Laura Chavanghrup, left, and her friend Evie Mae Moore, are among a group of women tackling a 15K Tough Mudder challenge to raise money for renewal of the sensory room at the Autism Resource Base unit at Kentish Town Primary School

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PARENTS of children with special educational needs and disabilities are taking on an elite physical challenge to raise funds for sensory rooms at a primary school in Kentish Town.

On May 11 a group of women will tackle the 15K Tough Mudder challenge – a physical obstacle challenge including crawling through mud, swimming through ice water and being shocked by electroshock wires – to raise money for renewal of the sensory room at the Autism Resource Base (ARB) unit at Kentish Town Primary School.

The ARB unit supports children with special educational needs, with the sensory room being vital for children to self-regulate, feel calm and thrive in school.

One of the mothers involved, Laura Chavangthrup, said her son Brandon, who has autism, has benefited from the use of the sensory room at the school.

She said: “Since starting at Kentish Town, Brandon has been jumping leaps and bounds.

“I just can’t explain – he can read now, and we discovered last week he can write independently. At the school they have a selected group of people who are trained with special needs children, as well as individual training for other staff.

“What’s amazing is they try to integrate Brandon with all of the other children but there are times when autistic children get taken to a separate room to read or have different types of therapy – occupational or speech.

“And if they are having emotional problems or need time out, there’s that sensory room to go to, and the school has two incredible rooms – but one of them is more than 10 years old which is one of the reasons I wanted to try and sort some fundraising for it.

“The autism unit works and to have it is such a rarity in a mainstream school but some much-needed renovation could be so worthwhile.

“I think we first saw signs of his autism during the first lockdown. Two months passed and we didn’t hear a word out of him, whereas before he was progressing fine. I thought, ‘this isn’t normal’, so I spoke to my sister and she suggested I would be better paying to get him diagnosed. It was really hard, I haven’t got loads of money, so I had to dip into my savings but then six months later he was diagnosed. It’s hard for any parent. It impacted everyone but I’ve always tried to remain positive, make the most of everything and have hope. I’ve never given up and always tried to push my son because I know he can do it.”

She added: “The new room will hopefully be more calming. The current room is obviously very calm but I think they need a bit more space. The sensory rooms are a vital tool that these children need as a part of their daily life. It helps them regulate and focus and it’s a safe space for them. It’s not a box that’s padded and they’re stuck in there – it’s calm and there’s music, and hopefully we can raise enough funds to redevelop this as well. We’re just trying to raise as much as possible because it is honestly so important and life-changing to so many children.”

As for the challenge ahead, Ms Chavangthrup said it would be tough but that it was “mind over matter”.

She said: “The challenge itself will be hard – and I’m not a gym person. I’ve literally started training myself to run and I did 3K in one go yesterday but there’s a lot to go. It’s a 15K run in between each obstacle and some of them are really brutal – running through electroshock wires, swimming in ice baths, crawling through mud and climbing up a massive tower and heights, which is my biggest fear.

“I know it’s going to be tough but I’m thinking it’s mind over matter and I can do this. But that’s why I went for a larger challenge because anyone that knows me knows I just about like walking. But I want to push myself and raise as much money as possible.”

. To support the cause and donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/arbmums?utm

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