Love Your Garden

The sensory swing.

Just before Christmas, a special episode of Alan Titchmarsh’s Love Your Garden aired on ITV. In the episode, Alan and his top team of horticulturalists create a magical sensory garden for Amelia – a nine-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Our team of sensory experts were able to get involved with the project, offering advice, support, and a very special swing.

 

Amelia and her bright smile

Amelia’s Story

Because of her condition, Amelia is regularly too ill to leave the house, which means she doesn’t get to explore her senses in nature as much as she’d like to. Her mum, Shabnam, describes how difficult this can be for Amelia as she loves being outside and in nature.

Inspired by Amelia’s story, Alan and his team started designing a magical sensory garden for her and her family to enjoy. An accessible outdoor space where Amelia would have the opportunity to freely explore her senses.

 

Danny constructing the swing

The Design

Alongside calming water features, an aesthetic folly, and blooms of sweet-smelling flowers sits a circular play space with a special sensory swing in its centre – one of Amelia’s favourite pastimes!

Surrounded by dreamy plants, the swing is bathed in a magical fairy-tale glow, perfect for stimulating Amelia’s imagination and offing a calming space for her to explore her senses.

Swings and their rhythmic motion provide relaxing vestibular stimulation that will help Amelia become more comfortable and confident in her body, helping her in her personal and physical development.

 

Alan and Amelia's mum watch her swining on her new sensory swing.

Overall

Overall, Amelia’s garden transformation was an incredible success. Watching her face light up as she and her mum explored their new garden was as magical as the space itself.

We’re really proud to have played our part in supporting Amelia’s sensory journey.

 

Amelia and her mum in the sensory garden

Discover More

Little Miracles in Ramsey use £48,917 funding on Rhino UK’s Sensory Equipment

The People’s Project who partner with the Big Lottery Fund, The National Lottery and ITV, give the public the chance to decide how National Lottery funding can make a difference in their local community.

Continue reading “Little Miracles in Ramsey use £48,917 funding on Rhino UK’s Sensory Equipment”

Namaste Sensory Room Benefits Bucklow Manor

 

Newly opened care home Bucklow Manor in Cheshire has had a Sensory Room designed and installed by Rhino UK.

The Sensory Room is used for Namaste Therapy, featuring a mixture of sensory resources to encourage relaxation and stimulation for the residents; including, projection lighting, aroma fans, fibre optics, a Hurricane Tube and more. Continue reading “Namaste Sensory Room Benefits Bucklow Manor”

The Protac Sensit Chair helps those with Autism & Dementia

The Protac Sensit Chair and Footstool has been specially designed to help users calm, relax and increase their concentration.

Children, adults and elderly users can therapeutically benefit from the chair and its weighted wings that hold close and hug the body, offering calming proprioceptive stimulation. The chair helps users feel more comfortable and confident in their body, how it feels and how it moves, helping them to feel relaxed.

Why is it important for people with Autism or Dementia to keep stimulated and relaxed?

Agitated behaviour can cause difficulties when people are being cared for, disturbing those around them and distressing themselves and people who care for them. Agitation can be triggered by feelings of isolation or situations where the person does not feel comfortable.

Recreational activities can provide people with a chance to feel pleasure and therefore reduce agitation.

Agitation and Apathy are very common signs

Monitoring a person’s behaviour is very important so that activities can be put in place to relax and stimulate them before they become bored and restless. It’s also very important to make sure that the chosen activities are suitable and appropriate for the individual.

Care homes and those caring for people with special needs and disabilities generally use two kinds of recreational activity, both designed to maintain a high quality of life for the end-user:

  • Therapeutic: these sessions are usually led by a therapist or specialist and the main purpose is to help and improve behaviour and ability.
  • Every day: activities that are a part of the persons daily routine, that give structure to their day and to provide entertainment or diversion.

Research studies have found that therapeutic activities have a positive impact on behaviour and do make an overall difference on development. 

Activities in the chair

Old lady sits and relaxes in the protac sensit chair

The Protac Sensit is a suitable size and weight to be moved around into different environments. For example, it is very important for people with Dementia to spend time outside in the fresh air and sunlight, so you can place the chair outside.

Many carers encourage users to complete a puzzle or read whilst sat in the sensit chair, as they are more likely to concentrate and focus with the proprioceptive stimulation and relaxation that the chair brings.

Another perfect way to use the chair is by positioning it in a sensory room, so the user feels at ease to take in the other sensory stimulation around them. You need to be careful here though that not too much is going on, as too much stimulation can create an adverse effect that panics or frightens the user.

Rhino UK is a leading provider of Sensory Solutions and Therapeutic Resources. If you would like us to demonstrate the chair in your care home or establishment please get in touch.

It is as important to us as it is to you that we have the right solutions in place to try and help these people with Autism, Dementia and other cognitive disabilities. 

By Alexandra Eardley, Marketing Coordinator for Rhino UK