Sensory rooms 'stimulate or calm,' Penarth School head says

Story: BBC Wales | See Video

The head of a school for autistic children has defended the use of sensory rooms, saying they are just one of the strategies used to handle a child with challenging behaviour.

Chris Britten, head of Ashgrove School, Penarth, a specialist provision for children aged 3-19 years with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), showed BBC reporter Lucy Rogers around his school's sensory room.

He said the rooms can be used to calm youngsters as well as stimulate them.

But the doors would never be locked with the child inside, he said.

Mr Britten said a sensory room would always have a member of staff with the child and some rooms might have peep holes or a camera as well.

He said he would be concerned if a sensory room was used merely to confine a child.