Saskia Grassie
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saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Saskia Grassie
@saskiagrassie.bsky.social
160 followers 170 following 69 posts
Occupational Therapist & Creative Practitioner. Children, young people & families. Background in design. Constantly learning, unlearning and combining experience from both careers

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saskiagrassie.bsky.social
A perfect morning in a much loved place, walking on my own, enjoying familiar landscape and exquisite changing colours. This is where ideas so often come together & today was one of those ‘ah ha!’ days where links are made, creativity is freed and a direction becomes clearer. Grateful & energised
Shoreline with crystal clear sea lapping over smooth, low pink rocks and sandy shore. It is a sparkling clear day and hills can be seen across the sea against a cloudless blue sky
May 12, 2025 at 12:21 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Strolling through stunning Japanese Tai-Haku cherry blossom at Alnwick Garden with added heaven of swings to enjoy the delicately scented view. Bliss! If you are in the area, they have perhaps another week to be enjoyed
Slope of Tai-Haku cherry blossom trees in full white frothy bloom with copper leaves amongst the blossom. One of the many wooden bench swings in foreground and two people in mid distance strolling under the trees
April 19, 2025 at 11:07 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Playing with drawing larger than life toothbrush and fight, flight or freeze response as part of explanation of what I do in my role as an occupational therapist. Illustration for new portfolio website coming soon. Keen interest in #OralCare influencing choice of occupations to illustrate 🪥😀
Unfinished components of a colour illustration in paint and pencil on a torn out sketch book page. Larger than life turquoise toothbrush overloaded with striped toothpaste; grey toy rabbit in pink jacket and paper crown covers its eyes and hides behind young child with curly blonde hair (just seen). Section of pattern in coral and orange top left.
April 12, 2025 at 10:35 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Mesmerised by fascinating, inventive & multi-layered ‘The Stimming Pool’ created by a collective of neurodivergent filmmakers. The limits of a post simply couldn’t do this justice so sharing the BFI review www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so... & thoroughly recommend seeing if it comes to your area
Inside the semi-darkened Roxy at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne. Rows of green upholstered seats in the foreground. On the screen, a still image from the film with the words ‘Tyneside Cinema. Tyneside Cinema welcomes you to a relaxed screening of The Stimming Pool’.
April 7, 2025 at 5:06 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Roughly sketching very overloaded toothbrush for illustration practice & the minty smell of the toothpaste is SO strong! Small wonder some children recoil before the brush gets near their mouth. Others love the minty zing. Acceptance of these #SensoryDifferences important for successful #OralCare
Hand with Micropore plaster on thumb holds blue child’s toothbrush with a very over generous dollop of red, white and blue toothpaste on top. Held over a piece of white paper with a pencil sketch of the brush with another very rough sketch above it and a sort of star to the left (part of a home made fairy wand but this is not clear from this picture)
March 31, 2025 at 12:01 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Remembering what a treat it was as a child in the 70’s to be the one allowed to call the speaking clock on the landline phone when the clocks changed forwards and backwards 😀
A battered square faced watch held in left hand with sun glancing across the scratched watch face. Time shows 0930. Deep shadows behind
March 30, 2025 at 8:51 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Taking apart a favourite child’s jacket also worn hard by two very active cousins - the eventual aim is to recycle what’s salvageable into mini stuff bags for the original owner 17 years after he first wore it 😀🪡 #RecyclingTextiles
Child’s outdoor winter jacket in lime green, turquoise blue and bright red on a table. One sleeve has been snipped around the armhole seam and lies open, showing the wadding layer beneath. A pair of small scissors with orange handles are partially in shot.
March 16, 2025 at 8:17 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Find me on Instagram @saskiagrassie if you need a colourful and varied view on the world through a creative, occupational therapy lens. Mostly posting different content to here, but sometimes overlapping 😀
Four rows of Instagram tiles. From top left across and down: illustration of two children seated at a table eating from a 1930’s picture book; hand written description of a child’s drawing about a blue sponge being stolen (by a frog) to turn into a trampoline; the word ‘yet’ in pastel and paint; close up black and white photo of spiked plant; cut out children’s drawing of ballet dancer casting shadow on a green wall; close up of sheepskin rug; early childhood drawings of multiple people done at different ages; page from a picture book showing a girl called Maggie looking shocked having just broken the spinning mechanism on a fairground merry go round; gouache illustration of colourful items from my grandmother’s house with a few real buttons on top; milk of magnesia blue glass bottle in blurred close up; pile of vintage saris; the letters O and T in a sketch book actually from word ‘story’ accidentally reversed! Letters in lights from a cafe sign on holiday
March 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Looking through some favourite childhood books for a creative project & found this lovely example of supporting a child to sit at a good height for a meal (cushion under feet could be a bit higher!). Illustration by Cicely Mary Barker in ‘A Little Book of Rhymes Old and New’ #PostureAndPositioning
Detail of black and white book illustration for ‘Four Paws’. A little girl sits at the family table on an adult ladder back chair with a plump cushion on the seat and what looks like a firmer sofa cushion under her feet which her toes can just reach. She holds an open cup in both hands and looks down towards the kitten lapping from a bowl. A teddy bear and a ball rest on the floor behind her chair. On the table is a teapot in a padded tea cosy on a tray also holding a milk jug. A sugar bowl with lid, a central vase of flowers, a cup and saucer, plates with small cakes and what could be slices of bread also on the table.
March 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
In #CPDWeek2025 reflecting on the power of ‘Yet’ - ‘I can’t XXX yet’ - for service users & ourselves. Not being able to do something can be wildly frustrating, depressing & demotivating. It can also be an invitation to build on existing skills & experience to reach personal goals & aspirations #OT
Table strewn with brightly coloured rough sketches of the word ‘yet’ drawn in oil pastels, pastels and gouache paint. These are mostly done with non-dominant hand as an exercise in freeing up mark making. Paint palette, pastels, jam jar of water and brush seen in background. Used as an example of author unlearning and learning drawing techniques as one small step towards a long term goal
March 7, 2025 at 9:37 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Consider watching 5-min School for Fidgets as part of #CPD! Listen to children’s viewpoints & follow with reflections on the role & purpose of fidgeting & stimming and how you might embed deeper understanding into practice 🎬 youtu.be/-dj0YMiuwyo #NeurodiversityAffirming #SENCO #OccupationalTherapy
Still from stop motion animation ‘School for Fidgets’. A life size pink tone paper hand holds a fluorescent yellow highlighter pen which has just underlined the word ‘do’ in sentence ‘What does fidgeting or chewing help you do?’. Words typed on off white A4 paper. Lower forearm in shot which has a grey and white small check shirt sleeve. Background mid tone plain blue.
March 5, 2025 at 5:28 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
A love of cooking started young with creation of quirky cook books including recipes for the semi wild cat who used to visit. Porridge & bacon seems to have gone down well - I preferred cakes! Cooking with children provides a fantastic opportunity to learn about different foods #CookingWithChildren
A hand made book cover created by a child from sugar paper coloured with crayons. The background is scribbled red with a picture of iced fairy cakes with cherries on top sitting on a brown table. These are also drawn in crayon. In a child’s interesting and emergent spelling the title reads ‘A book about making cakes’ and below it says ‘the oven’ also in interesting spelling! Behind are pieces of coloured paper and a red foil fairy cake cup
March 4, 2025 at 6:15 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Revisiting own childhood & what makes me ‘me’ for creative assignment. A really fascinating exercise which is also making me think about my occupational therapy practice & all I bring to the role. I am from a wonderfully mixed heritage full of rich history & so wish I’d asked many more questions!
Slightly cropped double page sketch book spread with a mix of full colour sketches and collaged images. These include a Victorian jelly mould, hand written recipes for a favourite dhal and spiced chutney written on a brown window envelope and scrap paper; a black and white photo of one of my great aunts (hands only seen here); a green vase of roses; a stray pink rose petal; burnt orange, magenta and lilac silk saris and fabric with rich gold borders; a glass pendant; a scattering of different buttons from a treasured button box; a hair ornament of peacock coloured enamelled wings and three quivering milky glass ovals; a small hand painted box with a bird and heart; red and gold brocade pouch; two small slightly damaged Indian figures in red turbans, one with a stringed instrument; a pile of books; a pink tulip against a blue background. A roughly sketched spray of unrecognisable leaves acts as a place holder for a drawing of fresh mint.
February 26, 2025 at 10:55 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Revisiting old sketch books and playing around with photos and cropping - accidentally reversed ‘STORY’ sketched from a cafe signage years ago - of course immediately saw OT in lights! #OccupationalTherapy #OT
Tight crop from a double page spread in small sketchbook. Black deep wash background behind raised letters O and T painted in a range of oranges and yellows with hints of rust and lighter paint suggesting the glow of the light bulbs following internal shape of each letter. The rounded edge of the S only just peeking into shot on the right. The integral tangerine orange bookmark drapes across the centre fold.
February 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Nothing like a bit of ‘grab what you have’ lighting adjustments when natural light fades into persistent grey rain! Short bit of talking to camera for RCOT. Never like watching myself in playback! 😬
Tripod holding a smart phone, set up on a wooden chair on top of a table. Piece of cereal box card with eyes and nose drawn roughly stuck on back of chair at correct eye-line. Kitchen foil stuck to wall and draped across chair to bounce light with a glowing camping lantern sat beside. Laundry mesh bag placed over standard lamp which is off, and an angled solar table lamp just seen - also off. Blue green wall in background.
February 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Fidgeting or stimming is a *need* for many young people. Removing opportunities to #fidget or #stim can lead to dysregulation, disengagement, reduced ability to take part in activities, poorer retention & masking with impact on health. In the words of children & young people 👉 youtu.be/-dj0YMiuwyo
Corner of iPad with screen open in a stop motion animation app. Action buttons such as ‘cancel’ and ‘capture’ visible below image of a paper hand holding the edge of three sheets of paper with the words ‘How do you feel if you can’t fidget or chew when you need to?’ The word ‘need’ is circled in red. The same image can be seen partly obscured on the blue table top below the horizontal screen supported by old shelf struts (balanced on either side on book shelves but not seen in picture)
February 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
During #CPDWeek2025 @hcpc.bsky.social will be myth-busting and sharing best practice, resources & tips with a different theme each day including a webinar on the CPD audit process and how to tailor CPD to your role. Find out more here
www.hcpc-uk.org/cpd-week #CPD #HCPC
February 19, 2025 at 7:20 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Checking & culling old pens & actively noticing difference in smell between brands/types. Smell sensitivity can put children & young people off engaging and impact participation & enjoyment. Worth thinking about when replacing art materials at home and in schools #Neurodiversity #Sensory #Inclusion
Tub of mixed felt pens and markers in many different colours and types. A piece of folded scrap paper tucked into the edge is covered in test squiggles
February 16, 2025 at 6:01 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Some really beautiful black & white studies of children growing up in the Gorbals, Glasgow in the 1960’s by Joseph McKenzie in ‘Gorbals Children. A study in photographs’. Found when browsing in the wonderful Barter Books secondhand bookshop in Alnwick, Northumberland #HistoryOfGlasgow #Photography
Black and white full page photo in an open book of two children, one older than the other who holds a plate which had been covering a meal of Scotch pie, mash and gravy. They are both closely looking at the food with interest and the younger child is smiling.
February 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Joyfully playing with colour - experimenting and having great fun learning with the fabulous The Good Ship Illustration
Paint swatches mixed in multiple shades using red, blue, yellow and white in various combinations to give an extended palette. Two pages (part out of shot) have blobs of colour in graded groups, and the central sheet has various colour combinations tested on background in neutral tones. Paint, brushes and water jar just seen
February 13, 2025 at 11:15 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Absolutely delighted to be a part of the current mentoring programme @elizabethcasson.bsky.social & excited re what we - a partnership of two motivated OTs with strong belief in the value of our profession - can learn, reflect on & achieve over the next six months together #OccupationalTherapy
Detail of part of front cover of Elizabeth Casson Trust good mentoring guide version 2 for the 2025 cohort on a table which is just seen. The illustration is of a blue tree with yellow, red, blue and orange leaves and words written on the branches. These are blurred in the photograph but ‘Each OT’ and ‘Funding’ can be read with relative ease
February 12, 2025 at 7:49 PM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Example of #sensory too-muchness this morning - the visuals could be avoided by taking a different route through the store (if you knew the layout) but there were two different radio stations playing plus background music! #Neurodiversity #EnvironmentalNoise
February 8, 2025 at 10:57 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Visit to #MuseumOfMaking @derbymuseums.bsky.social enjoying #ThinkHuman exhibition & all the connections with career as an OT. User-centred design critically important in effectively meeting different needs & great to see process + so many other fascinating aspects of human centred design displayed
Wall display in Think Human exhibition. Background white with coloured outlines of children and adults of different ages some with visible disability. Panels of text and diagrams sit over the top with text as follows: ‘User Centred Design. Human factors also accommodates people in design by listening to their views, needs and preferences. This, known as User Centred Design, is ‘iterative’ which means products go through several options and stages of testing to find the best solutions for users. By taking a holistic view of the entire user experience of a product, from seeing advertising about it, to purchasing it, learning how it works, and using it over a long period of time, user-centred design helps make products easier and more enjoyable to use. User-centred design involves four main steps. Firstly designer works with users to identify the context of use, including how, where and why they might need to use a product. Next is an understanding of specific user requirements, including what specific tasks need to occur for product users. The team then creates design solutions which are evaluated against the identified requirements to see whether they really work for users. This process continues until the best solutions are found.’ Panel on right has a diagram with a central square and circles with text around it. In centre: ‘How might you be involved in the design process. Have you done any of these. Might it be something you do in the future?’ Examples: ‘Attended a focus group about a new product; Received a product prototype to test at home; written product review on website; voiced complaint about a product on social media; used an app that tracks tasks and requirements and feeds info back to companies; returned a product to shop after it didn’t work properly; Answered a pop up feedback survey on a website; Accepted cookies on a website providing insight data to companies’. Please note, some text shortened to fit word count
February 6, 2025 at 10:32 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Brief & fascinating visit to The Hunterian at The University of Glasgow. These beautiful hands made in the pattern shop of Yarrow & Co for Erskine Hospital during the 1914-1918 war. Read about the founding of the military hospital & innovative provision of artificial limbs in photo 2 #Prosthetics
Three varnished, carved wood hands in a row on a wood plinth against soft white background. Two right hands and one left. Each hand slightly different and all with fingers in a relaxed slightly curled position with tip of thumb to tip of index finger. Plaque reads ‘Hands made in the pattern shop of Yarrow & Co for Erskine Hospital during the 1914 to 1918 war’. Description to left of showcase with multiple exhibits reads ‘Orthopeadics. The scale of casualties from the First World War made it obvious that a large modern military hospital was needed in Scotland. The eminent Glasgow surgeon, Professor Sir William Macewen (1848 - 1924) was among those who founded Erskine Hospital, ‘The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers’ which opened in 1916. The hospital was dedicated to the care of wounded soldiers. The large number of amputees led to a shortage of artificial limbs. Macewen, as one of Erskine Hospital’s surgeons decided to solve the problem by recruiting skilled workers from the nearby Clydesdale shipyards to produce artificial limbs. Later, some of Erskine’s rehabilitating patients helped make artificial limbs in the hospital’s workshop’.
February 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
saskiagrassie.bsky.social
Thank you for your interest and kind comments 😀 I shared some amazing conversations with people when out and about - many with people who wished their fidgeting and stimming needs had been better understood when they were at school. The coat’s travels were cut short with the arrival of COVID sadly
Denim coat appliquéd with multi colour copies of children’s self portraits as part of the School for Fidgets project. The words on the coat in banners and speech bubbles are ‘Fidgeting, wellbeing and learning. We were asked about our need to fidget and chew in school by an occupational therapist who wants to know how fidgeting helps us do stuff so our stories can be shared on YouTube. #SchoolForFidgets coming soon to help others understand the dynamic mix of child plus environment plus activity … and fidgeting!’.
February 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM