Community Connection:
Bubble Tubes for ALL! by Lannette Burlingame, Region 7 ESC Special Education Specialist
A group of special educators from Whitehouse ISD recently partnered with their high school engineering department to develop sensory bubble tubes for their district’s elementary sensory-motor labs. This idea was born when the group (which consisted of an Occupational Therapist, a Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant, a Physical Therapist, a campus principal, and a teacher of students with visual impairments) developed a grant to fund a sensory-motor lab on an ECSE-5th grade campus in the district. The grant request to the Whitehouse Education Foundation was titled “What Does My Brain Need? Move and Groove Sensory Motor Lab”, and included a wish list of sensory items totaling $5,000. Because $5000 was the maximum amount allowed, one of the items was removed from the wish list on the grant request due to the high cost. The sensory bubble tube was one such piece and commonly retails for over $2,000, so the group could not justify spending such a large amount of the total budget on this one item. The team began brainstorming, and a call to the Whitehouse High School engineering teacher, Mr. Joe Farmer, resulted in 10
a collaborative partnership between Whitehouse Special Education and Whitehouse High School Engineering. Mr. Farmer indicated that he was looking for a senior project for his engineering students and that this project would be the perfect fit! Mr. Farmer had his engineering students first learn why this item would be helpful to students with disabilities. WISD Special Educators provided information to Mr. Farmer and his students regarding the special sensory needs of students with various disabilities. The students developed a parts list from the bubble tube “build instructions,” estimated cost per tube, and provided an anticipated delivery date. The plan was written up (by the students) in a formal proposal letter and sent to the special education department. Upon seeing the proposal, Special Programs Director, Jaclyn Zigtema, determined that because the WHS engineering team built the bubble tubes for approximately $400 per tube, all six campuses would receive bubble tubes due to the unbelievable cost difference. The engineering students then began the year-
