COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
What SLPs determined to be the best methods of use for MindScent® • Exposure to the included smells can stimulate thought that can emerge into full-blown conversations and entertaining activities. • Social skills games, memory activities, written or verbal language samples, and writing prompts can be enhanced using MindScent® smells. • The smells can be used in desensitization therapy or to alert and/or calm children who have sensory processing challenges. • The MindScent® Smell.Discover.Connect kit can be used by teachers from preschool to high school to teach about the sense of smell. • Vocabulary, grammar and syntax, critical thinking, articulation, and fluency activities can be built around MindScent®. • MindScent® activities can be used to improve memory, guessing or conjecture, comparisons, or social interaction. The smells and picture cards encourage discussion about interests and events.
Ruth Sutcliffe spent more than 30 years in the fragrance industry as a professional scent designer for end uses ranging from soaps and candles, to hair care, and celebrity perfumes. Her quest to use scent for therapeutic purposes began in 2016 after her mother died of dementia-related causes. She developed Essential Awakenings® Smell & Memory activities and kits for seniors living with the disease. During her activity sessions, she realized the distinctive scent prompts she used were unique tools that helped facilitate sociability and conversation among her audience. As a mother of a daughter with a neurological anomaly, she is familiar with the challenges parents and their children face with access to education, therapy, and support. In 2018, she began testing MindScent® methodologies for use with children at a New York City Autism Center, determined to develop a multi-sensory kit that could help educators and speech and occupational therapists who work with ASD children. Website: https://thescentgurugroup.com Email: thescentgurugroup@gmail.com LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/ruthsutcliffe Twitter: https://Twitter.com/Scentguru Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechTherapyTool, https://www.facebook.com/thescentgurugroup Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ScentGuruCulture/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UC0215rl5znxWjYlYcMrG91g
• Increased utterance with written or verbal language samples can be enhanced using MindScent® smells as prompts. • MindScent® smells are distinctive. The smells of grass, apples, and watermelon, for example, can be used as reinforcers (rewards) to establish rapport. REFERENCES The Proust Effect: The Senses as Doorways to Lost Memories, Cretian van Campen, 2014 Herz RS, Eliassen J. Beland J, & Souza T. Neuroimaging evidence for the emotional potency of odor-evoked memory. Neuropsychologia 42 (2004,) 371-378 Arshamian A, Iannilli E, Gerber JC, Willander J, Persson J, Seo H-S, Hummel T, & Larsoon M. The functional neuroanatomy of odorevoked autobiographical memories cued by odors and words. Neuropsycholigia 51 (2013), 123-131
Exceptional Needs Today | Issue 2 | 35
