EmphaSIze December 2024: Socialising and Sensory Differences
By Sensory Integration Education, 1st December 2024
Welcome to the December issue of EmphaSIze where this month we're focusing on Socialising and Sensory Differences!
With December now upon us and Christmas just around the corner, this means social gatherings and family get-togethers. For people with sensory integration difficulties, these gatherings can be difficult to manage with extra noise, Christmas lights, unfamiliar foods, lots of social interaction and changes to daily routines.
In this month’s newsletter, we've put together useful information, articles and resources - including our Sensory Gift Guide for all Ages - for you to share with your clients to make it a sensory-friendly Christmas for everyone.
Also don’t miss out on our early Christmas Gift to you! From now until 31st January, we’re offering a 30% discount on a one-year subscription to our Lifelong Learning Programme or on a single purchase of one of our live webinars. See article below for further details!
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, sensory-friendly Christmas!
News & Features
Kickstart Your Journey to Become a Qualified Sensory Integration Practitioner and Sign Up to Our Postgraduate Programme Today!
As a therapist, you may be seeking ways to enhance your skills and provide the best possible care for your clients. One powerful way to achieve this is by specialising in sensory integration (SI) and that's where we can help!
SIE's postgraduate training offers advanced knowledge that can be applied to clinical practice, allowing you to respond more effectively to the diverse needs of your clients across the lifespan.
Our postgraduate courses combine online learning with live online support sessions, enabling you to study at your own convenience and around your schedule. You will be fully supported at every stage by a personal eMentor and have plenty of opportunities to interact with your cohort for peer support. All our postgraduate courses are accredited by Sheffield Hallam University, one of the UK’s largest education providers for allied health professions.
The Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) and MSc qualifications are split into SI Modules for your convenience and the deadline to submit your application for SI Module 1 is 5pm on Friday 6th December.
Find out more about the SIE Postgraduate Courses here.
If you are looking for funding support, please visit our Postgraduate Funding page for information about funding options available.
Our Early Christmas Gift to You!
As a final hurrah to celebrate SIE’s 30 years of delivering sensory processing and integration training, we’re gifting you a 30% discount off the purchase of an annual Lifelong Learning subscription or an individual short course!
If you’re not already familiar with our Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), it’s an all-access annual membership where you can receive over 100 hours of lessons and resources. As an LLP member, you’ll have access to all the live webinars we run throughout the year as well as our Sensory Spotlight Talks and on-demand short courses. You’ll also be able to participate in our live peer support sessions and our SI Network Community Forum.
This offer runs until 31st January 2025 and all you need to do is enter the discount code XMASGIFT24 at the point of purchase.
So why not treat yourself to an early Christmas present and sign up and become a LLP member today. Further details of what a Lifelong Learning subscription will give you can be found here.
All our upcoming short courses for 2025 are listed here.
Check Out This Year's Sensory Gift Guide for All Ages!
With the festive season looming, our Christmas elves at SIE have been hard at work compiling this year’s Sensory Gift Guide!
Packed full of sensory gift ideas offering differing sensory inputs for all ages – from babies, toddlers and children right through to teenagers, adults and older adults – it’s the ideal place to start if you or any of your clients are in need of some shopping inspiration!
Check out the full guide here.
Thoughts from a Therapist: Balancing Festive Fun and Sensory Needs
The festive season has launched itself on us and we’re just about to dive into a period where we’re all off our regular schedules to some extent, things look different, sometimes smell different, and we find ourselves socialising with people we’re less familiar with in large groups.
In this month’s Thoughts from a Therapist blog, Anna Willis takes a look at the challenges of balancing fun and sensory needs throughout the festive season as well as ways of keeping her own ‘social battery’ charged!
10 Tips for Managing Social Pressures and Sensory Challenges During the Festive Season
The festive season often means more social gatherings, changes to mealtimes, and spending time with extended family which can be a wonderful way to connect but can also create extra stress and challenges, especially for people with sensory processing differences.
This useful blog highlights some practical ideas for managing social pressures, fine motor tasks, and movement challenges throughout the festive period to make it a more sensory-friendly, inclusive and enjoyable one for everyone.
Also see:
Matt Le Tissier joins cyclists in raising £30k for sensory equipment at entrepreneur’s old school
Plymouth School's 'Sensory Explorers Team' Crowned National Winners
Angus libraries win funding for new sensory facilities
Derby sensory clothing brand founded by 12-year-old Max Palfrey shortlisted for Business Boost grant
Resources
In this month’s SI Resources blog, we’ve put together articles, guides, books and products to help us better understand some of the sensory challenges facing individuals as we approach the festive season.
- Coping with Christmas Sensory Challenges
- These 3 Hidden Senses May Affect You Differently If You’re Neurodivergent
- Surviving the Seasons: An Autism Guide
- Balance Board
See our latest resources ideas here.
SI Research Digest
Easy-to-read summaries of all the latest SI and sensory processing research papers and findings. Click here to view the summaries of the research and access the direct links to the published papers, including:
- The Development of the Sensory Emotional Engagement Checklist (SEE-C): Preliminary Reliability and Validity
- Evidence Synthesis and Clinical Recommendations for Supporting School Students With Sensory Processing Challenges: A Rapid Review
- Interoceptive Signals Shape the Earliest Markers and Neural Pathway to Awareness at the Visual Threshold
Upcoming Courses and Webinars
We have a number of live webinars that take place throughout the year covering a broad range of SI-related topics. Below is a snapshot of webinars happening over the next few months or click here to view a summary of all the upcoming live events.
All these webinars are available to you by signing up to our Lifelong Learning Programme or can be purchased as individual courses:
- What About the Quiet Ones - 17 December 2024
- Sensory Processing and Dementia: Assessment and Intervention Through Case Studies - 10 January 2025
- Sensory Spotlight Talk with Dr Varleisha Lyons: Womb to the Tomb: Understanding Brain Development and Sensory Processing Across the Lifespan – 23 January 2025
Latest Job Listings
Are you thinking of making a career move this year? Check out our latest job listing:
Paediatric Occupational Therapists with Sensory Integration, PACT (Parents And Children Together), Berkshire & London, UK
Sensory Integration Practitioner, Creative Occupational Therapy Solutions, Midlands, UK
Occupational Therapist – Band 7 (term time only), West Heath School, Sevenoaks, Kent, UK
Discounts & Special Offers
Please quote DISCOUNT CODE SIE20 for 10% discount on Southpaw orders up to £100. Orders must be placed by phone on +44 (0) 115 718 0020.
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Best wishes,
Sensory Integration Education
NB: Sensory Integration Education is not responsible for the content on external websites. Sharing a resource does not imply endorsement by Sensory Integration Education.
