One a Penny, Two a Penny (#11)
An update on my progress through the weeks
Hello again,
I have had a very exciting week. I travelled to Derby University for a ‘Knowledge Cafe’; it was a day to share the research results from the Early Onset Dementia programme which had applied Neuro-Dramatic-Play to two different groups, based in Derby and Leeds. The results were highly significant, which was not only for the participants themselves and an indicator of future directions of research, practice and training, but also for me personally and professionally, as a method that I had created and developed was being applied in a new area with positive outcomes. I found the day quite overwhelming. It will be published and more information will soon be on our website.
I decided that it was time I took up less space, so decided I would sell some of my surplus books. We Buy Books sounded promising and they explained how it worked, a couple of hundred books were scanned and put in boxes, per their instructions, right weight and right number of boxes. Collection van arrived and the driver looked astounded that there were six boxes, and said, ‘My van is full’! The driver then picked up one box and said, ‘It’s too heavy!’ – she was roughly half my age. So here I am, climbing over a pile of boxes in my hall space!
I said last time that I would write some more about the sword fighting project when I was teaching drama in a special school. Well, the younger children got cross as they thought it unfair at the ‘big boys’ were fencing with the real, very expensive (but donated) swords. The carpentry teacher offered to make blunt thick wooden swords, and shields with a younger class, and I agreed to teach them simple techniques. We progressed slowly through a routine which ended with raising the sword above one’s head and blocking a blow to the skull.
On this day we were working in the class room and not in the hall, and I raised my sword above my head to block the blow, and caught the large glass globe, which was the shade for a classroom light. The shade dropped straight on top my head and knocked me out. As I went unconscious, I heard an anguished voice say, ‘You’ve killed Miss!’ I came round a few moments later and I was surrounded by ten pairs of very frightened eyes! I reassured them I certainly wasn’t dead and we got on with the class. I reported at the end of the lesson that I had broken a lamp-shade, not that I had had an accident!’ But the words ‘You’ve killed Miss!’ have stayed with me ever since!
With love,
Dr Sue
Safety Alert: Water Beads
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has issued a safety alert for the use of water beads, saying they must not be used with children under five, and only under close supervision with older children and vulnerable adults. The beads expand on contact with water and can become a choking hazard. The safety alert can be found at: https://wwwgov.uk/product-safety-alerts-reports-recalls/product-safety-alert-water-beads-psa7
Reports have been linked to deaths overseas.
Moose and Mouse on YouTube
Moose and Mouse and the Ducklings is soon coming to an end in the paid Substack Newsletter. Once it is complete, I will record it for YouTube. And I will be putting up some other items as well, so remember to tune in! Now that Moose and Mouse have an injured fox visiting them, you can look forward to a new tale. Might they start an orphanage? Well, that would put an end to their travels!
Forthcoming Trauma Webinars
As we all sadly know from our practice, trauma can result not just from major disasters but also serious loss, sudden disruption and abuse of all kinds. Children and teenagers can experience the effects of trauma in many ways including wakefulness, vigilance, panic attacks and disillusion.
In this new essential webinar, I offer practical techniques and ways of working with children and teenagers, including empowering methods to enable them to take charge of their own feelings.
The webinar costs only £35 and included in that price is a copy of my book When the World Falls Apart: Working with the Effects of Trauma. A real bargain!
Dates: Wednesday 30 October, 12.00-1.30pm; OR Saturday 2 November, 9.00-10.30am; OR Monday 4 November, 6.00-7.30pm
It’s booking up fast but I would love to have some of you there, so please click on the button below for more details and to book:
Huge thanks to all you people who are paid subscribers of my Substack (members of ‘The Nest’) – it makes such a difference to enable me to write, instead of chasing other free-lance work. It is only £65 per year or £6 per month. As well as your own Newsletter every 10 days or so, you get 4 free webinars per year, and 10% reduction on any UK course. If you become a Founder Member then it is £120 per year, with all the above, and free consultations, and 6 free Webinars per year.Â
Both paid groups have their own therapeutic stories, news items and new techniques and approaches in play and the arts. Do join us!