Sensory craft for acquired brain injury

Craft is art that is seen, felt and heard as well as understood, not all ideas start with words, thinking can start through making and responding to materials, through the hands as well as the head.
Craft offers stroke and acquired brain injury survivors a creative outlet that bring individuals and communities together, to focus around a common goal, to gain or relearn skills and improve knowledge through a shared experience and enjoyment of arts & craft. In the process of sensory making, working with tools and materials, improvements in mobility, hand eye co-ordination, and fine motor skills can be made, to show personal development over time. In working with artists and with the support of carers and volunteers, personal perception and individual artwork can be explored and made, giving a real sense of achievement, that empowers, builds confidence and improves self-esteem to facilitates a fuller, more improved way of life.
Sensory Craft Workshops
Photography & Craft workshops:
Four workshops will be developed and delivered to three organisation, twelve sessions in total each year. Exploring a range of themes and craft based practices, returning to each group to develop and build on work already established to refine processes and support individual needs to complete artwork.
Workshops Themes:
- Sewn portraits, self image and connections
- Moulded forms and tactile ceramic surfaces to create sensory wall.
- Weaving, paper structures and collage,
- Photographic location walk to transfer images onto structures
Aim of the project
- To engage with a regular group, over a period of time to build knowledge and explore a range of contemporary crafts, arts and digital practices to make individual and group artwork.
- To create a sense of connectedness through making within the group, organisation, volunteers and staff.
- To identify areas of personal interest, reflect on personal circumstances and identify ways of working that gives purposeful focus.
- Offer therapeutic, sensory stimulation, personal awareness, self confidence, explore personal potential, empower and offer an improved way of life.
Organisations:
Headway West Kent - http://www.headwayeastkent.org.uk
Connect - http://www.ukconnect.org/
Strode Park - http://www.strodepark.org.uk

This project was funded by the Ajahma Trust and carried out by Amanda Sleet, artist, designer and senior lecturer at Middlesex University. We are very grateful to participants, volunteers and staff from the three organisations who took part in the project: Connect, Headway Kent and Strode Park. We also thank the artists who helped co-facilitate the craft making workshops:
- Amanda Sleet
- Victor Kovalenko
- Wictoria Radkiewicz
- Shazleen Khan