A Life of Rebelliousness: Skilful Avoidance By Anne Laney, Practice Manager In the second of her articles during these strange times Anne Laney, Practice Manager, considers how we may all currently be experiencing elements in our lives that give insight into the normal lives of people with complex needs. Considering Control in Troubled Times By Anne Laney, Practice Manager The uncertainty of the world at the moment is triggering conflicting feelings in many of us. Here Practice Manager Anne Laney considers how this may be illustrative of the experience that many people with PMLD may have for much of the time. By Janet Gurney, Director of Training The experience of ‘social distancing’ is a new one for most of us. Janet Gurney shares some thoughts on how it might not be so new for some of the people we support… Learning from our Interactions – How to record the important bits By Anne Laney, Practice Manager One of the things we often get asked, and we make sure we advise on during training and Coaching and Mentoring, is the importance of recording the details of an Intensive Interaction. The thought processes required for recalling what occurred, often illustrate the significance of things that were not obvious at the time of the interaction…
“Favourite things” … the gateway to connection By Anne Laney, Practice Manager We must always remember the importance and significance of people’s favourite items. Intensive Interaction gives us the perfect way to become someone’s favourite thing, opening to them the possibilities and excitement of venturing out of their safe inner world, into our stimulating and social one. By Nancy Keeley – Interaction Practitioner Nancy recently had her article on the subject of ethics, published by PMLD Link (Summer 2019 – Issue 93). This thought provoking article addresses a complex issue, and shares Nancy’s thoughts on practical ways we can work towards creating and sustaining ethical organisations for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
The Importance of Congruent Communication By Anne Laney – Practice Manager Our work at Us in a Bus is all about connection and communication. In this article Anne explores how we facilitate opportunities for people with complex needs to explore sociability and self-expression.
The importance of Empathy in defining our shared humanity By Marina Jurjevic, Interaction Practitioner Each of us has a unique personality. That makes us different, but equally we all have lots in common and are connected in so many ways. But we are social beings and it is of utmost importance to our personal development to experience other people’s realities.
How do we know our words are helpful? By Anne Laney – Practice Manager The sound of conversation using words, the ebb and flow of voice intonation and the rhythm of speech can be motivating, reassuring and foster feelings of inclusion for all of us, even if in a language we do not speak ourselves.
By Anne Laney – Practice Manager, Nancy Keeley – Interaction Practitioner and Janet Gurney – Director of Training Here is a wonderful piece of practice witnessed by our Director of Training.
By Janet Gurney – Director of Training A fascinating article on the practical implications of understanding Proprioception.
By Anna Redman, Interaction Practitioner That feeling you get when something is on the tip of your tongue and you just need a moment to get it out? This also applies for the people we support!
By Nancy Keeley, Interaction Practitioner It is well documented that friendship has a powerful impact on our health and well-being. So, let’s think about our own friends? Why are they our friends?
The importance of being related By Tiw Rægening, Interaction Practitioner Recently, I attended a funeral for one of the people we supported where we can show our appreciation for having known him or her.
By Victoria Goody, Chief Executive One of the many joys of my job is observing the team when they go out to sessions, as it deepens my understanding of what we do and why.
Do we need props in Intensive Interaction By Marina Jurjevic, Interaction Practitioner I have always thought that the best prop we can use is ourselves.
By Russell Clarke, Interaction Practitioner Theo’s intimacy with this little object set me thinking about the needs of the people we support.
By Carol Thomas, Interaction Practitioner Intensive Interaction is an approach used to encourage engagement with people who find communication, or being social, a challenge.
By Rosie Brookes, Interaction Practitioner Producing concise, relevant, well-written reports is very important where the outcomes of our work are not easily measurable.
By Anne Laney, Practice Manager Within our work we are privileged to support the people we see through all of life’s ups and downs.
By Anna Redman, Interaction Practitioner and Janet Gurney, Director of Training ‘Fostering intentionality’ – the fundamentals of communication: how Intensive interaction can support emotional wellbeing.
Insight into our work using Intensive Interaction By Anne Laney, Practice Manager Music can offer a unique response to someone’s vocalisations or movements.
By Anne Laney, Practice Manager In Anne’s article she shares the especially moving funeral service of someone who has been known to Us in a Bus for many years.
Conversations of an Interaction Practitioner By Tiw Rægening, Interaction Practitioner Tiw provides an insight into an Us in a Bus session.
By Julia Hancock, Trustee Julia shares her experiences about handling difficult topics, such as death, with people who have a learning disability.
By Janice Murrells, Senior Practitioner ‘Playing’ or being playful with the people we support is possibly one of the most misunderstood, yet arguably most beneficial, aspects of our time during sessions.
Using Intensive Interaction in the Community By Janet Gurney, Director of Training In this article Janet looks at the thorny question ‘Should we use Intensive Interaction when in public?’
With over 25 years working to connect lives through the use of Intensive Interaction, we are proud of the wealth of professional experience our team has collated. It has always been part of the Us in a Bus ethos to share best practice with each other, our stakeholders and third parties who may benefit. We want to ensure that our own continuous professional development can provide support for all those in need. We believe that together we can achieve much more for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and complex needs. The views in our articles are based upon our own experiences (unless otherwise stated) and are that of the author(s), who at the time of writing are Us in a Bus Interaction Practitioners, Trustees and/or qualified sessional workers. These articles have been deemed appropriate for sharing here on our website by Us in a Bus, and while we fully support and encourage the sharing of best practice, we do not accept responsibility for third parties who share the information in an inappropriate way or place, in such a way as to cause offence or upset. We would ask that you observe the professional courtesy of accrediting the author(s) and Us in a Bus if you do share any of our articles, which remain the intellectual property of Us in a Bus. Sharing our Practice (click on the blue heading to download and read the full article)
Connecting Lives through the use of Intensive Interaction
