Book review: Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings: Creating Entrancing Sensory Experiences by Joanna Grace

In this post I’ll be reviewing a book I bought over the summer by Joanna Grace. If you read the blog regularly you’ll know it’s not the first time we have referenced Joanna Grace. I promise we are not paid to advertise or say nice things about Jo or her work! The fact that we do, is simply a testament to her exceptional knowledge and understanding of this area and the tremendous support she offers.

 

 I first came by the author of this book, Joanna Grace, in the special needs section of the TES forum a few years ago. I was at the very start of my career in special needs teaching and looking for support and guidance. Lucy and I began working at our current school at the same time in the same class. Lucy had already been working in SEN in a school for children with Autism and within her role in a mainstream school and I had limited experience having worked in a mainstream school for two years. Faced with a new challenge of teaching a class of children with SLD and PMLD in year 3 and 4, I had been busy planning over the summer following the advice of one of my new colleagues to plan for low ability. Well, after day one it was immediately clear that I had pitched my planning entirely wrong and was in need of help! Particularly stumped on how best to meet the need of my pupils with PMLD, I logged on to TES and looked in the SEN forum seeking some advice on planning and teaching my new class. The user ‘Jo3Grace’ regularly popped up offering a great deal of insight as well as materials and resources available from Jo herself and others. The advice gained enabled Lucy and me a starting point and some direction of where to find out more. The more we researched and discovered the deeper our interest grew and more passionate we became.

Joanna Grace is the founder of the Sensory Projects, International Inclusion & Sensory Engagement Specialist, Trainer and author. You can find out more and find lots of useful information and resources on her website many of which are free. You can also reach her directly on Facebook and Twitter which I have always found helpful when searching for more specific advice. I would also highly recommend attending one of Joanna’s courses. 

Sensory-being for Sensory Beings is the second of Joanna’s books and is a real hands-on guide for anyone who supports a ‘Sensory Being’. Joanna’s term of ‘Sensory Beings’ includes not only those individuals with PMLD, but also infants, those with later stage dementia as Jo explains anyone who ‘understands the world in a primarily sensory way’. Informed by a team of Sensory Being Consultants, the book explores the sensory world and the natural mastery that these individuals have of being truly present in the moment a type of mindfulness or, the term used by Joanna: ‘sensory-being’. This is a skill that many of us struggle with in our busy lives. Throughout the book there are comments from parents and practitioners which are useful and provide extra insight to the material being explored. 

Early on in the book Joanna explores the concept of ‘parked time’. This happens all too often with individuals with PMLD. There are a whole host of reasons for this: limited staffing with individuals who often need 1:1 support to be able to access experiences, mixed ability classes where the learning and behaviour needs of their more able peers are often given priority, waiting in corridors etc. This is something that is always of concern to me, as I’m sure it is to everyone who supports Sensory Beings, but sometimes it can be bewildering as to how to go about eradicating this parked time which Joanna explains is potentially damaging to the mental health and well-being of these individuals. The solution? Careful planning and resourcing which meets the unique needs of the individuals you support. This raised the second issue that resonated with me in the book- the great expense of any resources designed for Sensory Beings. While many of these resources are engaging and offer great sensory delight to the Sensory Beings I support, the high price tag simply makes them unaffordable.

 Joanna Grace sheds some light on this predicament. She explores each the 7 senses in a detailed yet easy to understand manner and touches on other senses too (it turns out there are a lot more than the 7 senses I previously thought there were!). Together with each sense explored are practical ideas for stimuli that can be used to engage the particular sense. There is a practitioner tip at the opening of this section of the book to have a pen and paper to hand and a particular Sensory Being in mind to create your sensory shopping list! I would highly recommend doing this- it helps to keep you focused and, if you’re anything like Lucy and I, prevents you from breaking the bank buying every sensory goody you come across when out and about! All the resources suggested are tried and tested, backed by theory and yes… low-cost! While some of the resources require a little time to put together something special, Joanna explains that the process of crafting these items can in itself be a great opportunity for sensory-being/mindfulness. I know that we always enjoy the process of making our sensory resources- the creating process is quite satisfying! 

I found this book to be a really effective guide to supporting individuals with PMLD, providing both the practical and the underpinning theory necessary to truly understand the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of what we offer these individuals. This closely relates to our own values at Sensory Dispensary- we often discuss why we do activities such as sensory play. It is important to have this understanding in order to best select the experiences, activities and resources suited to each unique individual. Having ready to use and affordable ideas for resources and activities is always going to be a winner. My copy of this book has been on holiday with me, car journeys and out and about and I often find myself referring back to it! If you support a Sensory Being I would highly recommend you give ‘Sensory-being for Sensory Beings’ a read. 

You can purchase the book here (add it to your Christmas wishlist!)