• The 10th Jubilee congress of the "International Snoezelen Association's" (ISNA)

"10 years ISNA - looking back - preparing for the future"
From the 19th to the 21st of October 2012 ISNA members celebrated the tenth anniversary of the "International Snoezelen Association". The historic place, a former Cistercian Monastery in Maria Bildhausen near Münnerstadt, previously the venue of a national symposium in 2010, was chosen once again to host this special occasion. Maria Bildhausen is a facility of the church foundation Dominikus-Ringeisen-Werk, named after its founder Dominikus Ringeisen, with its head office in Ursberg. An experienced provider in the field of working with and for people with disabilities in the administrative district of Bad Kissingen and Rhön Grabfeld and surrounding areas, the former monastery houses a residential home and care home, a professional care facility and a workshop for people with disabilities. The architectural centre of the grounds has always been the abbey, constructed in 1625 by the abbot Georg Kiln. But it would take almost 30 years for the imposing building to become possession of the congregation. Until 1926 the prelate structure was used for agricultural purposes and as public forestry (MAINPOST 1.8.2011). In the past 130 nuns of the St. Josephs congregation worked in the grounds, nowadays there are only 5 sisters left, aged 75 and over. A tour around the beautiful grounds of the monastery lead by historian Anton Then gave participants an insight into the history and current use of the buildings.

The International Snoezelen Association (since 2012 "ISNA- Snoezelen professional e.V."), founded in 2002 at the Humboldt University Berlin under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Krista Mertens was the organiser of the World Congress. In close cooperation with Reiner Waldvogel, the general manager of the facility Dominikus-Ringeisenwerk Maria Bildhausen and his colleague Manuela Trescher, a social care worker, the ca. 100 participants from 13 nations were made very welcome and could enjoy the romantic setting of the old monastery in the glorious autumn sunshine. Financial support was provided by the local Kreissparkasse, the Staatliche Mineralbrunnen AG Bad Brückenau as well as two large companies providing Snoezelen materials and equipment. Besides the excellent catering provided by the monastery guest house, students from the college for social care called in by Manuela Trescher have played a big part in making this congress a success. At this point I would like to express our gratitude to everybody involved in making the symposium such a success. The former residential home and care service manager of the Otto-und-Anna-Herold residential care home foundation and member of the teaching time Rudi Godschan together with Prof. Dr. Mertens were responsible for public relations. Local newspapers, the TV station Bayern 1, numerous adverts and mailings made the region aware of the congress and highlighted our work in the field of Snoezelen. A particular highlight was the 60 page anniversary publication, in which members of the teaching team were talking about their work in a wide range of application fields of Snoezelen - from toddlers to elderly people. The congress started on Friday with a spectacular display of a fire-breather in the abbey of the monastery accompanied by an amazing group of drummers who were all residents of the Dominikus-Ringeisen-Werk facility for people with disabilities.

The opening was followed by acknowledgements and the German teaching team of ISNA honoured Prof. Dr. Krista Mertens for her long-standing dedication to research projects, teaching and praxis and the worldwide dissemination of Snoezelen as an intervention method in education and therapy, as a method to promote learning as well as rest and relaxation. In her opening speech Prof. Dr. Mertens reviewed the congresses of the past ten years.
That was followed by greetings of official representatives from local government and the management of the Dominikus-Ringeisenwerk, deputy district administrator Emil Müller, the mayor Helmut Blank and Rainer Waldvogel.

In his excellent opening speech Prof. em. Dr. Karl-Ernst Ackermann, chair holder in the faculty of special need education at the institute for rehabilitation sciences at the Humboldt University Berlin, analysed the development of Snoezelen from the eighties up to today. He questioned the methodical approaches and set the congress participants the task to take responsibility and to clearly clarify and structure ISNA's way forward. 

During the second presentation "Snoezelen in Latin America", Prof. Ana Maria Gonzàles Galli, head of a facility for people with mental disabilities in Buenos Aires gave the audience an insight into Snoezelen in Argentina and surrounding countries. That was followed by the speech by one of the founders of Snoezelen, Ad Verheul, who talked about "Looking to the future in the Netherlands". Equally impressive was the presentation by Hanne Holmer, an ergo therapist and head of a Snoezelen facility in Maribo, Denmark. In her speech on Saturday she spoke about "Snoezelen/MSE - yesterday, today and tomorrow". The plenary sessions concluded with speeches by Dr. Martin Buntrock, musician and composer of specific relaxation music who talked about "Relaxation music" and by Prof. Dr. Krista Mertens who spoke about "Burnout and help through Snoezelen".
In workshops held throughout the afternoons participants had the opportunity to experience Snoezelen in the different application fields. In the vast monastery grounds permanently installed Snoezelen rooms as well as temporally set up rooms were used for practical insights. It was not difficult to switch off and get involved with the various topics such as "Snoezelen with elderly people with dementia" (Kati Harasic), "Snoezelen with psychologically ill people" (Josipa Mingard), "Snoezelen with baking paper and cardboard tubes" aimed at working with toddlers (Heike Levin) or Snoezelen for children themed "A day by the sea" (Nicole Ling). Unusual and new was the focus on "Snoezelen for people with visual impairments" (Reiner Keck) as well as looking at opportunities to apply Snoezelen for people of all ages with auditory processing and perception disorders (Conny Düwiger). Although many of the practical ways of implementing Snoezelen when working with people with mental disabilities are known, Carolin Pelz and Diana Will demonstrated a wider range of application for that target group. The subject "Correct positioning during Snoezelen" (Conny Düwiger) was new to the program, an area that generally requires more attention. A particular highlight was "Snoezelen with animals" presented by Theresa Bruderer from the 'Institute of social learning with animals' in Linwedel. The theoretical lectures by the paediatrician Dr. Klaus Skrodzki on the subject of "Snoezelen and hyperactivity - an absolute no-go?" and by Ad Verheul providing ideas and suggestions on homemade Snoezelen materials were very well received.
The participants were very well looked after by the guesthouse situated within the monastery grounds and great emphasis was placed on the visitors' wellbeing.
The evening entertainment was introduced by Rudi Godschan with a number of historically documented toasts. To the sounds of a live band language barriers were quickly forgotten and participants celebrated and danced the night away.
The congress concluded Saturday late afternoon with a preview of the subsequent international congresses. Prof. Ana Maria Gonzàles Galli from Argentina introduced her country and her facility for next year's congress and a congregation of sisters from Seoul Community Rehabilitation Centre gave the participants a taste of the congress in 2014 themed "Exploring Oriental Sensory Wonderland".
The cultural finale was the musical picture journey "Sound of silence" in the church with pictures and sounds to mediate and dream.
International events such as these are always a great opportunity for participants to socialise and network. New members from the Czech Republic and Slovakia introduced themselves, expressing their interest in applying Snoezelen methods in their areas of work but also their commitment to contribute their own ideas to support the dissemination of Snoezelen. A Japanese delegation came all this way to learn from ISNA experts and vice versa: Two of the young people worked in a mobile Snoezelen bus which was turned into a white room. With that bus they had travelled across the regions affected by the Fukushima nuclear crisis to give affected children some timeout. To them the congress presented the beginning of a new stage to work together on an international level and learn from one another.
On Sunday a trip to the Kreuzberg formed the end of the 10th World Congress of ISNA which, thanks to so many helping hands, has once again been a successful event where experts were able to exchange their experiences and friendships were formed beyond borders. The congress was a great opportunity for networking, all in the spirit of this year's theme: "10 years ISNA - looking back, preparing for the future".
The congress speeches and presentations can be found in the anniversary publication or can be accessed on the homepage.