Therapy-based play

Written by

One thing we know how to do at SensationALL is how to make our sessions fun!

Our creative team use a wide range of games to get youngsters moving their bodies and trying different sensory experiences. Play allows practitioners to implement clinical practices that are vital to improve self-regulation so youngsters are building skills without even realising it! 

We asked practitioners, Michael and Rebekah to tell us how they have been using the classic game ‘Marco Polo’ in their sessions recently…

Why we play Marco Polo  

Many neurodivergent people have difficulty with impulse control meaning they often respond to urges, thoughts or situations in extreme ways. We work with individuals to improve their self-awareness so they can feel in control whenever they are triggered by sensory stimulus or busy environments.

As Rebekah explains, “we play Marco Polo as it is perfect to strengthen the nervous system while building youngster’s tolerance of stressful situations“. The game’s format of start/stop actions supports inhibitory control (our ability to think before reacting) giving youngsters chance to practice managing their impulses. 

There is a ‘rush’ element at the start of the game when the players must race to find a hiding spot, so they need to move quickly and make a decision. Once in their hiding place, they must stop, stay still and be quiet, forcing them to fight the urge to move and make noise.  

How to play Marco Polo  

1. Choose a ‘catcher’ and blindfold them

2. Other players choose a hiding place

3. The ‘Catcher’ will call out ‘Marco’ and the players respond ‘Polo’ – the ‘Catcher’ follows the sound until they find each player.

During play, the game’s rules encourage them to focus their attention, behaviour, thoughts, and emotions by pausing and then using their reasoning to shout ‘polo’ at the right time. 

The game allows players to experience how the fight, flight and freeze responses feel in their body through positive, fun activities.

As the catcher gets closer to those hiding, they will experience heightened emotions before returning the nervous system to a state of calm. Going through this sequence of feelings repeatedly demonstrates that they are safe in their body and helps them learn to manage and respond appropriately and safely.

By introducing these experiences via a fun game, we reduce negative reactivity which may be dangerous or harmful. Over time youngsters will build their tolerance (slowly!) to stress.  

Plus, all games allow children to practice turn taking and social interaction – so there are lots of benefits!

  

There are lots of games that can be played at home with the same effect:

  • Hide & Seek
  • Stuck in the Mud
  • Floor is Lava
  • Simon Says
  • Freeze Tag
  • Musical Statues

Why not choose a game for you and your family to do at home – you could make it a regular feature in the week.

Follow us for more tips and suggestions! Join the newsletter mailing list here

Top Tips For A Happy Halloween

Written by
Halloween Tips (title on orange background with bats, pumpkins and witches hats.

At SensationALL, we know that Halloween is one of the events in the year that divides people as, while it is a fun celebration for most, many families living with neurodivergent individuals find it a difficult and challenging experience.

If you want to celebrate Halloween this year, here are a few suggestions of how to make it a happy and fun experience for your family…

Plan

Decide what you and your family can enjoy (or perhaps just tolerate!) and make plans – do you want to carve a pumpkin, dress up, go to a party, or even go Trick or Treating? Planning in advance gives you a chance to help neurodiverse individuals understand the event and decide how they want to participate so they feel more in control.

Top tip – Show them examples of different activities. Visual stories are useful for introducing different options for celebrating so they can vote for what they want to do. Try these social stories from Little Puddins:

But, always be flexible – you may need to change plans at short notice to suit your neurodiverse person!

Prepare

Use a countdown in the run up to activities or events – use visual schedules to clearly identify what is happening when.

If dressing up – practice wearing the costume a few times. Consider giving the costume a sensory element (e.g. soft, furry, cosy etc.) or maybe attach a fidget toy to it. Some people like masks to hide behind but others find them constrictive – let your neurodivergent person choose the outfit and how dressed up they want to be. Pinterest is a great source of ideas like these sensory costume suggestions.

Do some role play of the Trick or Treating process. Only make them hold the bucket/bag if they want to and decide together beforehand if they are happy to speak to people or if they want parents/siblings to talk for them.

Top tip – use photos from the internet/social media to show them examples of different costumes they might see when out and about to prepare them for people wearing masks or scary outfits.

Have an exit strategy

We all know that the best laid plans often don’t work out so it’s a good idea to have an exit strategy.

That could be a plan B option if your neurodiverse person refuses to do what you previously agreed – a relaxing Halloween craft or making a Halloween themed snack might be more achievable.

If you do make it out and about, then agree a signal for them to give if they start to feel overwhelmed so you know when it’s time to head home or to a quiet place.

Make it fun!

Halloween can be fun in lots of different ways and there is no “right” way to do it.

They might only wear part of a costume or go Trick or Treating to 1 or 2 houses (or just their grandparent’s house!) or watch while you carve the pumpkin. However they choose to take part, celebrate it and enjoy the small successes with them.

No matter what you do this Halloween, you know your family best so choose the best way to take part without stress. And if your neurodivergent person doesn’t want to do anything at all that’s absolutely fine!

Happy Halloween from SensationALL!

*NEW* virtual social group

Written by

We’ve been delighted with the success of our virtual services since the pandemic forced us to suspend face-to-face activities. But as a needs led service, we are always looking for ways to improve our programme and respond to input from our attendees.

Therefore, we are delighted to announce that following feedback from our youngsters, we’ve added a brand new social group into the diary – Show & Tell

These weekly sessions are currently FREE OF CHARGE – read on for details of what’s involved…

Show & Tell

He is so engaged that I don’t have to ‘babysit’ him during the call.

It has certainly improved his confidence.

Parent feedback, April 2021

During virtual sessions in 2020, it became apparent that our young service users were relishing the chance to share news or tell each other about their hobbies and interests. It became such an important part of video calls that the idea of a stand-alone Show & Tell group was planted!

The SensationALL team then designed a relaxed, weekly session which uses the Show & Tell format as a way to promote communication and listening skills with each participant encouraged to contribute.

Plus, there are fun activities and challenges to enable each child to practice invaluable social skills such as team work, turn-taking and friendship building.

Who is it for?

Show & Tell is aimed at primary school-age children with support needs who struggle with communication, social interaction or making friends.

Contact us if you would like to discuss your child’s individual needs.

I like it because I get to meet other children and I like the games!

Show & Tell attendee, April 2021

Typical session format

The hour long Show & Tell session follow a semi-structured format with a variety of different activities each week to keep regular attendees interested:

– News time – each child gets to share something they’ve done since the last session

– Activities & Games – active time to get them moving (such as scavenger hunts and house tours) or team problem solving games (e.g. quizzes or guessing games with pictures, logos or catchphrases)

– Weekly challenge – we set a challenge to complete at home before the next session – they can then share how they got on with it during News Time.

– Mindful reflection – we finish each session with a positivity and gratitude discussion when each person shares what they enjoyed most.

Benefits for your child

The aim of each session is to provide a safe space for your child to build their confidence in social groups.

We work on:

– improving tolerance towards others (through turn-taking and listening)

– communication skills

– increasing independence

– building positive friendships & relationships

Watch a recent Show & Tell session

Book a place

Sessions are available term time – MONDAYS – 4.30-5.30pm or 6-7pm

Via secure video call.

Booking is essential as group sizes are capped – email info@sensationall.org.uk

Inclusive Play Park for Westhill

Written by

The planned car park extension and new playground installation is finally happening!

Visitors to the Old Schoolhouse over the last few years will be familiar with the parking constraints caused by the small onsite car park. Addressing this issue has been one of our key priorities following the completion of the Community Asset Transfer for the building and grounds in 2019 as, ensuring the safety of our families and visitors is vital. At the same time, there was an opportunity to create a fully inclusive space for ALL in the adjoining play park – the first of it’s kind in Westhill.

Over the last 18 months, our team have been carefully planning the upgrade of the outdated play park on Westhill Road. We worked with play equipment experts to create a design that offers something for all abilities and makes the most of the footprint. The carefully selected items include a sensory play frame with slide, swings for all ages and abilities as well as a wheelchair accessible trampoline and roundabout.

We are so excited to see work begin – the play park is going to be a fantastic asset to both our charity and Westhill!

Suz Strachan, Service Manager and Co-Founder

The design has also focused on retaining some open green space so families can enjoy picnics and children can play freely. The new park area will be surrounded by fencing to ensure it is a secure space, safe for children to run and explore.

Meanwhile, the car park extension will allow up to 20 vehicles to park onsite, massively improving safety for visitors to the Old Schoolhouse who previously had to park on the roadside. This will also reduce traffic congestion and inconvenience to our neighbours.

The new entrance to the car park from Westhill Road allows for one-way traffic flow to reduce the risk to pedestrians from turning vehicles.

While a designated drop off point has been created specifically to accommodate minibuses or larger vehicles.

Finally, the original car park area will be reserved for those requiring disabled access and larger parking bays.

With the project costing over £147,000 the task of securing the funding in the last year has been challenging and we feel extremely grateful that despite the pandemic so many organisations have pledged their support.

Special thanks go to our main donors – The Wooden Spoon Charity who are funding the majority of the play equipment costs and Aberdeenshire Council who have awarded us a large grant from their Developers Obligations Fund.

Our contributors:

We would also like to thank Fairhurst and our former Chair, Bob McCracken who were instrumental in making this project a reality. Thanks finally to Nicol of Skene for all their help and assistance.

In the future, we hope to add more elements to the park such as sensory panels – we’d love to hear from you if you have suggestions on what else you’d like in the park please get in touch!

Follow our Facebook page for more updates on the progress of the construction.

For all press or media enquiries please contact info@sensationall.org.uk

SensationALL support

Written by

Recently, one of our amazing teens, Euan Gray was brave enough to tell his story to BBC Radio Scotland’s Michelle McManus.

Listen below to him talk about the difference that SensationALL made

Here for you remotely!

0
Written by

Even though we have taken the difficult decision to suspend our groups and services, our SensationALL team are still here to support you remotely during the ongoing CoronaVirus pandemic.

Tell us what you want to see… we’re open to suggestions and your stories too! We’ll share our tips and resources every week but we’d also love to hear what works for your family so we can share it with the whole SensationALL network.

We’ll get through it by supporting each other!

email info@sensationall.org.uk

Explaining CoronaVirus

0
Written by

At SensationALL, we want to support parents/carers by sharing useful information and resources during this unsettling time of social distancing and self-isolation.

The outbreak of CoronaVirus is confusing and worrying for everyone, but the change in routine will be particularly upsetting for children and individuals with learning disabilities or support needs. So it’s important that we talk to them openly without terrifying them!

As you probably already know, Covid-19, is a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. Symptoms are a fever and/or a dry, persistent (ongoing) cough.

In some people it can lead to shortness of breath and extreme cases may need hospital treatment.

If you show any of these symptoms, government advice is to stay at home for 7 days and for your entire household to self-isolate for 14 days.

Top tips:

Here are our suggestions of how to discuss the virus:

  • keep it simple (avoid too much detail or speculation)
  • stay positive – keep your voice light and upbeat – children will mirror your behaviour
  • give practical solutions – hand washing and tissue use are things they can control – you can even turn it into a game
  • end on a positive note – move onto a topic that is normal or fun for them so they don’t dwell on the virus information

Downloadable resources:

Check out the below guides and social stories that explain CoronaVirus and it’s implications in a simple, calming way:

What is CoronaVirusDownload
School is closed – social storyDownload
SensationALL is closed – social storyDownload
My Mum/Dad is a doctor or nurse – social storyDownload

Share your ideas with us

Whilst our normal SensationALL groups are suspended, we can still support you remotely, so feel free to contact us by phone or email for any advice or support. We also want you to tell us what resources/activities you’d like us to share – comment below or email us.

Plus, you can follow our social media channels and check the website for useful videos and posts about activities to do with your children at home during the school closures.

contact us

How to have a SensationALL summer!

Written by

The school summer holidays are long awaited by parents and children alike, but a few weeks in and they can seem never ending! If you’re running out of ideas of what to do to entertain your kids then we are here to help.

Dealing with routine change

For children with support needs the holidays not only means a huge change to routine but also warmer weather resulting in wearing different clothes, putting on suncream, glare of the sun etc. all of which can be challenging for people with conditions such as Autism.

Here are our SensationALL tips and suggestions to tackle any challenges you may be having…

A sun cream sensory story example
  • Use a social story to explain why summer items like sun cream are required. When applying sun cream start with less sensitive areas such as arms and leave the face until last. Try turning it into a game where they ‘paint’ their skin with the suncream.
  • Put Winter clothes away out of sight if you can and make Summer clothes the only available choice to minimise confrontation about what to wear.
  • Use timetables to provide an awareness of what they will be doing that day. Add pictures of their choices to their timetable.
  • Offer a limited choice of activities maybe printing a picture of two options that you know you are able to do and let them to choose.
  • Find quieter times to go out to activities such as sessions specifically for people with additional support needs or times of the day that are quieter
  • Have ear defenders available at noisier times
  • Introduce a visual countdown of how many sleeps there are left until school; if you feel the person would find this helpful

Activity Ideas

Run out of parks to go to and picnics to have??

It can be hard to keep coming up with things to do with that will entertain the kids and not cost a fortune. Here are fab sensory activities we use at SensationALL that you can do at home:

Cornflour Putty – this has a melting texture which can be relaxing to feel and is great fun to make and play with:
– mix 2 cups of cornflour and 1 cup of conditioner until a dough is formed

Making cornflour putty

Sensory Shaving Foam Bag – once made this bag can be taken out with you and used on-the-go as a calming sensory tool:
– Take a zip lock bag and fill with shaving foam – Add a squeeze of two colours of paint – seal the bag and press to mix.

Making a shaving foam bag

Relaxation Glitter Bottle – a brilliant sensory toy: – Using a clean, clear plastic bottle (with screw top lid) add warm water, clear glue and glitter to create relaxing shaker.

Glitter bottle

We hope you all have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you for the new term starting from 19th August!

The SensationALL team x

Make your own ‘SensationALL’ sensory story

Written by

To celebrate World Book Day (Thursday 7th March) we thought we’d share with you our top tips for making a DIY sensory story!

The benefits of sensory stories for individuals with multiple support needs are endless – they help capture their imagination, introduce new sensory experiences, develop language and social interaction. That’s why we use them in many of our groups here at SensationALL, for both children and adults.

To make your own sensory story at home follow these simple steps:

  1. Choose a book, story or theme that you like
  2. Keep it brief – shorten the story and simplify if necessary
  3. Keywords – think about who/what/where/doing words
  4. Use props – think about turning the key words into physical objects – things to touch and smell
  5. Noise – use sounds as much as possible such as songs and clapping. Actions and Makaton signs are also really useful
  6. Be imaginative – don’t worry if your prop isn’t literal, be inventive and creative 
  7. Have fun! Most important thing is to enjoy the journey the story takes you on

Here are some of the items we used in recent sensory stories…

[Show thumbnails]

Why SensationALL use Sensory Stories…

Written by

Our innovative SensationALL service team are always thinking of new activities to incorporate into our sessions as it’s really important to us that all users get the most out of attending (no matter how complex their needs).

SensationALL services are for children and adults with multiple support needs and sensory impairments so we use a variety of multi-sensory materials and activities that stimulate and engage and recently sensory stories have become a significant part of what we do.

A Magic Carpet Journey!

Sensory stories are a key feature of our new Midweek Mayhem adult sessions. Each week we will be going on a ‘Magic Carpet journey’ – using our senses to explore the place we ‘visit’.

By using interactive elements during story-telling (sights, sounds, touch and scents) we take the group on a virtual journey. Using their creativity, our staff come up with a variety of materials relating to the chosen story and while reading it, offer everyone the chance to interact by touching, smelling, seeing and hearing. This hugely beneficial for the service users as they are actively involved with the story rather than simply listening as they may have difficulty following or understanding the spoken words.

Last week we visited an Arabian Bazar…

To set the scene we had a background image and music from an Arabian market on the smart board. Our story took us through Egypt, where we encountered snakes, camels and belly dancers! We used materials to look, listen, feel and smell during each part of the story as an interactive experience. The textures of sand and jewelled jelly and the smell of mixed spices encouraged them to explore and try new experiences.

Our Arabian journey was a huge success:

“It’s great to see him engage so well!”  service user’s carer

We can’t wait for our next magic carpet ride to China to celebrate Chinese New Year! If you want to join us, our service diary has more information on whats on at the Old Schoolhouse this term.