Project Snoezelen

Kateřina Janků is the main researcher of the project, special educator and currently also the Vice Dean for International Relations at the Faculty of Public Policies in Opava. She has been involved in the promotion of the multisensory Snoezelen concept since 2004 and in five international conferences on Snoezelen in the Czech Republic. In her dissertation, she dealt with the topic The use of the multisensory method Snoezelen in people with intellectual disabilities (2007). Currently, she cooperates with members of the International Snoezelen Association - Multisensory Environment and is a member of the board of directors of this organization. She actively participates in conferences related to Snoezelen. In 2019, she has contributed to the construction of a multisensory room for teaching, research and public service purposes at the Silesian University in Opava. In 2018 she published a professional monograph Snoezelen in theory, practice and research. In 2021 she obtained all 3 international qualification levels for teaching and supervising the Snoezelen concept. She has been and still is the co-director of several projects, carried out within the Faculty of Public Policies, both at the level of the Institute of Special Education and at the faculty level.

Eva Zezulková works at the Faculty of Public Policies of the Silesian University in Opava as the head of the Institute of Special Education and is the guarantor of the study programme Special Education. Her professional focus is on inclusive special pedagogy and specifically on speech therapy and special education diagnostics.  She has been and still is the co-director of many projects that address specific issues of inclusive education and special educational needs of pupils. She has been supporting the team and project in incorporating the Snoezelen concept into the curriculum of the Special Education program, including modifications and developing opportunities to incorporate the multisensory room into the happenings of our faculty.

Eva Janků is an external collaborator at the Institute of Special Education, Faculty of Public Policies, Silesian University in Opava. She is a special educator by profession. Currently she works at the Special Primary School in Ostrava (Primary School Těšínská, Ostrava - Slezská Ostrava). Already in her diploma thesis she dealt with the use of the Snoezelen concept for pupils with severe and combined disabilities. Her interest in the Snoezelen concept is reflected in her everyday special education practice. The aim of her efforts is to link Snoezelen as much as possible with the topics of the Framework Curriculum of the Primary Special Education School. She has developed methodological support for this topic within the project, focusing on the seasons and the integration of multisensory elements into regular teaching. In 2019, she received basic and extension certification regarding work with the Snoezelen concept from ISNA-MSE CR. She was actively involved in the implementation, content and organization of both workshops that took place within the project.

Jarmila Pipeková's teaching career focuses on the field of inclusive special education with a focus on special education for people with intellectual disabilities. In 2010, she initiated the creation of the first Snoezelen teaching room on university grounds in the Czech Republic, at the Faculty of Education in Brno. Her interest in the Snoezelen concept dates back to the 1990s, when the concept began to spread to our country from German-speaking countries, especially from the Netherlands. Her activities at the Faculty of Education in Brno, at the Department of Special Education, supported the development of this method and its formation. She is specially interested in the use of Snoezelen in the education of people with mental and combined disabilities.

Jan Viktorin has been working at the Institute of Special Education at the Faculty of Public Policies, Silesian University in Opava since 2019. His research and activities are focused on the issues of inclusive special education, specifically in the field of special education intervention and counselling, specific learning and behavioural disorders and research methodology. His diverse activities highlight the flexible integration of topics and opportunities to use therapeutic activities in different components of the field of special education.

Petr Seďa is an assistant professor at the Department of Mathematical Methods in Economics at VŠB-TU Ostrava and has been working at the Institute of Mathematics at the Silesian University in Opava as an external lecturer since 2007, where in addition to teaching he also supervises or consults bachelor and master theses in Mathematical Methods in Economics and Applied Mathematics. He is also a supervisor of PhD students and a member of the research group in Applied Statistics and Econometrics SEJ-281 at the University of Córdoba in Spain, where he has been teaching regularly since 2011 within the Erasmus+ programme. The author's main research interests are in econometric modelling in financial engineering. A second major area of professional interest is the application of statistical methods in applied economics. He also participated in several research and development projects (GAČR, ESF, FRVŠ), in some of which he was also the principal investigator. Currently, he publishes mainly in renowned domestic and foreign journals indexed in the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases with a focus on economic topics.

Agnieszka Smrokowska-Reichmann is an assistant professor at the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Physical Education in Krakow. She is a member of the Polish Association of Occupational Therapy. In 1993 she translated Jan Hulsegge and Ad Verheul's book "Snoezelen another world" into Polish. She proposed the Polish name for the Snoezelen method: Sala Doświadczania Świata, which is now used in Poland alongside the term Snoezelen. She lectures the Snoezelen method for students of Bachelor and Master of Occupational Therapy and also for Erasmus+ students. He also lectures on ethics and occupational therapy methods for elderly people with dementia. She has supervised a number of bachelor and master theses and is currently co-supervisor of two doctoral theses. She is leading research projects on the Snoezelen method, especially its impact on people with neurodegenerative disease and mental illness. She is the author of the first Polish manual on the Snoezelen method (Agnieszka Smrokowska-Reichmann, "Snoezelen - Sala Doświadczania Świata. Kompendium opiekuna i teraputy", Fundacja Rosa, Wrocław 2013). She obtained the international qualification of a Snoezelen specialist and the international qualification of a teacher and supervisor of the Snoezelen concept. She is the president of the Polish organization ISNA - MSE.

Anna A. Bukowska is a physical therapist, certified music therapist, and academic educator. She is an assistant professor at the University of Physical Education in Krakow, Poland. She is a member of the Polish Association of Music Therapists and the Polish Association of Occupational Therapists. She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the Academy of Music in Wrocław. She defended her doctoral thesis with honours at the University of Physical Education in Krakow (2015). Her research focuses on the application of music therapy and occupational therapy to indicate the improvement of movement and daily activities in a group of patients with neurological and neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's disease, dementia). She is an author and reviewer of scientific publications and co-author of textbooks on occupational therapy and music therapy. She regularly participates in international conferences where she presents the results of her own research. Anna was also the leader of the Polish team in the global project entitled "Homeside - Home-based interventions for people living with dementia: an international randomized controlled trial", funded by the Joint Programmes for Neurodegenerative Diseases (2019-2022). In her clinical practice she works with the population suffering from neurological diseases and with the elderly.

Ramona Ribes Castells studied Psychology at the University of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). She received her PhD in Psychopedagogy from the University of Lleida (UdL), Catalonia, Spain.  Her dissertation research project was entitled "Evaluating the association between cognitive disorders Down syndrome and Alzheimer's dementia". She is currently a university teacher at the University of Lleida, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work (FEPTS). And she is the coordinator of the work in the Snoezelen multisensory room. She is also currently working in the field of child and youth care: from 1989 to 1995 she was the director of the Work Centre for people with functional difference. Latest publications: Ros, A., Filella, G. , Ribes, R., & Escoda, N. P. (2017). Análisis de la relación entre competencias emocionales, autoestima, clima de aula, rendimiento académico y nivel de bienestar en educación primaria. Revista Española de Orientación y Psicopedagogía, 28(1), 8-18.

María José Cid Rodrigues is a doctoral candidate in psychology. She is dedicated to providing training and advice to professionals who work in institutions, centers and all kinds of employment that have in common the care of people. She works as a support professional for different institutions in their qualitative changes aimed at putting the person at the centre of the service provided, starting from a positive emotional relationship. In addition, he gives lectures, participates in teaching in different courses and postgraduate courses in different universities in Spain, Portugal, Central and South America. She is responsible for the certification and certification of professionals who train as therapists within the Snoezelen concept. The International Snoezelen Association, of which she has been a board member since 2010, has enabled her to provide training to professionals in the field of multisensory intervention and Snoezelen. Her relationship with the world of multisensory stimulation began almost 20 years ago. Since 2005, she has participated in international conferences organized by ISNA in different parts of the world (Germany, Denmark, Finland, United States, France, Argentina, Czech Republic, etc.). With her interest in this practice, she defended her doctoral thesis in 2009 entitled "Multisensory and Snoezelen intervention in adults with severe intellectual disabilities".