Navigating Sensory Sensitivities, with Dr. Janice Ryan | EDB 273
Dr. Janice Ryan shares how awareness of sensory issues improves therapy for the neurodivergent.
Dr. Janice Ryan is the Founder and Director of Attunement Solutions, LLC. She is a Doctor of Occupational Therapy, a Human Systems Dynamics Professional and has over thirty years of professional experience with changing lives.
Dr. Ryan has been an occupational therapist for over 30 years and has been researching body, mind, and spirit aspects of human systems dynamics since beginning her doctoral education in 2004. She also began practicing compassion mindfulness that year.
Janice specializes in mental and cognitive health over the lifespan and applies a mindful therapeutic approach to treatment that has also been called compassion-focused therapy. She earned her Master of Occupational Therapy from Texas Women’s University in 1985 and Doctor of Occupational Therapy from Creighton University in 2007.
As a Certified Human Systems Dynamics Professional, the “Adaptive Action” model is Janice’s mindfully present intervention plan. It is by seeing, understanding, and positively influencing current patterns that adaptation and system self-organization can be facilitated in a client or learner by the practitioner or teacher.
To learn more about Dr. Ryan’s work:
https://attunementsolutions.com/
For Helen: The Journal of Human Exceptionality visit: https://helenjournal.org/
For more about the Human Systems Dynamics Institute: https://www.hsdinstitute.org/
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FULL TRANSCRIPTION
DR HACKIE REITMAN (HR):
Hi, I’m Dr. Hackie Reitman, and welcome to another episode of Exploring Different Brains. And today I’m very excited, because I’m going to learn about some I know nothing about. And we have the pleasure of interviewing all the way from Chattanooga, Tennessee: Janice Ryan, who’s an expert in the field of multi sensory environments. Welcome, Janice.
DR JANICE RYAN (JR):
Thank you Hackie.
HR:
Well, it’s so great. You’re the founder and director of attunement solutions, which is a leader in the neurodiversity movement you’re going to tell us all about? Yeah. And you’re also the president of the American Association on multi sensory environments. And one of my heroes, Dr. Rick Rader in Chattanooga, tells me, she’s in charge of our whole century program here at Orange Grove. So, Janice, welcome. Why don’t you do a proper introduction of yourself and tell us who you are and what you’re up to.
JR:
Thank you. Appreciate it. Hackie. I’ve been an occupational therapist for about 30 years. And I love working with people with sensory processing differences. Many neurodivergent people have sensory profiles that are extreme. So one of the OTS wellk nown, OTs, Winnie Bang created an assessment so that we can figure out which profile matches each person. And when I’m working in a multi sensory environment, I use those profiles. So right now, I’m in Orange Grove with Dr. Raderer. And we’re doing setting up hopefully, the first sensory friendly Center of Excellence in the country. I am working with Sensory Health, and they are networking nationally, to set up environments in medical and dental areas that are more sensory friendly, because a lot of people with sensory sensitivities develop emotional triggers trauma responses, during childhood and early life, to go into the dentist and the doctor. And so we’re really trying to stop that from happening in the next generation and trying to help people who’ve already developed those triggers to get over as much as possible.
HR:
Now, how did you get into multi sensory environments?
JR:
Well, that’s a long story. I have always loved working with people with sensory differences. And a met, actually through brick, I met Linda, Miss Bauer, and she is the therapist, occupational therapist, she brought more than three environments over from the Netherlands. They’re very, they’re very established in that part of the world. And we’ve really never understood the science too well behind him until recently. And now we’re understanding it a whole lot better, because we’re understanding through consciousness research, and also mindfulness research, how the relaxation response works, and how if you relax and get in that just right place, so that you can learn, you can learn in a deep way. And it’s called social emotional learning or somatic learning. So it’s that deep feeling in the body or that deep ability to connect with other people. And that’s where Attunement Solutions came from to attunement is a word that comes from mindfulness research. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Daniel Siegel. But he’s the one who started writing about mindful therapy. And I began practicing mindfulness in 2004. And apply that to my practice.
HR:
Explain to our audience from your point of view, mindfulness the way you’re using the term.
JR:
Well, it that’s a very interesting question, because we, you know, everybody’s talking about it. Now, therapists are using it. But unless you’ve practiced, it is easy to kind of think of it in a more of a Western way. And if you practice mindfulness, you know, it has a whole lot to do with being able to stay home during stressful situations. So it has a lot to do with being able to get over emotional triggers by living through potentially stressful things, but in a calm state. Mindfulness allows you to do that. And the relaxation response allows you to do that.
HR:
You take somebody like me who recently got into it. When I learned that you don’t have to sit for an hour with bells and chimes and I can just do 10 minutes of some nice breathing was somebody talking , mindfulness app, and just reset your brain and everything. You obviously are taking mindfulness and extrapolating it in into the overall environment.
JR:
Yes. The reason I love working with people in multi sensory environments is because it’s an environment that allows them to benefit from that same relaxation response that you have experience when they normally didn’t have, you know, many times people with special needs, they really can’t go through a mindfulness practice. The environment sets them up for it, because it relaxes them. So we use lights, we use music, we use the synchrony between those things to help them relax and breathe deeply and benefit from learning opportunities that we give them in treatment.
HR:
Tell us about Attunement Solutions.
JR:
Well, I began Attunement Solutions in 2018. And I had had a practice before and I really was more focused on Human Systems Dynamics, which I’ll tell you about too. At that point, it was named human systems occupational therapy. Attunement Solutions was an outgrowth of that, because I began to apply a lot of the things that I had used to people with dementia, to people with autism or PTSD. And because I had been exposed to mindfulness, I knew what I was doing was, I was really working hard to have interpersonal synchrony, or to help them feel that I was really connected with them in a positive way. And so attunement solutions that that’s what attunement is, is that ability to be able to connect in that really supportive way. So attunement is is something that parents use with their kids. You know, when you know why they’re crying, they don’t have to say why they’re crying, that kind of thing. It’s real close interpersonal connectedness.
HR:
And then let’s extrapolate from that on to the reach of the and purpose of the American Association on Multi-Sensory Environments.
So when Linda brought this over from the Netherlands, she was actually working with a severe and profound population and was using it. And I met her when I took a class at Orange Grove that Dr. Rader had sponsored, and Orange Grove had sponsored. And she and I immediately had this connection, because I was using mindfulness. And I was using what they call implicit memory environments, which are like sensory, or sensory cues and motor cues. I was doing that in long term care facilities. And we realized that we were doing a lot of the same things. And now it makes sense, because what we know is that when that there’s a consciousness shift, so a person can connect with their environment, they become more aware. And so she was facilitating that in a multi sensory environments. And I was doing it in these implicit memory environments. And we connected in that way. And that’s when I joined the board. And then I became secretary and vice president and finally, the president.
HR:
What do you think is the biggest roadblock to training practitioners in this field?
JR:
I think the biggest roadblock is that it’s, it’s a challenge for people to understand the science if they have not learned about the importance of environment. For that reason, a lot of times now, I use the word trauma informed at work, trauma informed design environment. So if the environment is established, so that it allows the person to relax, it can also be called a trauma informed, designed environment.
HR:
Trauma Informed, okay. And how can individual tell whether their environment their environment is having a negative effect on?
Well, there’s lots of anxiety responses out I’ll give you an example. I had a little boy that I saw when he was seven, very, very bright, probably gifted intelligence and But he had and when I gave him the, the, the sensory profile, he had sensory sensitivity, sensory avoidance, and he was also a sensory seeker. And those three together, I mean, you know, a lot of times you’ll see sensory avoidance and sensory sensitivity together, but a sensory seeker that was a little bit different. So what I do in the environment is that help him to feel better about trying new things, he had anxiety, he was seven and was already on anxiety medicines. And so when I take him in there, what I would do would set up the environment, so that he could feel good in that environment, he could feel engaged enough, but not overly engaged, not overly excited or anxious, relax and just write space. And then I can use do with human systems dynamics models, to help teach him to do hard things, like how to tell his grandmother, he doesn’t like to be hugged. I mean, there are a lot of things when you have sensory sensitivity that you have to help kids learn how to do so they can be advocates for themselves. And thankfully, his mom was a social worker, and she always stayed in there with us. And so she became his advocate. And that is a really important part of this is helping them know what kind of environment feels good, what kind of environment feels bad, helping the family, no, and so they can add eight, and in the future, because they’re gonna have environments that, that don’t feel comfortable. But on the other hand, we’re all not meant to be surgeons, because some people just can’t do them and can’t, can’t concentrate in that environment and, and deal with stresses of surgery. But they can function very well in other environments. So matching, you know, skills and ability to do environment is really very helpful.
HR:
And it’s really a it’s an extension of like, why we started different brains, because every brain is different, right? They’re not one size fits all, whether you’re talking about environments or anything else. And it’s tough for us to realize that.
JR:
Yes. And that’s where the human systems dynamics piece comes in. So I’m also training as a human systems dynamics professional. And we use models to help people think through like, for instance, I worked with a young teenager. And she was, I worked with her, because she was having stress about her high school days, she was having all the usual high school stresses, but it was all more intense because she was on the spectrum. And when she would come, we would use the models. So what now what go through adaptive action cycle. So she talked about, well, this is what happened. So this is how it made me feel. And then we could talk about what she was going to do about it. Sometimes that’s really helpful. Because you can pull out pictures, you can help them identify and figure out words to use. And so again, I taught her mom to do that for her. And so all of it has to do with success in school. And it also has to do with success in work. And so, like working with career development, with neurodivergent people is something that I’m very interested in. And I’m dealing with human systems dynamics Institute, we’re talking about, we’re setting up some trainings, I and another professional with Human Systems Dynamics Institute, are setting up some trainings that can help people to problem solve and know the right kind of environment for them to look for dogs, ways to keep growing in ways to deal with the stresses of that environment. Yeah, it’s important for all of us, really, and particularly people with sensory sensitivities.
HR:
Tell us a bit about your work with Dr. Rick Rader.
JR:
Well, I love Ricky. He is my mentor. And he, he was actually the first one. I think he was the first president. He was on founding board. I think he was the first president of MC. So we’ve worked together in that capacity since 2008. And so I was a professor at UTC here, Indiana, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and then when I made a transition to private practice, and I kept in touch and to see my private practice, and then when I had the opportunity to move over to orange spray, and so practices in Orange Grove he’s been there. Orange has been there since 53. I think it is 1953 is when it started and you they put in their first multi sensory environment in 2000. So he’s been a proponent of this, and a supporter of this for a very long time. He’s seen the benefits.
HR:
And the the human system dynamics plays a big role in the individualized therapy, correct? Yes,
JR:
yes, it does. The reason being, what I use is inquiry based problem solving models, that allows the person to decide what they can do that a word to the model. So for instance, you know, if I’m working with one person on the spectrum, I might be able to ask them to come up with their own words. And if I’m working with a different one, I might show them a picture of the different the different emotion bases, and have them pick, pick one out on that board. So I mean, it, it allows the person to be in charge of their own therapy. And that’s the key, that is such a big part of the two minute, we don’t want to tell them what their goal is, because we trust that they can. They know what they want to be able to do that they know what they’re capable of doing that day. And so we use those models so that they can make the choice. So they’re making the active choice to participate. And it’s a motivational strategy. It’s being used with people within coaching, and executive leadership trainings. So it’s being used all over with all sorts of people. It’s not just being used in special needs, I would like to see used more in health care and special needs, because right now, it’s mostly business people who are benefiting from their learning how to be better leaders and be more assertive. Keep learning be the better team player.
HR:
What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about human system dynamics?
JR:
It requires people to be interested and human relationships. And it, it provides a concrete way to understand very abstract processes. Some people I don’t think are interested in at an in those kinds of abstract costs. Some people are far more concrete thinkers. I mean, so I think I think it is a profession that is very appealing for people who, who are very, very social, and also have a good abstract thing.
HR:
Let’s say, one of our interns or our audience who are viewing this or listening to this, want to get into that field, what kind of training do they need? How do you? How do you get into that field? What kind of education do you need?
Well, Human Systems Dynamics Institute provides lots of training. And I went back in the old school days, so it was about it was it was a 2009, as well. And we took three different sessions on site. Now, I think they do it all in one online, but they do it in what they call communities of practice. Because one of ideas with human systems dynamics is that it’s all deep learning. And deep learning is self motivated. And so a lot of this conversational, so a lot of what we learned is it just happened spontaneously in, in communities of practice working together. So Human Systems Dynamics Institute has a website, I can give you the link in of this. And, and they do trainings, and they also do a lot of free one day or two, you know, to our events, they call them adaptive action labs, that just kind of teaches a bit of the basics.
HR:
And you’re intimately involved with them.
JR:
I’ve been involved with them yes, for a lot for a long, very, very passionate about that. As a matter of fact, I just wrote a blog for their newsletter. And I attributed my mindfulness practice to my ability to use some of their models, because I realized that it kept me going. So I started it started mindfulness meditation in 2004. And 16 years ago, it became just a daily routine, and I just do it every day. And I feel like it’s because of the models that just kept me moving forward, taking adaptive action, and then at the same time being reflective, being a reflective learner. So learning from experiences.
HR:
Is there anything we have not discussed that you would like to discuss?
JR:
Well, I guess the only other thing is just my feeling about where we are with neurodiversity. I mean, I feel like it’s taken such a long time for this, this concept to catch on. And it’s finally I think people are recognizing it at. I mean, it’s if people get neurodiversity, they get diversity, period. It’s just such an important concept. And I think there’s a lot of peacebuilding and feel to it. And it’s, it’s something that I think, involves everybody. So that’s probably my biggest message that I want to leave with.
HR:
And what are the some of the other diagnoses you work with, aside from Alzheimer’s and dementia, and give us some of the others?
JR:
Well, I worked with an adult with PTSD, who had a history of early like sexual abuse, and he was being served by an organization specifically that that serves that population. The man who was the director of that organization referred her saying, he’s really hard to because she’s been in and out of the mental health system since childhood. And she’s she came or an assessment. And her first day there, she said, Well, your assessment is like none other I’ve ever had, usually, the therapists are trying to trick me up so they can diagnose me, but she just wanted to get to know me. And, and so she ended up coming for several months. And we made a lot of progress, when we had to quit seeing, and when I had to quit seeing her for therapy, I was able to connect back with the man who had referred her. And he was so impressed with how much progress that she had made. And what he started doing at that point is he wanted to see if he could figure out a way to create a multi sensory environment in a man or a trailer Abbas to go to a prison system. He and I would still love to do that. But he’s not been able to get the money together to do that, that’s the kind of thing could be done, I think, would be very effective. Having a travel, multi sensory environment that you can take to places like prisons, anyplace where you would have people with a lot of emotional triggers and PTSD. So that was an adult that I worked with. And then again, I’ve had worked with kids, and I’ve actually been working with adults, adult gifted young adults. And I just love that population, because there’s so much you can learn from, from some of these brilliant people on the spectrum are doing impressive things with their lives right now. And you know, this, this another reason that I think that the neurodiversity movement is taking off is so many of those people are voicing now. And they’re saying, well, it felt emotionally abusive, and I didn’t like it when people took my freedom away. And that is one of the reasons why I totally believe that the inquiry based approach is valuable because we’re not taking freedom away, they are deciding what they want to work on.
HR:
And again, how can people learn more about your work?
JR:
Well, I do have some publications. And on my website, I have some of those publications. In 2017, I had a published article with a woman with dementia in a multi sensory environment, use lights, and I used music, her favorite music from early in her life. I worked with two social workers. And I was able to show quantitatively that she made a shift from being so unengaged, that she was really not responding to anyone unless they were making fun of her noticing three people moving around the room noticing somebody left him again, talking about everything going on in the room. So that was a huge shift. So there was quantitatively I was able to show that not by random chance. And it was just that one case study but I would love to repeat that. And then I have some textbook chapters that I’ve written for some ot textbooks, and also Dr. Rader often invites me to write for his journals that he’s involved. So he’s editor was editor in chief of a journal that I wrote some articles for him and now he is editor in chief of the Journal for Human Exceptionality: Helen, and I just wrote an article for that, too. I wrote an article on adaptive learning. So you talked about the use of multi sensory environments are talking about use of computers with personalized stories. And for people, you know, if they’re having trouble learning a subject that helps them learn better. I talked about Rubinstein’s robots for children with autism in that article, so I write a lot for his journals.
HR:
Boy you’re busy beaver. You love what you do, don’t you?
JR:
I do.
HR:
Janice Ryan, it’s been a pleasure to speak with you. Keep up the great work you do. You know, Dr. Rick Rader is one of my heroes, certainly, and is one of your biggest fans. And let us know what we here at different brains.org could do to help you achieve your goals in you know, multi sensory environments and human system dynamics, its been very educational. Thank you. And I hope you’ll come back and visit us sometime.
JR:
Thank you so much. I would love to. Appreciate it. Thank you for having me.