopping (it's dangerous here, by the way), and decided that it was better that we weren't at Tivoli because it was POURING. So, Kayla and I headed back to our apartment and we both did a little work and took some nice naps in the gloomy afternoon. That night we fixed another DIVINE dinner and finished up some work before hitting the hay.

Inside City Hall, loving my Danish heritage!

Doesn't this look like great napping weather?

Dinner: Chicken breast on a bed of sauteed spinach topped with melted swiss and sauteed onions and mushrooms. YUM!

Wednesday most of us had our last days at our practicum sites. Because I was short on hours, I had to go back today, but I'm planning on going back before the next two weeks are up, mostly because I really love the place! After our days at our sites, (and after I walked back to DIS in a torrential rain storm with no hood...and got ghetto and dried my hair under a hand-dryer), we met up to go to Tivoli! Tivoli is one of the oldest amusement and entertainment parks in the world, and it is also home to the world's first rollercoaster--which we all rode!

Hey Tivoli, Hey!

Dinner was delicious...and we American girls got some Hidden Valley for our French Fries. Yum!

We got to ride the world's first Rutschebanen, Rollercoaster!

All 5 of us waiting at the "Rutschebanen"

The Meredith Girls

Looking regal in my flying shark!

Beautiful Tivoli

Downtown København by night.

So, tomorrow is the last day of class, which is very sad. I've really loved both my professors and the subject material. The danish school practices and ideals are absolutely fascinating to me, and it is definitely a subject I want to look into more in the future! Monday I begin my cross-cultural psychology class, which I'm also looking forward to, but I think it'll be very different from the hands-on learning I've been doing thus far.

Anyway, this weekend should be fun...except for the fact that Sarah, Allyson, and Brittany are heading back to the States...because my friend Tory from high school will be in København, so I'm going to spend the day wandering with him on Saturday. Then Sunday I'm going to meet John & Jenny, my relatives who live in Jyllinge, Denmark!

It's crazy that three weeks has nearly gone by, but I'm so happy that I chose to come here, and I'm definitely looking forward to more wonderful times!