Snoezelen: children with intellectual disability and working with the whole family

Snoezelen, or controlled multisensory stimulation, was first introduced in Israel in 1993. This paper presents a new concept of working with the whole family in the Snoezelen room with the participation of a social worker. The purpose was to facilitate family encounters with the child, to enable parents and siblings to become better acquainted with the resident through his/her strengths and special abilities, to encourage parental involvement in the care, to encourage increased visits, to improve quality of life (QOL) for the resident, and to reinforce a better relationship between resident, family, and home. Sessions were divided into two major parts. The first segment (duration 20-40 min) was free activity and the second was more structured (duration 15-30 min). Case stories are presented to illustrate the positive effects of this approach. Snoezelen can be used with the entire family with the participation of a social worker and can add new dimensions to communication.