Sensory Pathways: Enhancing Communication Through all Seven Senses with System-Involved Youth

Shoshana Phoenixx

Training Description

Some children and youth cannot tell you what’s wrong with words, but their bodies and/or behaviors will. Avoidance, shutdown, or outburst may be the clearest form of communication they have. This training invites those working with system-involved youth (SIY) to pay closer attention to what the senses are trying to communicate, including the two senses most people were never taught to notice.

Participants will explore  how sensory input shapes communication and emotional regulation for system-involved youth who are grieving, overwhelmed, nonverbal, or living with disability. Participants will be introduced to ways of using sensory pathways as doorways rather than barriers, adding to the ways they can pay attention to preverbal, nonverbal, and nonspeaking communications.

Learning Objectives