Students with intellectual disabilities have multiple deficits that require specific methods and forms of work. Alongside reduced intellectual abilities and deviations in adaptive skills, there is a common co-occurrence of disorders, most commonly communication disorders and attention deficits. These students have difficulty ignoring distractions in their environment and focusing on the task at hand. Snoezelen is an approach that focuses on the individual within a safe space designed to adapt to the individual using gentle stimulation and to stimulate visual, tactile and auditory experiences. Both globally and in Slovenia, Snoezelen is a very closed approach, accessible only in specially equipped sensory rooms. It was originally conceived as an environment where individuals could relax. As such an environment has a lot to offer a child, as it is carefully and meticulously planned and designed, we wanted to investigate whether Snoezelen can also be used to develop other skills, more specifically to develop attention in a child with an intellectual disability. To this end, we designed a programme using elements of Snoezelen to develop attention through different activities. This programme has been designed according to the characteristics and needs of the student with whom we have carried out our research. The initial state of his attention was assessed using two rating scales covering the domains of general attention and attention within the classroom. After the programme, the data was evaluated and supported by theory. In our research, we found that Snoezelen is a suitable environment to promote learning skills. The results show that the student made progress in the areas of sustaining and directing attention, response inhibition and initiating activity, while no progress was found in the area of motor restlessness. We conclude that the individual approach also plays an important role in ensuring that the pupil receives a holistic approach and treatment.
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