Born and raised in Devon, I founded Sensory Spectacle in 2014. Originally from the field of Graphic Design, I was captivated by the autistic sensory world whilst working in a centre in West London that supports children and young people with complex health needs and disabilities.
Throughout the 7 years I worked there, I set up a sensory toy library, qualified as a regional Makaton tutor & trained the staff to support sensory needs of the children. Alongside my work, I completed my Masters degree in Art & Science from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London receiving a distinction for my immersive installations focusing on the autistic sensory world. My experience and understanding of Sensory Processing Difficulties (SPD) inspired me to educate the public on how people with SPD may experience their surroundings and thus Sensory Spectacle was born.
Sensory Spectacle creates immersive environments to help educate about SPD. I design and build immersive experiences alongside people with SPD to help society experience for themselves how SPD can impact daily lives. I was commissioned to create the Sensory Classroom in 2015 at The Autism Show in London, Birmingham & Manchester. Following on from this I also created the Transition Classroom the following year 2016 for the same event.
In early 2016 I worked with Queensmill School in London to research and create the Sensory Dining Room training to teach, through experience, about sensory difficulties at mealtimes - this included a 3 course meal as well as environmental factors.
I now provide these immersive experiences as in-house training for schools, care settings and other settings.
Everything I do is to help create a better public awareness and understanding of Sensory Difficulties. Some of my experiences have recently been available for the public to learn from by being exhibited in The National Gallery, London, The Royal Academy of Art, London & The British Library, London.
By learning through the experience of my installations I hope to encourage parents and professionals to gain a unique insight into SPD through empathy too. Feedback from these installations have said to change the way adults & children with additional needs are cared for by parents and professionals.
I am lucky to be travelling the world to educate about SPD, so far I have travelled to Mumbai, Uganda, Dubai & Denver, CO. I regularly run workshops, keynote at conferences and exhibit my immersive environments in a whole range of locations.
I am passionate about everyone being able to access the information which I teach about and so have created a YouTube channel with 100's of videos where I explain different aspects of SPD so that wherever you are in the world you will be able to access some information in order to understand aspects of SPD better.