Making Sense of the Senses Workshop for Practitioners and Facilitators

Do you work with Learning Disabled people with complex support needs through music? Are you looking to deepen your understanding of sensory-inclusive approaches?

Join us on Friday, 24 October, for Making Sense of the Senses: Enhance Your Sensory-Inclusive Practice for Group Music Sessions – a hands-on workshop hosted in partnership with Seashell Trust, taking place at Reading International Solidarity Centre.

Led by experienced trainer and sensory integration practitioner Olly Elm-Robinson, this comprehensive session will explore the different senses, sensory impairment, and sensory differences. Together you’ll explore:

• Sensory processing, including sensory modulation, and sensory discrimination – especially CVI and auditory processing disorder, and sensory integration.
• Strategies to support participants with vision, hearing, and multi-sensory impairment (VI, HI, and MSI), as well as suggested adaptations for your existing strategies.
• Strategies for managing a range of different sensory needs in a group setting.

The session will include practical activities that will help you to experience what access to music sessions might be like for individuals with vision and/or hearing impairment. It will also include hands-on investigation of sensory processing strategies and whether they have a calming or alerting impact.

Whether you’re new to sensory-inclusive practice, or looking to refine your approach, you’ll gain valuable insights and tools to support your work.

Session Details

Date: Friday 24 October

Time: 10am – 1pm

Venue: Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4PS

Cost: £50 (organisations), £35 (individuals)

To Book: https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/SeashellsTrustTraining2025

About Your Trainer

Training Provider: Seashell Trust https://www.seashelltrust.org.uk/

Trainer: Olly Elm-Robinson

Olly has worked as a Speech and Language Therapist with people with complex needs for the last 10 years, primarily in a specialist school and college setting. He has specialised in working with young people with sensory impairments and teaches on the communication module for the Mandatory Qualification for Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI) Postgraduate Diploma.

Olly has completed a PG CERT in Sensory Integration qualifying him as a sensory integration practitioner who can assess and treat sensory processing and integration difficulties which may present alongside or independent of sensory impairments. Olly is an experienced trainer, regularly training on issues related to sensory impairment, sensory processing and communication.