Multisensory environments: inspiring experiences

[Extract] I want to start with an explanation of the title. Mandy Williams and I both attended the Second International "Come To Your Senses" Conference in Toronto, Canada in May 2007. At the conference we went to "An evening of inspiration" with presentations by Dawn Prince-Hughes PhD and Jim Saunders, President of the SNIB (Canadian National Institute of Blind People). Both speakers shared their own personal stories describing what had inspired them when faced with particular sensory or perceptual challenges. Dawn spoke about how her autistic like fixation on gorillas led to her doing a PhD on the topic. Jim then talked about his discovery of a sixth sense, the send of humour, which helped him overcome many of his own obstacles related to losing his sight.