Understanding Sensory Processing & Autism

Understanding Sensory Processing & Autism

An online learning series: 7th & 8th May 2021

Watch live and/or stream recordings of all webinars for 30 days

Welcome to Autism Learns. We provide trusted and affordable online learning to parents, family carers and professionals who support children and adults on the autism spectrum. Brought to you by the organisers of The Autism Show, we share the knowledge and practical skills to help you at home and in the workplace.

Our next online learning series will explore the sensory differences autistic children and adults can experience. We’ll look at how this can affect their ability to learn in school, function in the workplace, form friendships and interact within a family. We’ll provide you with a deeper understanding of sensory processing disorder and offer practical strategies to help at home and in the classroom.

You can choose to watch the webinars live and seek personalised advice from our speakers, and/or stream recordings afterwards and watch when most convenient to you.

Learnings include:

- - How does sensory processing disorder impact on development and learning?
  - Understanding the link between sensory difficulties and distressed behaviour
  - Strategies for reducing common sensory triggers at home and in the classroom
  - Understanding sensory modulation, sensory discrimination and sensory-based motor disorders
  - How does sensory processing disorder feel for the person experiencing it?
  - How to create and effectively use a sensory room/space for autistic individuals

Book the series now for just £29.99 for parents and family carers, and £49.99 for professionals. Content is CPD certified. Price includes 30 day access to recordings of all webinars in the series.

BOOK TICKETS

Please scroll down and click on the tabs for more information on this series.

Fri 7th May 2021

Fri Programme

Time	Title	Speaker
10.00 - 10.10	Welcome and introduction	Kate Laird, Webinar Manager at Autism Learns
10.10 - 11.00	5, 9, 21, 53… how many senses do we have, how do they work and what do they do? Understanding our distal senses - vision, hearing and smell Understanding our proximal Senses - touch, taste, vestibular, proprioception and interoception How do these different senses work? What do they do for us?	Sue Allen, Consultant Occupational Therapist, Senior Lecturer and Researcher
11.00 - 11.50	Understanding sensory processing disorder Understanding sensory modulation, sensory discrimination and sensory-based motor disorders SPD vs SI – what’s the difference and does it really matter? The diagnosis debate The importance of a good description of SPD What is the evidence base for treatments	Laura Graham, Occupational Therapist and Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration Therapy
1150 - 12.00	Interval
12.00 - 12.50	My sensory day – the impact of SPD on daily life, development and learning for autistic individuals How does SPD feel for the person experiencing it? What is the impact of SPD on daily life? How does SPD impact on development and learning? Understanding the link between sensory issues and distressed behaviour	Dr Sandra Beale-Ellis, Freelance Writer, Educator, Speaker and Advocate
12.50 - 13.30	Lunch break
13.30 - 15.00	Specific strategies to use at home and at school to help individuals who experience sensory differences Strategies for hypo- and hyper-sensitivity, sense by sense Understanding why ‘the when’ is as important as ‘the what’ Sensory circuits/movement breaks - what are they and how to set them up? Creating a framework for monitoring whether sensory strategies are succeeding "If at first you don’t succeed…" - what to do if your strategies aren’t working	Alison Neal, Consultant Occupational Therapist and Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration Therapy
15.00 - 15.10	Interval
15.10 - 15.30	Putting the function into sensory – hints and tips for getting a referral to an OT What are the key aspects of sensory difficulty that should require a referral to an OT? Keywords and ways to present sensory difficulty to make a successful referral more likely Questions to ask your OT about their experience and qualifications	Alison Neal, Consultant Occupational Therapist and Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration Therapy
15.30 - 15.40	Closing remarks and end of day one	Kate Laird, Webinar Manager at Autism Learns

Content may be subject to change.

Speakers

Sue Allen is a Consultant Occupational Therapist based in Singapore and the UK.

Sue is a clinician, lecturer and researcher. Sue has worked as an Occupational Therapist for 27 years in both hospital, school and community settings and has a keen interest in improving quality of life for children and their families. Sue served on the SI Network Board of directors from 2005 and was Chairman from 2008 to 2013. Sue is a marker for SI2/3 and 4 and a mentor for SI4 and a Recognised Lecturer with University of Ulster. Sue was awarded her Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner Certificate (2005) and a Sensory Integration Network Fellowship (2013)

Research interests include therapy outcomes, supporting families and sensory processing in dyspraxia. Sue is currently involved in projects with University of Reading and University of Ulster and is the primary recipient of an SI Network Research Grant supporting the identification of incidence of sensory processing difficulties in children with dyspraxia.

Laura Graham is an Occupational Therapist and Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration Therapy.

Laura qualified as an occupational therapist in 2003. Her career has included specialist roles within a NHS community adult neurodevelopmental and learning disability team and later working as a community paediatric occupational therapist she was responsible for the assessment and treatment of individuals with a range of conditions such as; autism spectrum disorder, developmental coordination disorder, cerebral palsy, developmental delay and other conditions which impact on a child’s ability to complete their everyday activities.

Laura is an accredited Advanced Practitioner in sensory integration with the SI network UK and Ireland and holds a postgraduate diploma in sensory integration from the University of Ulster. In 2010 she was awarded the Queens Nursing Institute Award for Innovation and Leadership for her part in developing a community based sensory and behaviour clinic. Since 2008 Laura has held a quality assurance role with the Health Care Professions Council as a visitor working as part of the education team.

Sandra Beale-Ellis is a writer, teacher, speaker and successful businesswoman who happens to be autistic, is a doctor of education and has survived childhood cancer and subsequent medical anomalies.

She believes everyone has a story to tell and it’s these stories which inspire, motivate and connect us as human beings. With her academic research interests lying firmly in auto-ethnography, and blogging under the auspices of Sensing The Simple Life, she has always been completely open with who she is, and never afraid to be truthful to her audience about the highs and lows of her life in autism and beyond. She was clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2010.

Sandra is a popular speaker for local and national groups, events and conferences, universities, and has a regular “gig” speaking on the National Autistic Society’s Post Graduate Certificate in Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, run in unison with Sheffield Hallam University and has worked with the NAS on the Active for Autism online training module.

Alison Neal is the Director of Midlands Occupational Therapy and provides specialist occupational therapy services for children and young adults with a range of difficulties.

Alison is an advanced practitioner in sensory integration therapy; she has several years experience of providing post graduate training to other therapists on this subject and has co-authored a book on sensory movement breaks. Alison works with families, children and young people at home and in a variety of mainstream or special schools and colleges to find solutions to everyday problems that actually work and can be implemented at home or school. She can also offer assessments for EHC plans and tribunals where necessary.

Webinar Info

Timings

Day	Times
Fri 7th May 2021	10am - 3.40pm

Ticket Prices

Ticket Type	Price
Parent/Family Carer	£29.99
Professional	£49.99
Professional Groups (10 tickets or more)	£44.99

•This is the price for the whole two day series and includes 30 day access to recordings of all webinars
•Booking fees apply: £2.93 for parent/family carers, £4.49 for professionals, £4.09 for professional groups and £4.09 for professional groups

How to Watch

We will send you an email containing joining details a week before the first webinar is due to take place, followed by a reminder email. Our webinars are live streamed on Zoom.

In order to watch the webinar, you will need the following:

A computer, tablet or smartphone with working speakers (a computer is preferable to better view the presentations, participate in live polls and chat with other attendees if you wish)
An internet connection with a good speed

Simply click on the link we send you to join the webinar. If you do not already have Zoom downloaded on your device, you will be prompted to download the free software and set up an account – this should only take two minutes to complete.

Please try and join the webinar a few minutes early in order to allow time for the Zoom download if necessary, and to be ready for the first session.

Alternatively you may wish to watch the webinars when it’s most convenient to you. If so, we will email you details on how to access video recordings of all webinars in the series, the week following the event. You will have 30 days to watch them.

If you don’t receive a booking confirmation or joining email from us, or generally have difficulties logging into the webinars, please contact us at info@autismlearns.co.uk.

Attendee Resources

Ticket holders will gain 30 day access (until 13th June 2021) to video recordings of all webinars in the series, plus speaker presentation slides and Q&A transcripts, by CLICKING HERE and entering the password provided by us the week following this event.

Professional ticket holders will also receive a CPD Certificate of Attendance by email.

Sat 8th May 2021

Sat Programme

Time	Title	Speaker
9.50 - 10.00	Welcome and introduction	Kate Laird, Webinar Manager at Autism Learns
10.00 - 10.50	Creating environments that promote and support wellbeing and learning for autistic pupils Understanding the impact the environment can have on learning and wellbeing Core principles of good design for autism Creative ways to implement these core principles into an existing school or home environment	Speaker to be announced shortly
10.50 - 11.30	Top tips for reducing common sensory triggers at home and in the classroom Understanding the common sensory triggers at home and how to reduce or eliminate them Understanding the common sensory triggers in the classroom and how to reduce or eliminate them	Jennifer Heath, Lead Operational Therapy Practitioner at Underley Garden School (part of Options Autism)
11.30 - 11.45	Interval
11.45 - 12.30	How to create and effectively use a sensory room/space for autistic individuals How to create sensory rooms or spaces for different age groups and needs Using sensory rooms or spaces properly Why isn’t it helping? Common mistakes in the use of sensory rooms and spaces	Laura Graham , Occupational Therapist and Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration Therapy
12.30 - 13.10	Lunch break
13.10 - 14.00	Intensive Interaction – the importance of body language in communication What is Intensive Interaction? Tuning-in and knowing when to respond using body language instead of words. Key principles of Intensive Interaction. How to use Intensive Interaction in a sensory space and at home	Amandine Mouriere, Autism and Learning Disability Consultant and Associate of the Intensive Interaction Institute
14.00 - 14.25	Life through a kaleidoscope: understanding Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (Irlen Syndrome) The differences between sensory integration and perception challenges	Paul Isaacs, Trainer, Consultant and Author
14.25 - 14.50	Understanding face, object and meaning blindness The sensory perceptional issues that are common in autism	Paul Isaacs, Trainer, Consultant and Author
14.50 - 15.00	Closing remarks and end of day two	Kate Laird, Webinar Manager at Autism Learns

Content may be subject to change.

Speakers

Jennifer Heath is Lead Occupational Therapist and Organisational Practitioner for Health & Therapy at Underley Garden (part of Options Autism).

Jen qualified with a Masters in Occupational Therapy in 2010 and started working at Underley Garden as soon as she had graduated. Jen had ten prior years of teaching drama to a wide range of people and children with differing needs, whilst also working as a support worker for autistic adults, before qualifying as an occupational therapist. In 2014, Jen took on the role of Lead Practitioner for the Therapy Team (which was later to include Health also). A focus for this role was to integrate health and therapy further into the school and children’s’ home, and develop ways to work even more effectively together. Jen has completed postgraduate training in Sensory Integration (SI) and is a qualified SI practitioner. Jen is extremely excited about the new SI therapy room, which will be opened later this year at Underley Garden.

Jen has presented at various conferences including The Autism Show (2015, 2019) and the Royal College of Occupational Therapy (RCOT) Conference (2018). She is a member of the committee for the RCOT North West Children Young People and Families Specialist Section. Jen has also recently written a chapter on sensory needs and intensive interaction for a book, edited by Phoebe Caldwell, to be published in May 2019.

Laura Graham is an Occupational Therapist and Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration Therapy.

Laura qualified as an occupational therapist in 2003. Her career has included specialist roles within a NHS community adult neurodevelopmental and learning disability team and later working as a community paediatric occupational therapist she was responsible for the assessment and treatment of individuals with a range of conditions such as; Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delay and other conditions which impact on a child’s ability to complete their everyday activities.

Laura is an accredited Advanced Practitioner in Sensory Integration with the SI network UK and Ireland and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Sensory Integration from the University of Ulster. In 2010 she was awarded the Queens Nursing Institute Award for Innovation and Leadership for her part in developing a community based sensory and behaviour clinic. Since 2008 Laura has held a quality assurance role with the Health Care Professions Council as a Visitor working as part of the Education Team.

Amandine Mourière is an Autism and Learning Disability Consultant, and Associate of the Intensive Interaction Institute.

Amandine has worked with children and adults with learning disabilities and autism for over 10 years, in a wide variety of settings. She developed a passion for autism whilst working in schools as a teaching assistant, and she subsequently completed her Masters in autism in 2014.

Amandine has since become a free-lance autism and learning disability consultant, and associate of the Intensive Interaction Institute. She works with families to help them understand the basis of Intensive Interaction, the techniques and how this can enable individuals to make progress with their social-communication, their emotional, cognitive and social development.

Paul Isaacs has been a speaker, trainer and consultant for eight years and has spoken at many national events on the subject of autism. He has authored five books and contributed to other books on the subject of autism. He is also a blogger and creative consultant on the the cartoon Pablo, supplying story ideas, perspectives and content.