Deafblind Awareness Week: Hand Under Hand

Learners who are deafblind, who cannot use their hearing to compensate for their hearing loss and cannot compensate their vision loss through hearing are truly deprived off information unless they learn to use their sense of touch.

These learners need a way to compensate for the missing information that vision and hearing provide.  Barbara Miles in her article The Importance of Hands for the Person Who is Deafblind writes:

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Deafblind Awareness Week: Touch and Early Communication

The bond between a baby and their parents begins usually from birth. The care needed and touch of the baby helps to form and develop the relationship between them such as eye contact, smiling, and vocalizations. 

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It’s time to Shellebrate!

196 years ago founders of the original charity Robert Philips and William Bateman opened their school for deaf children in rented premises in Salford. Fast forward to 2019 and it has evolved to host a college, school and specialist care which helps to educate and develop 130 children and young people, who have profound learning difficulties and communication needs, through a range of innovative, exciting and explorative techniques.

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Charity Seashell adds sparkle to Handforth Railway Station

Students from the Cheadle-Hulme based charity Seashell Trust installed some rather eye-catching art work this week at Handforth Railway Station.

The charity, who cares for and educates children and young people with complex learning difficulties and communication needs, prides itself on its inclusive art department which encourages students to learn through exploration and play.

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How Yoga Benefits our Young People

Emily is one of our occupational therapists at Seashell which means that she provides practical support to help our children and young people to carry out everyday tasks or occupations with more confidence and independence. Emily has specialist training in using yoga and mindfulness for young people with autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Here she shares her views on the benefits of using yoga within her role, and how she aims to develop this within her clinical practice.

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Supporting children and young people with CHARGE Syndrome

Supporting children and young people with CHARGE Syndrome
At Seashell Trust we support children and young people with some of the most complex needs in the country. Our multidisciplinary staff teams are specialised in a range of rare or low incidence conditions, including CHARGE syndrome.  Here we talk about what it means for a child to have CHARGE syndrome and we highlight the work of our dedicated therapy teams who build independence in young people with the condition and support them to lead more fulfilling lives.

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Our Forest School: how the outdoors benefits our children

It has been an exciting start to the Outdoor Learning programme at RSM and hopefully an enjoyable one too, despite the wet feet and chilled fingers! I am a passionate believer that the natural world is where we are meant to be and that it has great benefits to our wellbeing.  This is doubly so for many of our young people who are super-sensitive and find the man-made environment distracting and disturbing.  Indeed how many of us instinctively take ourselves off for a walk at times of stress?

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Four Key Tips for Supporting Mental Health in Children and Young People with Complex Needs

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week (w/c 6 February) our Therapy Outreach Services Team put together some practical advice for supporting mental health in children and young people with complex needs.

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Supporting Children with Autism over the Festive Period

Christmas!  It generally brings up mixed feelings for each one of us. Feelings of joy, excitement, and perhaps some element of stress and panic!

But imagine if you were particularly bothered by bright lights, if sudden unexpected sounds really hurt your ears, you’re expected to try unfamiliar food at strange times of the day, and there’s a tree in the front room which smells funny and the branches make your skin itch. There is no school during the week and your routine is out the window which makes you feel anxious and out of control!

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Team Seashell – meet Emily!

In the first of a new series, we’ll be introducing you to some of the amazing staff members who make up #TeamSeashell. Emily Jones has worked at Seashell Trust for 3 years, and is a teaching assistant at our Royal School Manchester.

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Holistic person-centred therapy that changes lives

This week is National Occupational Therapy (OT) Week, an opportunity to talk about the difference that OT makes to peoples’ lives.  One of Seashell Trust’s occupational therapists, Emily Kellett talks about her role with our children and young people.

Occupational Therapists have been described as the health and care system’s “secret weapon”. We are the only registered profession qualified to work across mental and physical health and in NHS and social care settings. This means that they are uniquely placed to see a whole person holistically.

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AAC Awareness Month: James Gains His Voice

October is International AAC Awareness Month, which seeks to raise awareness of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and the many different ways people can communicate using communication devices.  Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) refers to the communication methods used to supplement or replace speech or writing for those who have difficulty producing or understanding spoken or written language.

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