Judith Taggart felt hope in November 2023 when the Eagles Autism Foundation visited her school in Northeast Philadelphia. A month later, Taggart was even more delighted when the foundation awarded her a grant during the school’s winter concert.
Fast-forward to last month, when the Eagles Foundation and the Philadelphia Charter for Arts and Sciences held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to debut the room. It’s the first Philadelphia public school to get this kind of accommodation for autistic students.
“When the grants were awarded, that’s when I realized we were the only public school on the list, which made it quite special, really amazing,” said Taggart, the school’s CEO.
Sensory accommodations are increasingly needed yet uncommon in public schools.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association reports that the number of public school students with autism and other special education needs rose by almost 20% from 2007 to 2023. However, the state’s schools are underfunded, and some parents have opted out of enrolling their autistic children in public schools due to the lack of resources for their kids.
Things are changing, and other campuses are starting to incorporate sensory accommodations with the help of grants. The Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School had an opening ceremony for its grant-funded sensory garden on Oct. 4.
Kirsten Saraceni is the director of Scientific Programs and Inclusion Initiatives at the Eagles Autism Foundation. She said that the foundation’s community grant program arose from the demand for more resources for Philadelpia’s autistic community through different stages of life.
“When we went to Philadelphia Charter School and did our tour there, we saw that there was definitely a huge need for a sensory room,” Saraceni said.
Saraceni also noted that the school has more students from lower-income backgrounds. “We wanted to make sure that when they’re coming to school, everyone is able to feel comfortable and have a safe space to de-escalate,” she said.
The Eagles Autism Foundation partnered with Kulture City, a nonprofit dedicated to sensory accessibility, to turn an old storage room into a sensory room. The Eagles’ sensory room at Lincoln Financial Field inspired the design of the one at the charter school. Both rooms have color-changing touchscreens, tactile wall panels, and firm, beanbag-like seats.
Saraceni said that she and others at the foundation were excited to carry out the vision of Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles who has a personal connection to the autism community.
The Eagles Autism Foundation has raised more than $30 million since launching in 2018, and supports community, education and research projects. The Eagles have had a sensory room at Lincoln Financial Field for years.
“While we started with the sensory room at the stadium, it’s been amazing to see everything grow exponentially, and to now be opening up sensory rooms in the School District of Philadelphia has been amazing to just watch it grow and flourish like that,” Saraceni said.
The sensory room has been put to good use in its first month at the school. Autistic support teacher Tyshia Inman works with kindergarten, first- and second-grade students and sees a big difference in her students’ behavior.
In the past, Inman and other autistic support teachers had to keep students in the classroom, so they would sit in the calming corner and use other sensory gadgets to regulate themselves. For example, Inman had a tent as a space for students to isolate and relax while feeling overstimulated. Children could also lie down in an inflatable canoe to stay productive. If they continued to feel jittery after using these tools, Inman said, teachers or aides took kids for walks in the hallway.
With the sensory room in place, Inman notices how effectively it calms students down. She said that when the students walk into the sensory room, their line was scattered, but much more straight on the way out.
“Sometimes, you need a new environment, and they love it,” Inman remarked. “When they come back, you see it with your own eyes.”
The sensory room is used by students with other sensory needs, even though the Eagles Foundation built it for children in autistic support classes.
When she reflected on the sensory room’s ability to soothe students in and out of her class, Inman said, “That makes a teacher feel wonderful!”
Taggart also has a sense of pride in providing the space for the charter school that instructs kindergarten through 8th grade. She called her collaboration with the Eagles Autism Foundation and Kulture City “a labor of love.”
Other public schools can apply for funding from the Eagles Autism Foundation by visiting eaglesautismchallenge.org, holding the mouse over “Our Impact,” and clicking the funding option at the top. The deadline to apply for 2024 was Sept. 9.
