The new Decoda website is up and running at www.decoda.org with news updates and information about upcoming events. There are films of the equipment, and the Music Gym, on the new site and if you want information about the Music Gym sessions in Hastings, there’s a link to www.musicgym.org

You can sign up to our newsletter on the website and that’s also posted on twitter -www.twitter.com/musicgymuk if you want to follow us that way.

Last but not least, if you’d like to get in touch for more information, or to invite us to an event or exhibition, please fill in the contact form here or on the Decoda website, or email us at enquiries@decoda.org. Alternatively, you can call us on 01424 439192. We look forward to hearing from you.

 Welcome to Julia and Michaela, our new employees at the Music Gym.

For regular visitors, who think they look familiar, you’re right. Julia and Michaela started with us over a year ago, as volunteers, but as of last Friday they’re now employees of Decoda. (more…)

This picture captures so well the moment of two people communicating. For some this ability to connect comes very easily and others might struggle a little. With that in mind, Angela Lane, the East Sussex Project Worker for Intensive Interaction (what a mouthful) is now at the Music Gym whenever she can be, simply to talk to people about simple ways to begin making these connections. (more…)

After the success of the Music Gym zone at Learning Disability Today in Manchester in July, Decoda’s been invited to do the same thing at Learning Disability Today in London next month.

The exhibition will be happening on Wednesday, November 25 at the Business Design Centre in Islington. There’s always a full programme of seminars plus 100 stands so in an information-packed day we aim to provide somewhere to exercise, create and relax at the same time - as these visitors found in Manchester. (more…)

 Despite our best attempts to think of another name (Boogiecam? Musical Squares?) we still come back to “Dancing Squares” as that’s what they are - squares on which you dance and trigger music. We used to have them in the Music Gym as wooden boards covered in furry fabric. Through trying them out at Learning Disability Today, first in London and last week in Manchester, they’ve evolved into a brightly coloured mat attached to a stand with a tray for the laptop running our  Unlocking Music software.

Later this week we’ll be installing them in the resource centre of a national autistic charity, inside an inflatable “igloo” so the movement will also trigger projections on the igloo walls.

If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, or you’ve seen them already and want to describe them to colleagues, we asked one of our Music Gym assistants if she’d mind being filmed having a go on them. This was the first time Julia had seen them as they’ve not been in the Music Gym for a while. We think of her as very quiet and reserved but she threw herself into using the squares. The film is here 

Julia was trying them by herself but they can be used by up to four people at a time, each one triggering a different rhythm. We can provide a larger mat for wheelchair-users.

If you’d like more information about the dancing squares, the Unlocking Music software or the Music Gym please contact us on 01424 439192, on enquiries@decoda.org or by filling in the contact form.

As described in the last post, the Decodamaze was developed from the feedback of service users at the Music Gym. It’s taken longer to finalise than was originally thought but it’s now almost ready to sell.

Despite strong opposition the judges apparently liked the fact that we’ve produced equipment to improve the lives of people with profound disabilities.

Our main website is currently being updated but there’s some information there about the maze. Alternatively you can call us on 01424 439192 or email us on maze@decoda.org

Our inflatable, interactive maze  grew out of the weekly sessions at the Music Gym. We were aware that not all the members could access the bouncy castle that plays music and looked for something that would be as much fun and interactive AND could be accessed by wheelchair users. Someone who brings students from a local special needs school asserted that they need an adrenalin rush as much as the next young person and outlined her ideas. Many months and headaches later the Decodamaze appeared.

We know how much benefit and pleasure people get from attending the Music Gym and it’s satisfying when the work is recognised in this way.

If you’d like to know more about the Music Gym or the maze you can phone us on 01424-439192 or email us at maze@decoda.org

Angela Lane is the local Intensive Interaction Project Manager and last Friday she visited the Music Gym to see how it fits into what she’s doing.

If someone with severe learning disabilities and/or autism is still at an early stage of communication this is a valuable approach to passing on the pre-speech fundamentals of communication. It’s what we see happening all the time with many very good support staff who bring members to the Music Gym who may not use that term for what they’re doing.

These fundamentals would include such things as

• learning to give attention to another person
• developing shared attention into activities
• taking turns
• having fun, playing together
• using and understanding facial expressions
• using and understanding eye contact
• using and understanding non-verbal communication such as body language

Increasingly we’ve come to realise that the growing relationship between carer and member is the most important aspect of the Music Gym. We’re there to make sure the equipment works and to encourage people to get the most out of it but it’s the opportunity for those who come to have fun together that’s crucial.

It was encouraging that Angela agreed with this. If the funding for her post continues then we hope she’ll be on hand sometimes to talk to staff about Intensive Interaction. In the meantime you can contact her about the East Sussex network she’s setting up on angelslake@btinternet.com

If you’d like to know more about the Music Gym you can contact Decoda by phoning 01424 439192, by emailing enquiries@decoda.org or by filling in the contact form.