A tall column of water hosting a myriad of colour changing bubbles, a visually captivating effect with sound, vibration and movement, the bubble tube has the ‘fish tank’ effect – that’s something which makes you want to stop and wonder. Most tubes are substantial in their presence from one to two metres tall. They create…
In the 1970s Carl Delacato (in his work as an educator with children who had all kinds of difficulties) had an inspired hunch. Maybe the unusual mannerisms and difficult behaviours with the label of ‘autisms’ were nothing of the kind – they might just be better defined as ‘sensoryisms’. Convinced that the prevailing idea that…
Steve Briggs, a previous Principal of Beaumont College, Lancaster was an inspiration to many, including myself. I listened to him talk about creating “a rich density of non-contingent reinforcement”. I just agreed and thought what a great idea… but inevitably thought, what is he on about? Of course, what he was seeking was perfection in…
“Trailing strands of cascading colour” is a very romantic way to describe fibre optics, but the effect is visually stunning. The colour changing tubes transmit no heat or electricity, which makes them very safe to handle. They are a great alternative to any mains-powered lighting, which is unsafe to touch. This is the key to…
Ultraviolet light or UV light is the most effective way to make fluorescent or white objects glow. How bright will depend on the power of the UV. For example, a 4ft tube will make things glow around 40 times brighter. The UV light we use is in the U.V.A. frequency and is known as ‘Blacklight’.…
If I said to you that I was going to construct a studio in your school, centre or home, what would you think? A studio, what kind? Music, drama, art, dance, television, or even a creative science lab could come to mind. Like many multisensory environments, much of the equipment used in a sensory theme…
Communication Passports – Part 2 (Resources) A communication passport is mainly aimed at non-verbal PMLD learners, but it could also be used with learners who are autistic. There are lots of free resources available online to help you create a communication passport. CALL Scotland provides a series of freely downloadable templates in Microsoft PowerPoint…
Communication Passports – Part 1 Communication is a basic need. Without it, life has less meaning. With most of our PMLD learners communication should be their focus, so it makes sense to have a communication passport. Communication passports were developed by the Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning ‘CALL’ Centre by Sally Millar back in 1991. A book…
Autism Baselines There are so many tick lists out there, they are all over the internet. Many of these sheets will tell you that a person is autistic or has autism. Our colleague Chris Barson (who has created many online courses for us) has a different approach to baseline information. However, it could still be…
Vision For Doing Although the name suggests that this is a visual assessment, it is so much more. If you read the book ‘Vision for Doing’ you will not only learn a lot about vision, but you will also learn about hearing, touch, taste, smell, and movement. This is a very multisensory assessment. The authors…