For the past 10 months, special educators at Williams Intermediate School in Pell City have been working towards building a Sensory Room to help students with autism and similar sensory processing issues.

Now, thanks in part to community donation and several grants, construction of the room is underway, and is expected to be completed in a few weeks.

However, there is one piece still missing.

Sensory PODS produce innovative pop-up spaces, or PODS, for students with a variety of sensory processing issues. The POD uses interchangeable interior and exterior graphics to create an engaging, yet relaxing, environment for students with sensory processing disorders.

“I promise this will be a great investment into the lives of children of Williams Intermediate School,” says Meredith Snow, special education teacher at Williams Intermediate School. “Anything you can give will help, no donation is too small.”

The POD would be the finishing touch to the Sensory Room, and the school is reaching out to the community for help in purchasing this final item.

Sensory processing disorders are neurological conditions in which individuals cannot correctly respond to sensory signals, leading to feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed.

A Sensory Room is a tool to combat that reaction, introducing students to sensory signals in a controlled and comfortable environment. LED lights, a projector, a sound system and over a dozen other pieces of interactive equipment are utilized to create a room that will serve as both a respite and learning environment for the special needs students at the school.

To help with the purchase of a POD and complete the Sensory Room, donations can be made online at gofundme.com/panther-pals-wis-pod-project, or by searching Panther Pals WIS POD Project on gofundme.com.