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Virtual World
In the intial lockdown, confined to our homes, we had a fewer opportunities for vestibular (movement) and proprioceptive (muscle work) input. Movement and physical activity are good for us, not only keeping us fit and healthy but also in regulating our arousal levels and emotions. As I write it looks like this ‘new normal’ is likely to continue for many months and for all of us this means adapting to a lot of change. For those with sensory processing problems, bubbles and restrictions mean that it is very likely that they will have much less regulating sensory input in their day. It means being much more creative in creating opportunities. Some ideas for vestibular (movement) input can be found here in my last newsletter I have been preparing the new online ‘Introduction to Sensory Integration and Sensory Processing Disorder’ and as part of the pre-course preparation I am asking participants to watch a video and read an article and then complete a quiz. It made me think this would be a great opportunity to have a little competition to test your sensory processing knowledge with the chance to win a prize! So why not have a go, ask the staff in your school or work setting to have a go, it will help you to see how much you know (or don’t know). The quiz needs to be submitted by Friday 23 October 2020. Only one entry per person and open to anyone with a UK postal address. The winner will be randomly selected from the entries which have all the answers correct, and will be notified by Monday 2 November 2020. The prize will be one copy of one of these books (you can choose which one if you win) – The Out of Sync Child (Kranowitz) or Sensational Kids (Miller) or Why Love Matters (Gerhardt). The winner and where to find the correct answers will be posted in the next newsletter. | ||
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Courses
One of the unexpected pluses for me over the summer term was working online with some of the schools that I have contracts with. This work ranged from thinking about their provision and curriculum to staff training sessions. In one school, we devised a bespoke training programme for all members of staff, in small group sessions tailored to the knowledge of each small group. I think previous to this I had been very skeptical about the effectiveness of online training as webinar type training definitely does not suit my learning or teaching style. What I realised was that by altering the training material, making much more use of pre-reading/learning (flipped classroom), and having small groups, it is possible to still deliver high quality training where participants can be active learners during the day rather than passive listeners. “We have recently had whole school training with Julia which was delivered via zoom. Staff found it extremely useful and were still able to ask questions, interact and engage in discussions via break out rooms and through the shared screen. We have very positive feedback following it and given the current difficulties we face when delivering group training this was a fantastic medium to get our whole school staff trained and allow them to engage with Julia which they wouldn’t always have the opportunity to do in a group setting. The staff took a great deal from the training and the zoom groups allowed us to tailor it to specific groups of staff working at the same level.” Vicky Farish, Lead Practitioner, Pear Tree School | ||
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Online coursesOnline courses will be delivered using Zoom. We believe in learners being interactive and not passive listeners so each course will be limited to a maximum of 20 participants. The course will be delivered through Zoom sessions in the morning and then workshop activities to complete in your own time for the afternoon session. The individual course programme can be viewed on the link. Online Sensory Processing and Autism10 and 12 November 2020
Online Introduction to Sensory Integration and Sensory Processing Disorder2, 3 December 2020 and 7 January 2021 | ||