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I began my artistic career, over 20 years ago, as a photographer. My interest in photographing abandoned spaces/buildings (refer to http://www.michellevaske.com/photography--graphics.html for work) began while I was studying at the University of Dayton. I admire the beauty and strength in these spaces and how time has contributed to their personalities. Each of these spaces has been a part of active productivity and business, and now they stand-alone. My experience as a photographer helped me pursue a degree and eventually teach in the field of Digital Media Design and Broadcasting at Northern Kentucky University.
I began my artistic career, over 20 years ago, as a photographer. My interest in photographing abandoned spaces/buildings (refer to http://www.michellevaske.com/photography--graphics.html for work) began while I was studying at the University of Dayton. I admire the beauty and strength in these spaces and how time has contributed to their personalities. Each of these spaces has been a part of active productivity and business, and now they stand-alone. My experience as a photographer helped me pursue a degree and eventually teach in the field of Digital Media Design and Broadcasting at Northern Kentucky University.
While working towards a Master’s of Fine Art at the University of Cincinnati, DAAP, my research and art practice investigations evolved towards the development of therapeutic tools and environments for people with and without sensory sensitivities as a means to stimulate the senses and calm one’s reaction to mental and environmental stresses. Sensory sensitivities play a role in many people’s lives, whether they have been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism, or completely unaware that their senses affect them in certain situations. My art applications are oriented toward the balance of sensory stimulation, in order to achieve a calm for the viewer and participants while in the environment. The senses play a large part toward the viewers’ reaction to the work and ambiance. My work specifically transpired in the development of therapeutic compression swings and multi-sensory environments for adults and children with and without Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or sensory sensitivities. Together they provide a means to stimulate the senses and calm one’s reaction to mental and environmental stresses. Throughout this process, my children and their development, the exploration of other designers and artists, and methods used and recommended by occupational therapists have influenced how I think and create. With those influences, my goal was to create a vehicle and environment that is “effective in helping people achieve that "just right" state of being calm and alert” (UC San Francisco).
Motherhood changed my life in almost every possible way, but one of its most defining moments for me is when my son was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. It was a challenge that was not expected but not one that I resigned to either. Through my process of understanding what SPD was, I found that the majority of my research was targeted toward children diagnosed with it and how Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT) helped combat its symptoms for the child to live a more neurotypical lifestyle. A large part of SIT diet (not a food diet but rather a sensory simulative diet that satisfies the brain) includes deep compression therapy that activates the senses and releases calm inducing serotonin to the brain. This causes the brain to “rewire”, relax, and focus (Miller, 2006). I began to question about adults diagnosed with SPD and therapeutic methods for adults with SPD. Though few adults have been diagnosed with SPD thus far, those who have it have already been diagnosed with one or several of the following: ADD, ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and/or depression, among other diagnoses that have been associated with SPD if not therapeutically treated.
Our senses work together to help us understand who we are, where we are, and what is happening around us. At any given moment we are receiving multiple sensory stimuli at a time. By receiving sensory input at regular intervals though out the day, it provides the nervous system stimulation to organize what the senses are absorbing. The input calms the nervous system and allows the body to stay controlled. Temple Grandin (2015) states, “Calming sensory activities such as deep pressure under a heavy mat or slow swinging may reduce sensory scrambling and help information to get through to the brain.” According to Occupational Therapist, Karyl VanMuers-Juergens (2016), deep compression has the same effect on those without SPD. Serotonin released from the deep compression will create a sense of calm and aid relaxation.
The integration of my artistic practice and research of sensory therapeutic methods has oriented my work toward a balance for the viewer and participants while in the environment to achieve of a stimulated calm and alert sensation. While some people engaged the tranquil environment, others gravitated toward the childlike playful nature of the space. This individual response toward the work, the feeling one had while engrossed within the space, and the feeling that they took with them after leaving the space is largely what the art has been about. I, now, want to transcend the artistic sphere and guide my practice toward a more practical application within a therapeutic setting. Using my creative background, I can create new tools and applications that can help those with Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism, and other behavioral difficulties.
Multi-Sensory Environments have been proven as an effective therapeutic tool to ease behavioral symptoms in individuals with developmental disabilities and autism if the function of behavior is automatic/sensory based (Kaplan, 2006). In an individual that is sensory seeking, sensory input calms the nervous system and allows the body to stay controlled.
Applied Behavioral Analysis and Occupational Therapists work with children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder.
Some therapists work in a therapeutic clinic setting while others go to the client’s home or out in the community to engage in an active life environment. In home therapists rely on the tools that they can transport themselves or supplies that parents have in their house. Due to space constraint in homes and financial cost of Multi-Sensory Environment equipment providing sensory input can be a challenge for in-home therapists and parents to accommodate. Creating a center that has several Multi-Sensory Environments can serve as a location for in-home applied behavioral analysis therapists, occupational therapists, and art therapists to conduct therapeutic sessions outside of the patients’ home environment.
Individuals with behavioral and developmental disorders often times have sensory processing disorders that benefit from the SIT diet. Referring back to my Master of Fine Art Research, by receiving sensory input at regular intervals though out the day, it provides the nervous system stimulation to organize what the senses are absorbing. The input calms the nervous system and allows the body to stay controlled (Miller, 2006). Multi-sensory spaces are underutilized within clinic settings. I propose a need for and a plan to create a center that has several Multi-Sensory Environments that can serve as a location for in-home applied behavioral analysis therapists, occupational therapists, and art therapists to conduct therapeutic sessions outside of the patients’ home environment. The space would also serve as a community where Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and SPD families could come together in a “sensory friendly” atmosphere for events in a less crowded, quieter, and less visually stimulating environment. This space will allow in-home therapists access to a location for more effective therapy sessions.
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