LIVING SENSATIONALLY IN WORDLE

I got introduced to this interesting website called WORDLE. You enter words into the program, and it creates art for you out of the words. A teacher I know uses Wordle to create advanced planners of her units as she teaches her first graders [cool Julie!]; she made me one for my birthday with all my research and life words on it.

Today I made one from this blog! It searches for words and selects frequent words to be be BIG and other words to be smaller in the design. You can go to WORDLE and find 'Living Sensationally Wordls Art'. try this link too:


www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2214365/Living_Sensationally_wordle_art

GOING LIVE IN GENEVA SWITZERLAND

The Brazelton Infant Development Centre in Geneva sponsored a symposium early in June: "I sense, therefore I am" for providers and researchers interested in Infant Development and the relationships between young children and their parents and other caregivers.

I was one of the speakers, discussing how Sensory Processing affects our understanding of children's behaviors, and how our relationships with children are influenced by both the children's and the adults' sensory processing patterns. The core concepts in Living Sensationally formed the basis of my remarks.

It was my first experience with having an interpreter on stage with me [the course was in French]. I would say a paragraph or so, and then he would say it again in French. I sounded GREAT as a French man!!

People were very responsive, and wanted to know more... maybe Living Sensationally can get translated into French!

BEING PART OF HOPE AND WELLNESS

Last week Reji Mathew interviewed me for her blog which explores "Themes of Hope, Health, Disability, and Wellness". She had found Living Sensationally, and believes the messages about our sensory patterns can be helpful to everyone. It was such a great conversation, and in meeting her, I now know about her work and can follow her blog to find out other great projects that illustrate hope, health and wellness. Here is the link to our interview. While you are there, check out her other posts too!

http://rejimathewphd-writer.blogspot.com/2010/05/living-sensationally-understand-your_12.html

A STORY FROM BANGLADESH...

I just got home from the World Federation of Occupational Therapy meeting in Santiago, Chile. It is so great to get a world view of one's profession, and to see how thinking is advancing from so many points of view!

A young therapist stopped to tell me a great story about Living Sensationally. She is completing a year of community service in Bangladesh, a country that provides intense sensory experiences because of the density of their population. She told me that some volunteers are overwhelmed and cannot complete their service, but that she has really loved the work and will be continuing there.

She stopped to tell me that on one particular trip, she was on a boat and reading Living Sensationally. People started asking her about it, and others started listening in. She eventually had more than a dozen people gathered around listening, an impromptu workshop! She told me that people found the information so helpful for their work in Bangladesh, and want to pursue using the information to help new volunteers with strategies to manage their sensory needs while in their service. Here is another way that knowing about one's sensory patterns can make life better!

I am so grateful to this young therapist for sharing her story.

A TALK ON SENSORY PROCESSING ASSESSMENT

Henry Stewart Talks creates collections of talks about various topics. The Biomedical and Life Sciences Collection includes a new series entitled: Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders: History, Diagnosis, Treatment and Outcomes [F. Volkmar, ed.]. These series are used as an educational resource by leading academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Here is the full citation of my talk about sensory processing, in case you are interested in further information. I am honored to be included with the most world renowned authors on these topics.

Citation
Dunn, W. (2010), "Sensory processing: a critical assessment area for autism spectrum disorders", in Volkmar, F. (ed.), Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders: History, Diagnosis, Neurobiology, Treatment and Outcome, The Biomedical & Life Sciences Collection, Henry Stewart Talks Ltd, London (online at http://hstalks.com/?t=BL1042668-Dunn)

Link
http://hstalks.com/?t=BL1042668-Dunn

LIVING SENSATIONALLY IN HEBREW...soon!

I just found out from the publisher that Living Sensationally has been contracted to be translated into Hebrew. I was a visiting professor in Israel last year, so this news is particularly lovely for me. I loved spending time in Israel, and have some incredible colleagues there that I am still collaborating with today.

Since my goal is for the ideas in Living Sensationally to be everyday knowledge and sources of conversations around the kitchen table, I believe that this is one more step toward that goal!

Thanks to whomever initiated this project, and best wishes to you. I can't wait to see how it looks in Hebrew!