Sound Therapy

If you’re looking for ideas to extend a sensory room this is the first of a series of short films showing how we use Soundbeam in our work with people with profound disabilities. We include switches for those who can use their hands - they encourage manipulation and introduce the idea of making something happen.

The Soundbeam, switches and vibro-accoustic seats are contained in a gazebo. People enjoy sitting in there and watching the activity in the rest of the hall.

Apologies for the background noise - it’s the pump of the bouncy castle across the hall.

If you’d like to know more about the Music Gym or using Soundbeam please get in touch by email or by phoning 01424 444322.

According to an article in today’s Irish Medical Times, wanting to walk is one of the most common challenging behaviours. Doctors were discussing the treatment of elderly patients in hospitals in Ireland and Dr. Cillian Twomey, consultant physician in Geriatric Medicine, Cork University Hospital, gave the example of a man with dementia who liked to walk around. This bothered other patients so the response was to confine him, rather than to transfer him to a facility where walking would be possible. Too often, Dr. Tomey continued, the response is to sedate patients rather than answer their needs. Continue reading ‘Walking is a challenging behaviour!’

Is it any coincidence that very helpful organisations have been set up by parents of children with disabilities, seeking to plug the gap they’ve experienced in the help that’s available. The Henry Spink Foundation is one (see the last post) and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation is another. Continue reading ‘The Challenging Behaviour Foundation - invaluable help for parents and professionals’

I just happened to hear Henrietta Spink talking to John Humphrys in On The Ropes on Radio 4. Listening to her story I was amazed that I’d never heard of her before. She’s the mother of two severely, but differently, disabled sons now in their late teens who has battled for the rights of carers. In one article a few years ago she wrote that the only things they’d been given without a fight were two plastic mugs and a toilet seat! Continue reading ‘Henrietta Spink talks about raising two sons with profound disabilities’

Here’s a glimpse of the work that goes into making the Music Gym happen every Friday in Hastings. The backing track is one of Tom’s - Don’t Bring Shame on the Family - but as the slideshow ends before the vocals start the title won’t make any sense….

For more information, please visit www.decoda.org

For a long time we’ve wanted to enable others to use our methods to engage people with profound disabilities in meaningful activities. Now we can do that, through our offshoot organisation - Responsive Environments Ltd. Continue reading ‘Sensory rooms plus’

We all agree and know that we really do want the very best in terms of quality of life for people with learning disabilities and especially those with complex needs. Decoda grew out of my experiences in a local home and day centre and the firm belief that there had to be an alternative to someone sitting all day with an Argos catalogue, as happened with one young man there. Continue reading ‘The 4 big ideas: consultation on learning disabilities services in East Sussex’

Turning out the filing cabinet today I found a pile of blank self-evaluation forms from our days of running courses funded by the Learning and Skills Council. They were always a mystery to us as the people we worked with didn’t speak and certainly couldn’t read or write. So how were they supposed to fill in these forms? Continue reading ‘Who reads students’ self-evaluation forms?’

I had a rare opportunity last week to try out the Music gym, as I’m usually in the cafe area, explaining it to someone instead. I’d forgotten just how much fun it is. Continue reading ‘The Music Gym - a personal view of this service for people with complex needs’

At Decoda we don’t claim to be authorities but we are observant. We’ve seen the impact of what we do on people with ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) though we can’t necessarily explain it. Continue reading ‘The Music Gym and autism’