Sensology: Waking up the senses

At the end of the Best of British SEN conference in London, Lucy and I decided to treat ourselves to buying some of the classic Flo Longhorn books that had been on our wish list. We opted to buy two books- The Sensology Workout - Waking Up The Senses! and Massage Stories: Exploring Communication Through Touch. Lucy also bought the book Once Upon a Touch...: Story Massage for Children by Mary Atkinson which I have often borrowed! I recommend all three of these books to anyone working with children with PMLD. The books present a wealth of practical ideas alongside the theory which is very helpful. There are examples of plans that have been used by both teachers and parents (I always find it useful to see ‘what a good one looks like’ before creating my own). I have implemented both Sensology sessions and Story Massage into my timetable for the past two terms and the impact for my pupils has been fantastic. This post we will focus on Sensology but I will go into story massage in a future post.

What does it look like?
So what is Sensology? Well, it does what it says on the tin- it is a session to wake up the senses! It allows pupils to engage in experiences that stimulate each specific sense in turn through resources specifically selected for the individuals you are supporting. This session provides important opportunities for pupils to begin to show awareness, engagement and to develop preferences. In my class I begin each session with the ‘busy body’ song. If you’ve ever taught EYFS/kS1 you’re probably familiar with this tune but if not you can find the song here http://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/ive-got-a-body-action-song/. We sing the corresponding verse of the song linking to the sense we are waking up e.g. eyes for visual, ears for auditory and we encourage the children to look in a mirror as either we point to the specific are or they find it themselves depending on ability. After this it is then time to explore.

Each child has their own Sensology box that contains resources unique to them based on our existing knowledge of their preferences and suited to their level of accessibility. It is important that the resources you select provide your children with opportunities for independence; being able to ‘do’ rather than be ‘done to’ as can often be the case for our PMLD leaners. I would tend to avoid any resources which will require hand over hand support. Following my learners preferences helped me to find a good starting point for identifying the experiences that they will engage in more readily for example, in my class I have a pupil who is at the stage where he loves to look at people’s faces but does not yet show very much awareness of other visual experiences. He will independently engage in looking into a mirror, in fact he loves it and has a really good giggle at himself! This can be extended by adding in lights such as finger lights, a red clown nose etc. that may draw his focus and perhaps even provide opportunities to develop unintentional movements into intentional ones. We have noticed that this particular child is starting to notice black and white visual stimuli so creating items such as a monochrome sensory umbrella with hanging black and white and reflective stimuli will hopefully promote his emerging awareness. During my session I offer opportunities for high contrasting experiences: textures (e.g. sandpaper and jelly), tastes (e.g. honey and soy sauce) and smells (e.g. peppermint and lavender). Offering two very different experiences again lends itself to the development of preferences. You can find an example of the Sensology session I delivered with my class last year on our resources TES page.

How often we do it?
I do a Sensology session every morning and it lasts 20-30 minutes (the duration is directed by the children- if they show particular interest we may focus on one area for longer). We turn the lights off to help our children to focus on each sense without visual clutter (you can keep them on for the visual section but I usually have them off as I use different types of lights for many of my learners).

Why do Sensology?
Since beginning this session I have really noticed the impact on my pupils. Within my class I have noticed signs of anticipation amongst my pupils, a definite increase in awareness and signs of preferences. One of my learners has learned to communicate a definite ‘yes’ and ‘no’ which he happily exercises in the session to make choices between the high contrasting experiences. Another pupil adores the opportunity for tasting and will now open his mouth in anticipation when he hears the word taste. He has also learned to say ‘more’ in context and without any prompting to repeat his favourite experiences where previously he has only used words randomly rather than to communicate. During our ‘smell’ activities I use a water spray with the added scent oil, before spraying we say ready, steady….go! Some of our pupils will now indicate ‘go’ when they are ready through movement or vocalisation) and show that they are anticipating the spray with giggles or closing of the eyes. These achievements did not happen after one session or even a week of sessions but over the space of a term and for some longer. As each pupil has their own personal box it is easy to differentiate and change the experiences at a pace that is appropriate for each child. 

You can find an example of the Sensology session I have used with my class this year for free on our TES resource page here or search Sensory_Dispensary on TES.  . I have included my own planning template as well as the one I used for a lesson observation as this includes greater detail and explanation. Please note that some areas have been removed to protect the identities of the children. 

All of Flo Longhorn's books are available to order from her website: http://flopublications.com/index.php/book-sales