Gel Pad and Sensory Stimulation

My company recently received gel pads that I placed on a light table. The young man in the photos has Down Syndrome and in general does not like to touch anything or use his hands. He pushes objects off his table and spends a lot of time with his hands in his mouth. So it was really incredible that when I brought out the gel pad he pressed it with one or both hands and brought his face close to get a good look.

There were 2 pads, one on top of another and he removed the orange one to get a better look at the yellow one. I think that he enjoyed the sensory input of pressing down into it and obviously it was very visually pleasing to him....