Teacher Creates Chairs From Tennis Balls to Soothe Autistic Students

This elementary school teacher went above and beyond for her students with sensory issues just by using paint, a hot glue gun, and a few tennis balls.

Amy Maplethorpe, a first grade speech-language pathologist at Raymond Ellis Elementary School in Round Lake, Illinois created special textured chairs for her students with Down syndrome, autism, or sensory processing disorder. She reportedly got the idea when she came across a similar project on Pinterest.

“Sensory seating is used for students who may have difficulty processing information from their senses and from the world around them,” wrote the school on Facebook. “Tennis balls on the seat and backrest provide an alternative texture to improve sensory regulation.”

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Maplethorpe says that the chairs will assist 15 to 20 students in the school. Children have reportedly already shown improvement since they started using the special seats during class.

If you’d like to make to make your own tennis ball chair, there are instructions written out in a Facebook post located here.

Soothe Your Friends: Click To Share The Good News (Photo by Raymond Ellis Elementary School)