Research-informed practice for people described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities

The Sensory Projects invites professionals and family members who support people described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities to The Bridge.

This event aims to be the link between the latest research and the heart of daily practice. People described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities have the right to care and support informed by the most current understanding and evidence, just as much as anyone else does.

The day will be an adventure in the space between research and practice. We will hear from a diverse range of voices: researchers unearthing new understanding and sharing long established insight, experienced front-line practitioners letting us learn from their hard earned wisdom, and parents and people with profound and multiple learning disabilities offering invaluable lived insights gleaned from their own journeys.

The event will be hosted by Dr Jo Grace. Speakers and Conversation Leaders details below. The day will begin with keynote presentations before moving into a round table discussion to allow conversation and questions in an informal manner, all accompanied by delicious food and opportunities to learn and chat in other ways.

The Bridge offers a compassionate and collaborative space, a unique opportunity to gain actionable knowledge, refine your skills, and champion the best practices. Empower your practice with knowledge, empathy, and a shared vision for truly bespoke, accessible, and rights-affirming support for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Together we will build the bridge and ensure research informed practice is available to people described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Keynote speakers:

Professor Melanie Nind. Research Interests: Intensive Interaction, Inclusivity and Belonging for (and with) people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities.

Professor Melanie Nind is one of the originators of Intensive Interaction, an approach that developed from an unwillingness to adopt the status quo at the time and equal parts ambition and compassion for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Formerly a teacher in special schools and further education colleges, Mel is a quiet intellectual giant who has cut a career through academia with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities hugely important to her research. Her most recent work looks at how we include their voices in research and what it is for them to experience belonging.

Melanie Nind, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, is Professor of Education at the University of Southampton. Melanie is Deputy Director of the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership and for fifteen years was one of the co-directors of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods where she led research on the pedagogy of research methods learning. She has been conferred with gold membership of the Asian Qualitative Research Association, for support of qualitative research development, and with an honorary doctorate from VID, Norway, for her contribution to science. She was until recently editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Learning Disabilities and co-editor of International Journal of Research & Method in Education before that. She is also on the editorial boards of Teaching in Higher Education, Teaching Educational Research Methods, European Journal of Special Needs Education and Disability and Society. Her research projects have focused on innovation and inclusivity in pedagogy and research methods, changing research practices in response to Covid-19, and quality and belonging in inclusive research.

(Dr) Julia Barnes. Research Interests: Touch, Education, Wellbeing, Collaboration, in relation to people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities.

Soon to be Dr, Julia Barnes is studying for a Doctorate in Education at Birmingham University exploring students with profound and multiple learning disabilities experiences of being touched during their days at school. She has previously done and masters in SEN and collaborated with the Intensive Interaction Institute. Julia leads a large PMLD department. She teaches a class of students with PMLD 4 days a week and 1 day a week researches with them, using ethnography and body worn cameras to ensure to the best of her ability that they are heard within her work.

Julia's life has been dedicated to her students and her families, and her long career means she has collected any number of invaluable practice tips - most recently she shared with me the 'hack' of keeping people's hats inside their coat sleeves so that the do not get lost. Her research is just as practical. Julia speaks passionately about the value of loving and nurting touch in her own childhood, and wants everyone, especially her students to experience the love and respect they deserve.

When not working or studying Julia e

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