The School of Computing Sciences and Computing Engineering is opening a new sensory room to help promote socialization and productivity among neurodivergent students.
The room will be furnished in Spring 2025. Department faculty and staff hope for a grand opening in Fall 2025.
Members of the school noticed that neurodivergent students often found it difficult to navigate the sensory-rich environment of college.
Dr. Aleise McGowan, the principal investigator for the project, explained that the room is made to give neurodivergent students who might be struggling with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, SPD or other related conditions a space for themselves.
“The room was originally created to give neurodiverse students within the computer science and computer engineering a space to go if they were experiencing a sensory overload,” McGowan said. “Or in case they needed somewhere quiet to calm down or if they were experiencing anxiety.”
The room will be equipped with a range of sensory tools like weighted blankets, noise-canceling headphones, fidget toys, and calming lighting.
The room will be located in TEC 203 B. The room will be close to the student lounge and students can easily go to the sensory room from the lounge if needed.
“The primary goal of this project is to create a sensory room that caters to the unique needs of the neurodiverse students,” said Jessica Hillman, assistant to the director of the USM School of Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering. “Our objectives are reducing stress and anxiety, regulating sensory input, improving focus and attention, and fostering the development of social skills and relationships.”
“I feel like it’s a good initiative,” said computer science major Stephen Joshi. “I feel like it would help students who have trouble focusing or have ADHD. I definitely think it can be an addition to the computer science department.”
The project is being funded by the Jimmy A. Payne Foundation Grant which is also funding 16 other projects across campus. The department applied for a grant of $12,000 to help create the space. The funds were used to paint the room, buy furniture and sensory tools, install new flooring, and install a hall entry glass door.
The School of Computing Sciences and Computing Engineering is the first academic school at Southern Miss to open a sensory room.
The school has also shown many other notable accomplishments aside from this. Southern Miss was the first university to offer a computer science program in the state of Mississippi. The department has also increased its enrollment by 45% in the last three years under a new leadership, where the underrepresented minority enrollment increased by 36%. Female undergraduate enrollment is now up 81% from last year and 23% of the total computer science students are women. This puts USM on par with the national average of females majoring in computer science. While only 6% of the degree was handed to Black students in 2022, the statistic increased to 22% in 2023. The School of Computing Sciences and Computing Engineering of Southern Miss also wrote the first verified and accepted Broadening Participation in Computing Plan submitted from the state of Mississippi to the National Science Foundation.
