BUBBLE TUBES FOR ALL

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 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-

long process of designing and building the tubes. The students created a prototype based on the original plans, and then the troubleshooting process began. The students improved the aspects of the original design and developed a final parts list. The students designed the tubes down to the fish and sea creatures. The creatures were 3-D printed and built to have the proper buoyancy to float and move inside the tubes. The engineering students also delivered and assembled the sensory tubes on the appropriate campuses as the final piece of the project.

This project provided an incredible piece of sensory equipment for our students who utilize the sensory-motor lab. It also provided a real-world experience for the engineering students who participated in designing, purchasing, building, delivering, and assembling these unique bubble tubes. Most importantly, the engineering students met and interacted with many students who would utilize these bubble tubes. Several engineering students commented that seeing the students interacting with the bubble tubes “made all of the hard work worth it!” Lannette Burlingame, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, commented on the project in the following way. “Bubble tubes are such a nice feature for our sensory-motor labs as they are developed as a way to provide a calming and soothing area for those who need that as a part of their school day. They are also great tools for our students who have low incidence disabilities such as visual impairment. In addition, they are just fun and inviting for our students! We are very blessed to have had the opportunity to partner with the WHS Engineering Program on this amazing project!” ■