ABSTRACT

Objective : This study aimed at determining the effects of intentional multisensory environments (Snoezelen) on eye-hand coordination in children with cerebral palsy. Methods : For the analysis, a Snoezelen program was applied to three children with cerebral palsy over twelve weeks. To verify the effects of Snoezelen and changes in their eye-hand coordination ability based on a Jebsen Hand Function test, changes in the runtime of children taking seven subordinate tests were measured, who had their dominant-hand and nondominant-hand respectively tested. Results : After the intentional Snoezelen program, each runtime for the seven subordinate tests was reduced by more than 23.4 percent. In particular, in a simulated feeding test, three children failed to carry out the task in their preliminary tests, but after the program, all of them succeeded. After the Snoezelen program, changes in every test except for a test on the lifting of small objects were statistically significant in terms of their dominant hand. Meanwhile, changes in the test results on simulated page turning, lifting of small objects, simulated feeding, and stacking checkers were also significant in terms of their non-dominant hand (p<.05). Conclusion : Through the results of this study, intentional multisensory environments were proven to have positive effects on eye-hand coordination in children with cerebral palsy. It is expected that there will be many follow-up studies verifying the effects of Snoezelen.