Sensory and arts practice

Sensory projects Leicester

In March 2025, as part of their module in Special Educational Needs, Disability and Neurodiversity, we replicated the sensory methodological workshops completed in January in Cuba with final year BA Education Studies students at De Montfort University. They also heard from guest speakers (in-person) Dr Sana Rizvi from Liverpool John Moores University and Marianne Scahill-Pape from Attenborough Arts, and (virtually) from Dr Stephen Connolly from the Autism Centre at Sheffield Hallam University and Danae Mouso Díaz, representing ACPDI in Holguín. Also in attendance were guests from West Gate Special School and different DMU departments, including Tabitha Biller from the autism support team with DMU’s therapy dog, Cara. This will now become a regular part of the module’s content, helping students to think about creative, sustainable and affirming approaches as they become educators.

Thanks to the efforts of Hannah Crouch, the student and research assistant who created sensory bags and other tools for the taught sessions, we are linking up in 2025-26 with Emma Wright (DMU Education Studies) and Nikki West (DMU Speech and Language Therapy), who are leading an Academic Enhancement Project to create sensory rooms in place at the university, as spaces led by neurodivergent students. Building on the Cuban connection, our focus is on making the spaces cheap and ecologically sustainable, utilising recycled and waste materials while designing in response to students’ sensory needs and practices.