An article in today’s Morning News of northwest Arkansas describes a multi-sensory room for adults with “severe intellectual disabilities.” The room is equipped with a “clear plastic, 5-foot-tall column of illuminated bubbles, an aroma generator and a projector that throws a variety of soothing images on the wall,” along with a giant vibrating pillow, a “vibro-acoustic mattress.” Specialty stuff indeed—-though the article begins by noting that some of these devices borrow a page from the likes of aromatherapy devices, recordings of rainforest sounds, beanbag chairs, and other 1980s trends, and got me thinking about how Charlie tends to address …read more