Sarah’s UDL Blog

I just ran across an article about the Rock-It Science Festival, an upcoming NYC music and arts festival sponsored by the Sensation and Emotion Network. The SENetwork focuses on “interdisciplinary research in sensory processing and emotion regulation,” and the festival consists of an interesting conglomeration of neuroscientists and musicians (including Rufus Wainwright and a neuroscience rock band called the Amygdaloids).

One of the key issues that the SENetwork addresses is that of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), a disorder that causes people to have extremely strong negative reactions to sensory input such as noise. Reading about their work raises a couple of questions for me:

• How can Universal Design principles be (or how are they already) implemented in out-of-school cultural settings such as musical performances or museum exhibitions?
• If stimula that can be enriching and supportive for one learner can be jarring and disruptive to others, how do we provide effective and easy-to-use controls to help people customize this type of experience?

I’d love to hear (read?) your thoughts in the comments!