‘Sparkle & Shine’
Sharing excellence in multi sensory practice
7th November 2008
MIC Conference Centre, Euston, London.

Engaging very early communicators in the multi sensory design brief
Promoting relaxation, playfulness and engagement for children on the autistic spectrum
Creating multi sensory environments for the individual learner
An architects viewpoint - designing a space for children & adults with ASD
The multi sensory room - an Australian occupational therapists perspective
Sparkling multi sensory interactions
The inevitability of multi sensory encounters with the juicy world
Creating multi sensory drama sessions

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Presenters:
Flo Longhorn
Richard Hirstwood
Robert Orr
Wendy Keays-Bright
Christopher Beaver
Mandy Williams
Susan Fowler
Keith Park

Agenda - ‘Sparkle and Shine’
7th November 2008 - London

9.30am Flo Longhorn & Richard Hirstwood, Multi Sensory Consultants

Welcome to the Forum
9.40am - 10.35am Wendy Keays-Bright, Principle Researcher for the Reactive Colours Autism Project.

'ReacTickles: Using conventional everyday technologies to promote relaxation, playfulness and engagement for children on the autistic spectrum'

This presentation will integrate practical insights and theoretical perspectives to offer a conceptualisation of technologies as ambient and playful, where the natural rhythms and modes of social communication can be explored in order to facilitate relaxation, engagement, and playfulness for young children on the autism spectrum.

10.40am - 11am
Susan Fowler,
Australian Occupational Therapist and author.

'The controlled Multi Sensory Environment'

(DVD presentation.)

11am - 11.25am Coffee

11.25am - 12.25pm
Choice of Workshop:

Mandy Williams
Senior Clinician Occupational Therapist, Editor & Writer

'Engaging very early communicators in the process of designing an MSE space - a sensory garden'

Mandy will present her teams work in modifying sensory mapping techniques in order to record the responses of early communicators. This enables a person centred approach to be at the heart of MSE design.

or

Flo Longhorn, Multisensory Consultant

'Small is beautiful - multi sensory environments of learning for the individual learner'

Flo will take a dip into the sensory world of the hard-to-reach learner - presenting a wide range of strategies and materials designed to engage them with a 'wow' factor that is hard to resist.

12.30pm - 1.30pm Lunch

1.30pm - 2.15pm
Robert Orr, Independent Consultant & author.

'The sound of sparkle, the smell of shine: the inevitability of multisensory encounters with the juicy world (with thanks to Meissner, Pacini, Rufini and Krause).'

2.15-2.45pm
Christopher Beaver, Architect

'Designing Environments for Children & Adults with ASD'

Christopher considers principle issues for successful design, including the interplay of environmental & human factors and the balance between a happy, calm & friendly space, which is also robust.

2.45pm - 3pm Tea

3pm - 3.40pm
Choice of Workshop:
Wendy Keays-Bright

'Using the ReacTickles software'

Themes addressed include:
Creativity
Thinking Skills and Problem Solving
Language and Communication
Working with Others
Physical Development and Mobility
in order to address some of the pedagogical challenges of integrating playful experiences into current curriculum frameworks in the UK and the implications for practice.

or

Richard Hirstwood, Multi Sensory Consultant

‘Sparkling stimulation: case studies’

Using recent video, Richard will show specific individual multi sensory interactions. His session will illustrate the uses of multi sensory equipment with students with high dependency needs. He will demonstrate new techniques to enable you to ‘sparkle and shine’ in your multi sensory environment.

3.45pm - 4pm Keith Park, Dramatist, author & scriptwriter

'Drama Rules - ok!'

Keith will be providing an interactive demonstration of poetry and drama, including extracts from Shakespeare, poems and pantomime.

4pm Close of Forum

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Speakers - ‘Sparkle and Shine’

Wendy Keays-Bright is the principle researcher for the Reactive Colours Autism project and Senior Lecturer in Graphic Communication and Design for Interactive Media degree at University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Her career spans 25 years working in animation and moving image design, before becoming a freelance animation producer. Clients include BBC One, HTV West & S4C. She has presented her work internationally and continues to develop her interests and skills in the design of sensory technologies for marginalised groups - including special needs & autism.

Christopher Beaver is an architect and senior partner in ga architects, a private architectural practice specialising in special needs buildings and more particularly in the design of environments for children and adults with ASD. It was in 1996 that ga architects first became involved in designing for ASD. The first brief was to design a specialist building for 12 children with profound ASD. This met with some success and was viewed by many providers all faced with the same problem of building a building that was robust yet still had some semblance of home. Christopher contributed an article to the Autumn 2003 issue of the NAS magazine, Communication, called ‘Breaking the Mould’ which was based on the building of this first ASD project. Since 1996 Christopher has worked on a number of residential and educational projects for children and adults with ASD and is keen to spread the word that there is still much to do. His message to providers is that these buildings are not cheap and that a lot of thought and experience has to go into developing a brief for the designer.

Susan Fowler is an Australian Occupational therapist & writer. She is the author of 'Sensory Stimulation - sensory focussed activities for people with physical & multiple disabilities' (2007.)

Mandy Williams is a Senior Clinician – Occupational Therapist at the Communication Resource Centre – Scope, Melbourne, Australia. Mandy has worked in the areas of severe and multiple disabilities for more than 30 years. She is co-founder and co-editor of the Enhancing Communication and Participation through Sensory Stimulation (ECAPSS) Newsletter and was co-convenor of the National ECAPSS Conference September 2001. She lectures widely in the area of sensory-focused approaches for people with high support needs. She has several publications to her credit including “Activities for Everyone –art & craft” (2003). Mandy has a particular interest in sensory assessment, sensory-focused activities and environments that encourage maximum opportunities for communication and participation.

Flo Longhorn is an International Consultant in special education, with reference to profound disability or autism and author of 15 books on multisensory learning. She has a particular interest in how early development is closely linked to the senses and how this impacts on learning at any level of development.

Robert Orr (MED (Human Relations) B.A. DipSpecialED (visual handicap) Cert Ed NVQ Playwork) is the author of 'My right to play (2003)': a classic in observation of the world seen through the eyes of a child with special needs. He is an opponent of the MSR! A previous head teacher & RNIB advisor, Robert is well known in the special education world for his work with learners with profound disability.

Keith Park is a well-known dramatist, author and scriptwriter who works mainly with special and mainstream schools or special adults. He specialises in the earliest forms of interactive storytelling seen in pantomime, folk tales, poetry and Shakespeare. His book 'Interactive Storytelling: Developing Inclusive Stories for Children and Adults 'won a major award at the Nasen education book awards. Keith has also written several books in collaboration with Nicola Grove, including ’Odyssey Now’ and ‘Macbeth in Mind’, which were the first books to make classical literature accessible to people with severe disability.

Richard Hirstwood is a motivational and accomplished international presenter in the field of sensory learning. His extensive experience is based upon practical knowledge - giving him the insight into what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t in multi sensory practice. Regular sessions with children & adults in a variety of multi sensory rooms enables him to maintain this level of excellent practice. To date he has inspired early years practitioners, teachers & therapists across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia & the America's.

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