Therapy in a Multisensory Environment

Six-year-old John Burks sits near a padded white mat in a white-walled room, waiting for it to be transformed into his own private party space.
Streams of red simultaneously gush through a pair of ceiling-to-floor vertical bubble tubes on each side of the room. A pile of fiber optic strands turn red and another cluster of green strands hang from the wall. Geometric patterns twirl and spin into endless kaleidoscope shapes. A silver disco ball glitters in the air as "Mr. Blue Sky" plays in the background.
John sits mesmerized as the room bursts into color. Initially oblivious to the music, he starts bobbing his head once the track switches to "Strange Magic," another song from the Electric Light Orchestra.
This is all part of therapy designed for children and adults with developmental and cognitive disabilities at the Milwaukee Center for Independence.