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Overwhelming success of Ayres' Sensory Integration Road Show in Austria!

The ASI Road Show at FH Wiener Neustadt in mid September 2015 set a widely visible sign for Sensory Integration in Austria! The fruitful cooperation of 7Senses, GSIÖ and FH Wiener Neustadt led to an event that featured the ASI exhibition with  interactive screens and ongoing video projections, several local exhibitors in the lobby of the university, opportunity to personally experience an SI room that was specifically installed for the Road Show, two presentations in the Audi max of the university that were well received by 120 participants from all over Austria - one on the effectiveness on ASI intervention based on a systematic review (Elisabeth Söchting) and Susanne Smith Roley's keynote on the role of sensory integration in development, particularly in autism. Participants and organizers together ended this successful event networking and chatting at the delicious buffet.

The GSIÖ board wants to thank our friends at 7 Senses for their engagement as well as program director Mag. Martina Kristler, Sophie Ulbrich-Ford, and the marketing department at FH Wiener Neustadt for their generous effort and effective promotion for Ayres SI! (eso)

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Elisabeth Söchting giving keynote Speech at ASI Road Show in Berlin

The Portugese organization 7 Senses nominated Elisabeth Söchting as keynote speaker at the ASI Road Show in Berlin on Sept. 15, 2015. The presentation focused on the current evidence for the effectiveness of ASI intervention. (eso)

 

 

 

European SI Congress 2015, Birmingham, UK

Over 400 participants from 23 countries participated live or online in this year's ESIC. The German speaking countries were represented by a mere 4 therapists... 

The highly professionally organised congress integrated theory, research, and praxis in excellent ways. Roseann Schaaf spread good news in her keynote: according to diverse current evidence-based practice standards, ASI is an evidence-based intervention!

I was deeply impressed by Ros Urwin's presentation of a case study of the effects of an SI-intervention with an adult within mental health services, and deeply moved by Annemarie van Jaarsveld's touching final presentation on building a playground in an underpriviledged area in South Africa. No intervention can be more meaningful, closer to the client's needs and the community, and represent the philosophy of OT better than this intervention based on the principles of SI! (eso)

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Position Paper on the Validity of Sensory Integration

The GSIÖ board decided to make the GSIÖ position paper on the validity of Ayres' SI available to the public. At the beginning of September it was published on our website. (As of now, only available in German.)

New GSIÖ Curriculum

Starting with 2015, the new curriculum for the certificate program  SI-THERAPYoriginal will be implemented by cooperating course providers. Find out more about the new program at "Education/For Therapists"! (eso)

 

GSIÖ represented at the "Familientag" hosted by Liga für Kindergesundheit

On Saturday, Nov 22, 2014, we had a booth at the 2nd Familientag which took place at the Zoom Kindermuseum in Vienna. Our colleagues Ulli Rathauscher, OT,  Evelin Fischer, OT,  and Susanne Albrecht, OT, took care of the booth and provided some fun activities for children and spread the word about SI disorders and possibilities to intervene kong visitors. Many thanks! (eso)

 

GSIÖ hosted an ONLINE Didactic Training for GSIÖ Instructors

The internal ONLINE instructor training was an output of the instructor meeting in summer. The "Didactic  Impuls" taught by our colleague Elisabeth Hartig who holds a master's degree in education, dealt with ways how to interweave literature (e.g., book chapters, research articles) with lectures. In mid November the  GSIÖ instructors met in front of their commuter screens and completed the first day of the training. The second part will be held in 2015 - just in time for the certificate courses! (eso)

 

4th GSIÖ General Assembly

On November 4, 2014 members were invited to participate in the 4th official general assembly at our ZENTRUM FÜR SENSORISCHE INTEGRATION in Vienna. Prominent results are: the "old" board was re-elected for the period 2014-18 and the new curriculum for the GSIÖ certification program SI-THERAPYoriginal was accepted. (eso)

 

GSIÖ represented at the Österreichischer Autismus-Kongress 2014

The GSIÖ was represented with a booth at the 2-day Autism Congress, that took place from September 20-22, 2014 in Vienna's Aula der Wissenschaften. Board member Helene Grabuschnigg and our colleagues Evelin Fischer and Danielle Belleflamme took care of the booth, reported back about the program, and networked with activists and parents of autistic children. Thanks a lot for their active engagement in public relations!

 

GSIÖ Instructor Meeting 2014

In August 2014, the GSIÖ board invited all active instructors to a conclave at a location that is not scant at all: the Balance Resort, a spa an hour away from Vienna. The immediate cause for this meeting was the proposal of a curriculum revision for the GSIÖ's certification program SI-THERAPYoriginal by president Elisabeth Soechting. The meeting was characterized by intense and productive work sessions followed by  socializing in the relaxing atmosphere of the Balance. Thanks to all instructors for their active participations in this highly productive meeting! (eso)

 

GSIÖ represented at the 3rd European SI Congress (ESIC) in Finland

Austrian OT was abundantly represented at the 3rd European Sensory Integration Congress that took place in mid June 2014 in Naantali, Finland! The complete GSIÖ board was present, and 7 other therapists made their way to the North, bringing along spouses and children :-) This obviously made an impression on the international SI community: we brought ESIC 2017 back home! 

Finland was the third venue of the ESIC, following Austria (2003) and Portugal (2011). 250 participants experienced a professionally organized conference with world renowned keynote speakers and a large variety of presentations. After a one-day workshop on "SMART Intervention" by Lucy Miller/USA, two keynote presentations on the topic "Play" were given by Diane Parham/USA and Karen Stagnitti/AUS. The following two days were filled with oral presentations from OTs from all over the world, e.g. Spain, USA, Japan, Taiwan, The Niederlands, and Austria, panels, meetings and informal networking sessions such as the Global Network (SIGN) meeting with some 50 international participants.(eso)

 

SI ONLINE Seminars

In February 2012 the GSIÖ and our cooperation partner SI-SeminarInstitut have launched online seminars on a platform for online meetings and webinars. We think that oOnline courses are a good alternative to traditional continuing education for therapists who are short of time or money for travel. They allow therapists to stay on top of current developments related to SI for very reasonable money and free time management.

Our online seminars cover the array from introductory to specialized topics and from short (5-10 min) webcasts supplemented by literature to lice online meetings such as our monthly online supervision (available also in English). One line of online seminars focuses on readings of papers which are in English. These short courses might also be of interest for international participants. (eso)

 

SI D-A-CH Seminars

The project SI D-A-CH Seminare was launched in 2011 under the motto "Bringing current evidence-based seminars on Sensory Integration with leading international instructors to the German-speaking countries". The goal of the project is to integrate all German-speaking countries more in the international SI community and the international exchange. In this project, GSIÖ cooperates with SI organizations of the other German speaking countries Germany and Switzerland and/or with local course organizers.

In October 2012 the first and highly successful SI D-A-CH seminar took place in Stuttgart in cooperation with the SI instructors of the German OT association DVE: the ASI Fidelity training with Zoe Mailloux. In October 2013, Elisabeth Soechting taught an Autism Workshop in Zurich that was strongly influenced by her training under Roseann Schaaf at Jefferson University, Philadelphia. For 2015, we are planning a SIPT certification in Germany which will be the first one in decades. (eso)