[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 186 (Friday, October 22, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             OPENING OF THE JOSEPH H. VICARI SENSORY SPACE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 22, 2021

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, earlier this week in my 
district in Ocean County, New Jersey, family members, friends, and 
service providers for children with autism marked the official opening 
of the Joseph H. Vicari Sensory Space inside the Toms River Branch of 
the Ocean County Library system.
  Like so many worthwhile endeavors across our country, this project 
had been slowed--but not stopped--by the impact of COVID-19. Originally 
due to open earlier this year, this Sensory Space is now fully 
operational and providing a new hub to boost learning experiences for 
children with autism.
  Housed within the heart of the main branch of the county library 
system, the Joseph H. Vicari Sensory Space has been carefully designed 
and supplied with special learning tools to help develop the senses, 
encourage communication and social interactions, relieve stress and 
anxiety, and promote calmness and well-being in children with autism. 
The Sensory Space offers a comfortable place and sends a positive 
message to people with varying degrees of sensory processing abilities 
who might feel inhibited in social environments.
  Having toured the new facility this spring with Ocean County 
Commissioner Joseph Vicari, Ocean County Library Director Susan Quinn 
and Ocean County Library Commission Chair Ruthanne Scaturro and several 
dedicated library officials, I am confident that this space will not 
only serve those who visit exceptionally well, but will also inspire 
and serve as a model of how a community can expand learning 
opportunities and accommodate children on the autism spectrum.
  The Sensory Space includes such innovative features as:
  A touching wall that uses musical sounds, shapes, numbers and colors 
for visual and auditory stimulation.
  A sensory canopy of billowing, magnetic fabrics that create an 
impression of clouds overhead.
  LED illuminators for aid in color recognition, sensory stimulation 
and visual attention.
  An ocean wave ceiling projector, which combines ambient or 
customizable audio with colorful light effects to enhance relaxation.
  A bubble tube calming device that cycles through hundreds of 
different shades of color.
  An LED light table and colorful jigsaw play box, which illustrates 
the effects of colors and light on everyday objects and passively 
enhances creative ability.
  A fiber optic color-changing light waterfall, providing tactile 
stimulation through touch and manipulation, and visual impressions of 
changing, bending lights.
  A colorful mat with matching cubes to build color recognition, 
stimulate imagination, exercise gross motor skills and develop spatial 
reasoning.
  In addition to County Commissioner Vicari, Library Director Quinn and 
Library Commission Chairwoman Scaturro, other key individuals who must 
be credited in the development and completion of the space include: 
Library Commissioner Susan Hutler; Assistant Library Director Sara 
Siegler; Facilities Manager Joe Cahill; Assistant Facilities Managers 
Michael Erickson and Barry DePaul; Toms River Branch Chief Librarian 
Rachel Lavoie-Dohn; Jackson Branch Librarian Wendi Smolowitz, Chair of 
the Library's Autism Resources Committee, and Administrative Clerk 
Kelly Nichols.
  Nearly twenty-five years ago, Ocean County residents, Bobbie and 
Billy Gallagher, parents with two small children with autism, reached 
out to me looking for help and underscoring the fact that the federal 
government was doing next to nothing in providing support for research, 
early education intervention and treatments for children with autism. 
Armed with data and their own research, the Gallaghers helped me win 
approval of landmark federal legislation, the ASSURE Act of 2000--to 
create a comprehensive federal program to combat autism.
  Since then, Congress has enacted three additional comprehensive laws 
I have written to provide significant federal resources for research, 
education, and early intervention for children with autism. My most 
recent law, known as the Autism CARES Act of 2019, authorized $1.8 
billion through 2024 for research grants, awareness programs, 
surveillance, early detection and intervention, parental support and 
training for health care professionals. And for the first time, my new 
law will expand federal support to adults with autism.
  Over the last two decades, the support systems for children and 
families with autism has grown nationwide, with many community 
organizations leading the way.
  I am deeply grateful for the innovative, local grassroots efforts 
here in Ocean County--especially and including the Joseph H. Vicari 
Sensory Space, with its pioneering, state-of-the-art facility that will 
attract and support individuals with autism and his or her caregivers 
for many years to come.

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