TABI history continued..
Noting the cavernous blind spots in the world of inclusion for special needs individuals, I began to create workshops to teach my son’s respective peer populations about his differences to enable them to begin to understand and therefore be better equipped to include him in meaningful ways.
Addressing pre-k through high school populations, this work grew to become the Dancing Our Difference Workshop – engaging peer populations in creative dance theater constructs exploring neurodiversity and inclusion.
Positioned at the helm of my child’s therapy and education also elicited a body of knowledge in the area of sensory processing disorder and the sensory distinctions that often set our population of neurodiverse individuals apart from their communities. It became clear that despite special education training, many educators have not been given the opportunity to learn about sensory processing/sensory integration disorder and therefore often misread the cues of individuals struggling with Autism, ADD, ADHD, and beyond. As a result, children as well as their teachers struggle within the teaching/learning environment. The same confusion can occur within after-school programs, summer camps, places of worship, community venues, and the home environment. To address this need, and with the support of sensory integration specialists, I designed the Sensory Processing Disorder Presentation – training groups to recognize the varied expressions of sensory challenges and providing tools to create sensory accessible environments.
Informed by the growing body of knowledge concerning neuro-diversity, my work continues to expand. While facilitating inclusion is central to my mission, as a dance artist I also strive to create access to creative movement and dance process for all individuals. Given that many children and youth attend “special schools,” and are not in general education classrooms with typically developing peers, my vision grew to creating Dance For Special Populations – to give access to individuals for whom dance classes are often not offered.
Lastly, as a practitioner of the DIR-Floortime approach, the final tier of my work offers individuals one-to-one sessions in creative dace exploration utilizing the Developmental Individualized Relationship (DIR) method via DIR and Dance sessions. Through this approach developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, I as a DIR practitioner establish a fundamental relationship and core of trust with each individual child through dance movement exploration guided by their motivations and interests. Dance in this context is utilized as a vehicle toward achieving social-emotional growth via the individual’s movement expression.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, counsellor, administrator, or other community member – I invite you to learn more about our community of neurodivergent children and youth. Welcome to the Dance!
