As part of the professional masters in art and design education at NCAD, I completed a special needs placement, where I ran a two-week art programme and mentored an education degree student, who assisted in the workshops. My placement was with children aged 5-10 who were blind or visual impaired, with physical disabilities, severe learning disabilities and various complicated medical conditions. The placement was challenging in many ways but was a hugely rewarding experience. The children, teachers and SNA's I met during my time on placement were truly inspirational. The projects I introduced were art therapy based, which I planned to each student’s individual educational plan. Myself and my mentee Kelley Farrell were based within two classes for the whole school day. We assisted the teachers and SNA's in their daily routines and introduced daily art therapy activities tailored to each student’s needs, likes and dislikes. The art activities aimed to stimulate students senses and involved use of tactile materials, scents, sounds, massage, movement and florescent light for student's with CVI. Details of the lessons can be seen in the presentation below.