Story Sharing

Everyone should be able to share their stories

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Online Training from The Sensory Projects

The Sensory Projects have created an online training offer, of watch on demand courses and workshops that all tackle topics relevant to those supporting people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, or those interested in the sensory world and how it can be used to enhance provision for people of all ages and abilities. 

Study with The Sensory Projects begins at the start of each calendar month, training currently available includes:

Courses:

  • Ambitious and Inclusive Sensory Storytelling
  • Multisensory Rooms: Myth Busting the Magic
  • Exploring the Impact of the Senses on Behaviour
  • Sensory Engagement for Mental Wellbeing

Workshops:

  • Creating Sensory Accessibility
  • Sensory-being: Mental Wellness for People with Profound Disabilities.

For more information about these courses, and to look out for new courses as they are added to The Sensory Projects’ Online College visit www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/Online-college and connect with The Sensory Projects’ Founder Joanna Grace across social media on:

News for September 2021

Our courses are now available online.

We are also collaborating with partners to run a series of webinars and masterclasses on Eventbrite to explore different aspects of story with our learners. Our first is on exploring emotions in PMLD, with the wonderful Julie Calveley of NAC. This is sold out already, but do email us for updates.

On November 25th we have the Surviving through Story conference, sharing the experiences of people with learning disabilities during the pandemic (you will NOT want to miss the gorilla doing a charity run…).

On December 2 Gunnar Vege will be leading a masterclass on Embodied Memory and Bodily Emotional Traces.

More events planned for 2022 – so watch this space and sign up for our newsletter to learn more.

Download the September 2021 newsletter for more information about the above, and more.

Personal Storysharing with AAC

In this workshop, speech and language therapist Ashleigh Paddon and mum Jitka Jacubkova took us through a practical guide to creating and sharing personal stories with children who use aided communication – books and apps that are widely available. Certificate and powerpoint can be found below for attendees.

Finding a Voice through Sharing Stories in Sign

This interactive talk by Charlotte Parkhouse, Gareth Smith and Nicola Grove shared creative ways of using gesture and key word sign (eg. Makaton, Signalong) to promote narrative and discussion with young people who have learning disabilities. Our ideas come directly from our students, when we started observing closely what they were actually doing with the vocabulary we had taught them. We saw them holding the floor, innovating, and expressing their ideas directly in ways far beyond what we had thought they were capable of. A recording of the talk will shortly be available. Attendees can access the powerpoint and a certificate of attendance here. The research is described in the chapters we wrote for the book Manual Sign Acquisition by Children with Developmental Disabilities, now available in paperback and with individual chapter purchase. For 20% discount, use code special20 https://novapublishers.com/shop/manual-sign-acquisition-in-children-with-developmental-disabilities/

Movement, Touch and Story

Two great sessions exploring how The Story Massage Programme can be combined with personal stories. Thanks so much to Mary Atkinson (TSMP) and Gill White (PAMIS) for co-hosting these, and to all of you who joined. We are planning to learn more about the role of movement and touch in forming memories from colleagues working with Deaf blind people – watch this space! And our next workshop, on key word sign and story, will look at movement too. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finding-a-voice-through-sharing-stories-in-sign-tickets-136270309163?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

Congratulations to our Licensed Practitioners…

You are the people who keep this venture alive with your ideas, challenges and expertise!

Gill White is a parent, working as well with the PAMIS charity for children and adults with profound disabilities, in Dundee. Look at their website for fab resources and ideas…www.pamis.org.uk. Clare Cummings and Amy Meredith work at Three Ways School. Lucy O’Neill works at Wilson Stuart School. Rachel Barker from Dorothy Goodman School works with autistic youngsters and has been combining Storysharing with other relevant approaches – she will be writing about some of these ideas soon on this website. Thanks to all for contributing thoughts for the online course.

Our first online graduates were Ashleigh Paddon, Jess Meredith Wickes and Jade Cook. Ashleigh is a Speech and Language therapist who has a wonderful website at https://the-therapy-tree.com; Jess is well known to you all as one of the stars of Abbie’s hospital visit, and has been using Storysharing for some years; Jade Cook is the Director of Spectrum Community Arts (www.spectrumca.co.uk ).

Surviving Through Story Articles

We are delighted to have had a number of articles published on the topic of Surviving through Story.

Surviving through Stories
How people with learning disabilities are getting through COVID
Community Living – coming soon October 16th www.cl-initiatives.co.uk

Surviving through Story – documenting lives in lockdown and beyond PMLD Link 32 issue 96. As a Guest Subscribers and get free access to almost 30 years of journals – filled with stories of the real lives and experiences of individuals with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) www.pmldlink.org.uk

International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication newsletter May 2020
Surviving through Story: COVID-19 personal narratives for children and adults with communication and learning disabilities

We were also delighted to be interviewed by Amber and Lucy on Frozen Light
Episode 5 frozenlighttheatre.com/podcast/