The bedroom is supposed to be an area of escape. A place where you can rest so that you may start the next day anew. As a parent of an autistic child, it’s essential to keep that in mind when what you place in a room when Designing a Calming Bedroom for a Child with Autism.
This space is their special area where they can retreat when feeling overwhelmed by the world around them. It should be comfortable, quiet, and conducive to a good night’s sleep. These helpful design tips can point parents in the right direction. These four tips will point you toward creating a calming bedroom for a child with autism.
4 Tips for Designing a Calming Bedroom for a Child with Autism
1) A Breath of Fresh Air
There is some debate behind the idea of children with autism experiencing higher rates of allergies. Whatever your thoughts on the matter, it can’t hurt to be proactive when it comes to reducing indoor air pollution for your child’s health.
Outfitting your child’s bedroom with an air filter can remove contaminants, including pollen, dust mites, pet dander, and mold. Doing this reduces the chances of allergens.
These allergens trigger both skin and respiratory flare-ups day and night. This way, your child remains both healthy and comfortable in their room.
Beyond the clean-air benefits, a purifier is also a helpful provider of white noise. White noise is soothing for little ones with noise sensitivities. To find the best air purifier for allergies, make sure to check reviews online.
2) Establish Plenty of Storage Solutions
Excessive clutter and mess have the power to instigate anxiety, especially in children with autism. Having plenty of places to store books, toys, clothes, and other items in the bedroom will reduce visual clutter. This will help you design a calming bedroom for a child with autism. Cubbies are a kid-friendly and straightforward way to store items in a child’s room.
Use cloth baskets in each cubby so things can be identified when needed. Parents can look into other space-saving solutions. These include toy boxes, wall hangings for dolls and stuffed animals, and multipurpose furniture such as box chairs that can be turned into activity tables.
Once you’ve finished in your child’s room, consider applying some of those organizing techniques to the rest of your house. Even if you don’t think your home feels cluttered, overwhelming sensory stimuli can often have a negative effect on children with autism.
After you’ve decluttered and removed unnecessary or unwanted items, hire some pros to give your home a deep cleaning. Doing this will help reduce irritants and pollutants that could trigger your child’s allergies.
3) Light It Right
Sensory mood lighting can act as a helpful tool for soothing and calming children with autism when they are upset. Children’s moods are easily affected by lighting. Children with autism can be particularly prone to their power if they struggle with sensory processing issues.
Low lighting is best. Reduce harsh light in their room. Also, consider placing blackout curtains over windows to filter out light pollution from the outside at night. When outfitting the bedroom with sensory lighting, embrace the fun, creative, and exciting options that kids love rather than picking items that solely exist for utility.
4) Tap into Color Psychology
Believe it or not, the color you paint your child’s room affects their mood. Color psychology is the study of how certain shades affect our minds and emotions. Parents use the knowledge picked up through color psychology to tailor their child’s room to the specific mood they wish to encourage. In the bedroom, the atmosphere you generally want to promote is calm.
This space is an area for relaxation, not running around in circles or jumping on the bed. Cooling colors, including blue, green, and purple, help promote that relaxing atmosphere most parents want.
Take your child’s sensory preferences into account before committing to any one shade. For instance, children with light and visual sensitivity may prefer shades that are darker and absorb more light, such as gray, navy, soft blue, or violet.
Designing a Calming Bedroom for a Child with Autism
A clean, organized, and calming bedroom for a child with autism is always the way to go. It is a place where they can escape for relaxation. While parents should tailor a child’s bedroom based on their sensory needs, the end goal is creating an environment of comfort and security. An air purifier reduces allergens and creates a soothing white noise.
Too much harsh lighting can be upsetting. Reduce light pollution and instead outfit the room with kid-approved sensory mood lighting. Paint the room in a color that creates the calming atmosphere you want. Finally, provide ample storage solutions to reduce anxiety caused by clutter and mess.
Following these tips for designing a calming bedroom for a child with autism, your child will be more than happy with their space. Additionally, you can make a calming space in the house that is for all their sensory tools. This way, their bedroom is solely for sleep while the other room is for the sensory tools. If you loved these tips (we hope you did!), make sure to subscribe to the mailing list below and catch up on all our autism articles.
