SAISD is an acronym for Supporting Activity for integrated Sensory Development.
This concept is used widely in Europe, and our facility is adapting it
to suit Japanese culture.
In SAISD, a room is provided where users can perform all kinds of spontaneous
activities. This concept does not focus on the degree of disability, but
on the satisfaction each user can experience through these self-initiated
tasks. The staff and users share the same environement and are on equal
terms during these SAISD activities.
The Yamagata Hikari Center began carrying out SAISD in 1999, and this extended
to the Yamagata Ikusei Center as an individual support activity. Most of
the users of SAISD are either autistic or severely disabled, and the activities
are intended to help them relax and enjoy their leisure time in a room
designed to reflect the preferences of the individual users, and an environment
in which they feel comfortable. Users enjoy their relaxation time in the
SAISD room, time which otherwise tends to be overlooked in the flow of
daily activities. We believe that SAISD is indispensible for the users
to become integrated in normal lifestyles, with a focus on the importance
of having relaxation time.
The priciple of SAISD is to give the users a chance to make their "given life"
into a "selected life", and aims to put the normalization process
into practice.
- a room is provided in which users can make the most of their own potential.
- communication between staff and users is improved
- users can take intitative in order to express themselves
