Joanna Grace PhD

Image shows a seagull high on the wing above an ocean, in the distance on the horizon land is in sight. Text across the image reads: A person's ability to communicate does not depend on their mastery of certain skills, but on our ability to listen. A heart shape has been cut out from the bottom right hand corner, in it text reads: I tried, but perhaps I am too old to learn new tricks. I hope to connect with you on the platforms I can manage! www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/contact All the best Jo

Goodbye for now, I hope to see you elsewhere x
www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/contact

#AcademicSky #PhDSky and tagging @participha.bsky.social and @drmbothapsych.bsky.social

Sometimes my subconscious is a puzzle to me, but I don't think it is hiding much here!

A photo of me (white middle aged woman) and Flo (elderly white woman) bending over a laptop. text reads: Last night I dreamed Flo and I were working together at the Super Sensory Lexiconary. I was trying to get the final slide deck up and it wouldn't open. Flo had to leave the workshop she was running to help me. But neither of us could get it to work. So we couldn't get to the end. Sometimes my subconscious is a puzzle to me, but I don't think it is hiding much here!

Last night I dreamed Flo and I were working together at the Super Sensory Lexiconary. I was trying to get the final slide deck up and it wouldn't open. Flo had to leave the workshop she was running to help me. But neither of us could get it to work. So we couldn't get to the end.

Time to Stand and Stare - Disability Horizons Shop Disability Living Aids and Accessories A gentle Christmas message from sensory specialist Joanna Grace about slowing down, sharing sensory moments and connecting with loved ones with profound disabilities.

Colab, Jo with Joe from @Disabilityhorizons shop.disabilityhorizons.com/time-to-stan...

Thank you!

Fantastic episode ✨

is being taken in every night by some kind souls and returned in the morning - princess penguin treatment!)

My penguins are surviving the weather, this one lost it's scarf but the people in my little village have found it and returned it.

(Other penguin adventures, the punky one is roaming around and possibly caused the one with the halo to topple - isn't that always the way of things? And one

Sensory Struggles With Eating - Joanna Grace Eating is essential for our health and well-being, yet it can become a source of anxiety for many families. Listen to hear why eating can be such a sensory triggering process and why it can be such a ...

thesendcast.com/sensory-stru...

Today is the day! #Purplesockday #idpwd25
Parallel /
BAM Clothing purple socks are worn to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, monies from their sale goes into a fund for disabled entrepreneurs.

Get yours here here bambooclothing.co.uk/purple-sock-...
#StyleWithPurpose

Nearly home... one more train to go, couple of hours, then find the car, find the village, find my boys.

What would it look like for you? What would it look like for the autistic person you support?

At this point I had taken in lots of information and could not take in more. I then left and did a bland activity until I felt my processing running again. Once it was up and running again I wrote up my fieldnotes. In this way I was able to create rich and detailed fieldnotes.

I was leaving the field in a disassociated state unable to usefully access any of the experiences I had just had. The reality of this forced me to adapt.

The adaption: I stayed in the field until I started to recognise my processing glitching.

then my internal cache clears & I have a good understanding of all the info taken in.

What this looked like practically for me:
At the start of fieldwork I was following general advice - spend as long as possible collecting data, write up field notes as soon as possible upon leaving the field.

I take in a lot of sensory information in any given situation, at times I can get to a point where I have taken in so much that no more gets in. At this point if I try to keep going nothing useful happens. But if I allow time for buffering

the work I do in the future, for other researchers autistic & non autistic, & also for autistic people in other situations like school or the work place. This one essentially says recognising & respecting autistic ways of thinking can lead to more effective working practices. To give you an example:

text on image reads: That I am autistic was not a limitation to my research, even though my own internalised bias led me to fear that it was, instead it was constitutive of my analytic process. Coming to recognise this enabled me to find a mode of analysis that was embodied, effective, and epistemic, a method that listened to my body as well as to the field. Emergent findings from an analysis of the data from my PhD exploring Autistic Experience in Research. There is a cartoon image of me drawn by Discover Inclusion infront of the logo for The Sensory Projects - a blue star, I am a white woman with long plaited brown hair, I am wearing a teal pashmina in the drawing

I have been working on a re-anaylsis of the data generated for my PhD studies, this time focusing on Autistic experience. I am really pleased with how practical some of the insights coming out of it are. I can see their application for me in terms of

The playlist this is on has other material related to this topic. It might work well as a refresher for those who attended yesterday. Thank you all for caring so much about this topic, it gives me so much hope for a more inclusive embracing future.

YouTube video by The Sensory Projects Neurodivergent and Not attending

youtu.be/n2xvb8I3ML0?...

The engagement following yesterday's keynote: Neurodivergent and Not Attending was huge, with lots of people asking me to repeat what was said. Cue me trying to mumble the line of argument made at midnight in bed!

Very beautiful angels you have there.

take the monkey instead, is not going to be dissuaded from his desire to hop in my suitcase by the resources available at this school!

heartbreaking, conversations around the edges, but such hope and beauty too, a room full of people trying really hard on behalf of neurodivergent children. A joyful day.

Meanwhile my 5yr old who wanted to come with me, and I negotiated to

Another busy day for Monkey and me.
Keynote: Neurodivergent and Not Attending.
Seminar: Distinguishing Burnout from School Anxiety.

A theme ran through all the presentations about the effect of the words we use. We recognise the power of words.

So many interesting, and

Yesterday Monkey and I were talking about talking about neurodivergent people. Today I am booked to deliver a keynote speech to the Black Country PINs group...should I bring Monkey along?

My 5yr old asked me to take him with him on the train in my suitcase. We compromised on me taking his beloved Monkey instead.

Monkey and I travelled a long way today to play talking about neurodivergence bingo. Hurrah for getting a Bingo, even if it did take the best part of an hour!

what can make eating tricky for neurodivergent people and what approaches we might use for supporting them.