SENsory Atelier: Dr Jo Grace

Join Dr Jo Grace founder of The Sensory Projects who draws together insight from research and practice with a little sprinkle of creative magic to create content to inspire and improve your provision.

In this session Jo will address:

The Ingredients of a Super Sensory Story

Sensory stories are a much-loved part of many special school curriculums. These deceptively simple narratives combine sensation and text in ways that hold remarkable potential. Understanding the value of sensory engagement, and the reasons behind the concise construction of sensory stories, helps unlock that potential. In this session we will explore how sensory engagement supports cognition, communication, memory, mental wellbeing and engagement. We will also look at why concise text is such a powerful way to convey meaning and create inclusive experiences.

Hidden Sensory Differences

Neurodivergent people commonly process sensory information differently. There is growing public awareness of some sensory processing differences—for example, many people know that autistic children may dislike clothing labels, sock seams or the noise of Dyson hand dryers. However, many other common sensory differences remain largely unseen. These hidden differences can affect people’s ability to connect with their environment, their learning and the people around them. In this session we will explore hidden sensory differences, focusing on one subconscious sensory system and one conscious sensory system, with opportunities for delegates to shape the direction of the discussion as the session develops