Had a great time delivering Sensory Processing workshops today at Cast’s working with diverse communities event.

Such a fab event, so well organised and attended by lovely enthusiastic people. An absolute pleasure and honour working with @castindoncaster as always! ‬

‪Honoured to have been invited to deliver Sensory Processing Differences training workshops at Cast’s ‘Working with Diverse Communities’ event next month. I’m really looking forward to this event and am delighted to be able to share in supporting the amazing work of the Audience Participation Team at Cast. Follow this link for more info on the event: https://www.castindoncaster.com/whats-on/working-with-diverse-communities-event/

Had another wonderful morning at Cast today, this time supporting a performance of Snow Play attended by children from a local special school and members of the public. Such a fun, interactive experience for all!

I was delighted to see how accessible this performance was and it was clear to see that the staff team at Cast had really given so much thought and consideration into implementing the recommendations I had made with regards to how the performance and environment could be adapted to best meet the additional needs of this group of children in addition to the amazing work they already do to make Cast such an inclusive and accessible theatre. The info I had provided had also clearly been shared with the actors who I was able to meet with before the performance began. This was great as they too were so eager to ensure the children’s needs were met so that they could engage with and enjoy the performance.

The way in which the performance was delivered was perfect and everyone present had such a wonderful time. The children appeared to thoroughly enjoy the performance with laughter and looks of sheer delight from start to finish.

A huge thank you to the staff at Cast, the Snow Play production team and actors. It’s been such an absolute pleasure working with you all!

What a pleasure it was for me to deliver Sensory Processing awareness training to a team of staff at Cast in Doncaster this week!

Such a receptive group who were eager to increase their awareness of what sensory processing is and how sensory processing differences may impact upon individuals who experience these needs in the theatre environment. The group were also keen to get involved with the practical activities I had developed where the staff had the opportunity to experience for themselves the potential benefits and ways to make the most effective use of Cast’s large and small scale sensory resources. We also considered how to set up the theatre’s Sensory Space and Live Stream Room to optimise the potential benefits and accessibility to individuals and groups with various additional needs including but not limited to children and adults with Autism, Learning Disabilities, other neurodevelopmental disorders and adults with Dementia.

It was great for me to then be able to see these spaces being effectively accessed and enjoyed by children with additional needs the following morning during a relaxed performance of the pantomime for SEN schools. Having these accessible spaces where individuals with additional needs are able to obtain the sensory input they seek or access sensory media which they find calming before re-engaging with the performance in the live stream room or returning to the main space will make such a significant positive difference to so many individuals and their parents/carers/staff supporting them.

I’m thoroughly enjoying my work with Cast and can’t praise them enough for how committed they are to being an inclusive theatre with so much motivation to continue building even further upon the great work they’re already doing to make Cast productions so accessible to people with various additional needs.

You can read more about Cast’s Sensory Space below:

https://www.castindoncaster.com/access-and-support/sensory-space/

I highly recommend a visit!

What a wonderful morning I’ve had at Cast’s Relaxed Performance of their pantomime, Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood. Oh yes I have!! It really has been fantastic and I’ve been so thrilled to find how committed the entire team at Cast are to making their theatre accessible to all.

Upon entry to the theatre, everyone attending was made to feel so welcome and the friendly, approachable staff handed teachers and carers an information sheet which offered advice about the resources available including ear defenders for the performance, and adaptive cutlery and drinking bottles at the café. This info sheet also offered advance warning of a scene involving small soft balls being thrown throughout and by the audience so that the children could be prepared in advance of this. This was all in addition to the Social Story which Cast also makes available so that relatives, carers and school staff are able to use this fantastic resource to prepare the individuals for their visit to theatre so that they know what to expect.

All loud bangs throughout the performance were reduced, noisy pyrotechnics removed, and the children had the space to get up and move around when they needed as the theatre had deliberately not been sold to capacity.

Throughout the performance, I was also able to visit the theatre’s Sensory Space with a couple of children, which is such a fantastic resource. Once the children had accessed some of the sensory resources available, they were able to get comfortable on the beanbags in the live stream room and return to enjoying the performance in this quiet and calming environment.

I highly recommend a visit to one of Cast’s Relaxed Performances and it’s such an honour to be working with the team there to support them as they develop their Sensory Space and continue to offer relaxed performances, making adaptations which optimise how members of the audience with additional needs are able to engage with and access such enjoyable productions!

https://www.castindoncaster.com/access-and-support/relaxed-performances/