June 2022 Parenta magazine

Egg-cellent
advice:
less is more
I do not know how he came to acquire the nickname Egg but ever since he came
along that’s what my youngest son has been called. I run The Sensory Projects www.
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk (which should now really be called The Sensory Projects and
Sons!) My work focuses on people with profound disabilities and sensory differences, but
my son’s advice will apply to your work too.
In this series of articles we are going to share his insights with you, if you are keen for
more there is an ever growing collection on my Facebook profile: come and make friends.
www.Facebook.com/JoannaGraceTSP
Joanna Grace
Joanna Grace is an international
Sensory Engagement and Inclusion
Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker
and founder of The Sensory Projects.
This is article 8 out of a series of 10! To view the others click here.
I got the gadget featured in Egg’s photo
second hand from Facebook marketplace.
I picked it up late at night having got
lost several times along the way (I live in
rural Cornwall, I drive a tiny car, but these
people lived at the end of a network of
roads so tiny that I could pick flowers from
the hedgerows out of my windows on both
sides).
A man opened the front door and
regarded me quizzically, (they had
probably given up on me arriving) and
then his expression changed as he
realised what I was there for. “Ah, you’ve
come for the circle of neglect! I can’t wait
to get rid of this thing.”
His wife’s eyes shot daggers across the
room at him. I was paying, she did not
want to lose the sale. He recanted. “Ah,
no, it’s been very good, it’s just” – he
nodded in the direction of pictures of his
children on the kitchen wall – “they’ve all
grown out of it.” And then, to his wife’s
despair he added “it just takes up so much
bloody space and makes so much noise!” I
laughed and agreed.
I had borrowed one similar from the Toy
Library when my first son was young and,
although it filled our tiny living room, we
had both loved it. Him for all the things it
offered to explore, and me for the chance
to drink my coffee without risk of spilling it
on him.
The man and I somehow managed to
get it into my little car and I drove home,
getting lost several more times along the
way. A trip that the sat nav said should
take 10 minutes ended up as over an hour.
*Note this post mentions people becoming
overwhelmed by sensory experiences, if
you are struggling with behaviour in your
setting and think it might have a sensory
cause, consider studying “Exploring the
Impact of the Senses on Behaviour” with
The Sensory Projects online college www.
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/online-college
My Mummy bought me a new toy, there
was so much to do. When I bounced it
made lots of noise, lights flashed and
music played. It was very, very exciting, but
also quite overwhelming.
Then Mummy found a way of popping off
all the gadgets, she has replaced them
with cardboard trays. Up high where the
dangly toys used to be, she has strung up
a piece of string.
Now I get different things to play with at
different times. I can concentrate on them
because there are not lots of other things
crying out for my attention. Sometimes
they are toys dangling from the string
and I have to reach up to explore them,
sometimes they are toys in the trays and I
reach out to explore them.
We do still have all the original toys, but
Mummy puts them out one at a time so I
can appreciate them fully when I play with
them.
(These words first appeared on Jo’s
Facebook profile you are welcome to
send her a friend request to watch out
for more insight www.Facebook.com/
JoannaGraceTSP)
Joanna provides online and in person
training relating to sensory engagement
and sensory differences, look up www.
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/online-college
for more information.
To view a list of her books visit www.
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/books.
Follow Jo on social media to pick
up new sensory insights, you’ll find
her at: Twitter, www.Facebook.com/
JoannaGraceTSP and www.Linkedin/In/
JoannaGraceTheSensoryProjects.
Consistently rated as “outstanding” by
Ofsted, Joanna has taught in
mainstream and special school settings,
connecting with pupils of all ages and
abilities. To inform her work, Joanna
draws on her own experience from her
private and professional life as well as
taking in all the information she can
from the research archives. Joanna’s
private life includes family members
with disabilities and neurodiverse
conditions and time spent as a
registered foster carer for children with
profound disabilities.
Joanna has published four practitioner
books: “Multiple Multisensory Rooms:
Myth Busting the Magic”, “Sensory
Stories for Children and Teens”,
“Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings”
and “Sharing Sensory Stories and
Conversations with People with
Dementia”. and two inclusive sensory
story children’s books: “Voyage to
Arghan” and “Ernest and I”. There is
new book coming out soon called
”The Subtle Spectrum” and her
son has recently become the UK’s
youngest published author with his
book, “My Mummy is Autistic” which
was foreworded by Chris Packham.
Joanna followed with her own book
“The Subtle Spectrum” which explores
the landscape of post diagnosis adult
identified autism.
Joanna is a big fan of social media and
is always happy to connect with people
via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
12 June 2022 | parenta.com
parenta.com | June 2022 13