St. Pius X Catholic Church has opened a new sensory room designed to help parishioners with autism, Down syndrome and other sensory needs participate more fully in the Mass.
The room includes dimmable lighting, soft seating, sound insulation, fidget tools and flexible furniture, all intended to create a calm and welcoming worship space.
“We have many members of our community who are in need of a space,” said Tim Wheeler, director of religious education at St. Pius. “Whether they have autism or Down syndrome or any sort of learning disability…where they can feel like they're part of the parish community, where they can worship, where they don't have to feel like they're being othered.”
Wheeler said the room offers choices for people who may need to step away from the main sanctuary during Mass, or remain in the sensory space the entire time while still staying connected through a built-in speaker system.
“We also have in the room the opportunity to dim the lights to a comfortable level,” he said. “We also have a volume control to the point where I believe it can go to mute if needed.”
Church leaders say the room is available for both children and adults and has been used at every Mass since it opened about six weeks ago.
The idea originated with the church’s Children and Family Ministry and its Marichie Program, an adaptive catechesis class for children and teens with special needs.
“We saw that there was a need…that families weren't coming together to Mass,” said Stephanie Sibal, director of stewardship and engagement. “And parents would split, or they just wouldn't come, because their child was having difficulties in the church.”
Sibal said the parish converted a former storage room with the help of donors.
Wheeler described one family with a nine-year-old child who had never been able to attend Mass together, until now.
“For the first time ever, as an entire family, they could come to Mass and worship together,” he said. “And their son…was able to stem, he was able to feel comfortable, he was able to stay for the entire Mass. He kept saying, ‘There's Jesus, there's Jesus.’”
Church leaders hope the sensory room inspires other parishes to create similar spaces.
“We would just love to see people being able to practice their faith in a way where they feel included,” Sibal said, “where they can come to know God… and feel like they are part of the community, because they are.”
