Kathy Hirsch, Manager of Sensory Environments

Sensory Environment: Our senses are our connection to the world

Our senses are our connection to the world and ultimately serve us as the building blocks for our life’s experiences - all of our memories are filled with images, sounds, smells and feelings. Our senses can become impaired with age and disease and this loss often results in confusion and/or depression. It is well documented that sensory stimulation has many positive benefits and there are limitless methodologies and tools that can be used.

Using relevant examples, humorous anecdotes, and descriptions of real-life hands-on experiences (that you will all identify with), Kathy will unravel how a person living with dementia experiences the world through their senses. We will de-bunk some common myths associated with sensory programs, review some DIY do’s and don’ts, and have fun looking at products and discussing methodology to meet your home’s unique sensory stimulation needs.

BIO

Kathy discovered Multi-Sensory Environments (MSE) while working as a Special Education Consultant for the Waterloo Region District School Board. While on a field trip to one of the first Snoezelen Rooms in Ontario, Kathy was amazed and intrigued by the immediate positive engagement her cognitively impaired students had with the sensory environment.
Convinced her students would benefit from a Multi-Sensory room of their own, Kathy began researching sensory integration. She worked diligently to raise the funds, educate administration, design a room for her students and incorporate sensory interventions into their programs.
The positive experiences in her first “school age” sensory room motivated her to bring the benefits of sensory stimulation to older users… seniors living in Long Term Care living with Dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.

Twenty years later Kathy is still learning more about the positive impacts of sensory integrations, and works to share this knowledge to front line staff caring for seniors. She has assisted all ages and all abilities of people, in schools, long term care homes, adult day programs and hospitals using Multi-Sensory Integration.

Katherine has a degree in Deaf-Blind Intervention and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences from Wilfrid Laurier University. Kathy is a certified Snoezelen trainer and has taught workshops in Sensory Integration and Alzheimer’s care at George Brown College, and the Waterloo Wellington Alzheimer’s Society.