multi-sensory theatre with children with profound and complex needs

This is an article that appeared in SEN magazine in the current issue.  I thought you might be interested in it - so here it is  

This is the first in a series of three articles by Christopher Davies, artistic director of Bamboozle.  In it he describes a residency with children who have complex needs and their parents.  These residencies began 7 years ago when Bamboozle discovered a need amongst parents to have activities in the holidays that are specifically designed for their children.  They are designed to give parent and child uninterrupted creative time together without the often conflicting demands of siblings, family and life’s other demands.
The second and third articles will appear later this year and will look at Bamboozle’s approach to working with SLD students and then MLD/EBD.

The scent of bark chip fills the air as children and parents make their way through a tunnel brightly lit and heated by stage lights above.   The wheels of the chairs crunch on the bark chips covering the floor as they pass runner beans growing up the sides of the tunnel.   A flute plays while everyone passes out of the tunnel and gathers in a semi-circle, parents on straw bales, wheel-chair users in gaps between.  It is slow and measured.  There is plenty of time for all to take in the sounds, sights and smells around them and to touch the hay and straw.   In front of the bales is a stable, green paint peeling from the lower half of the door, which is closed, and darkness above.  Then the flute fades and is replaced by the sound of hooves on cobbles.  A horse’s head, a life-size puppet, appears out of the gloom above the door. 

This is a moment from Bamboozle’s summer residency at Loughborough Town Hall in Leicestershire.   We are working with 4 different groups of between three and six children and their parents over the two week period.  Each group comes for two or three days to work in the space with the Bamboozle team of five artists who have different skills including: music, visual arts, technical, aromatherapy, movement and puppetry.

The horse’s head puppet was designed and made by Sue Pyecroft for Bamboozle’s collaboration with The National Theatre’s production of War Horse last year.  During those residencies in London the horse had a hugely positive effect upon students with complex needs – one girl reached out to touch it thereby dumbfounding her staff who had never seen her voluntarily reach out to anything before.  

So how is it that the horse makes such an impact?   It could be down to the multisensory elements of it – made of withies it has faux suede on the muzzle which feels very similar to the real thing and a diamond of soft material between the eyes that children can stroke.  It neighs, whinnies and snorts and blows through its nostrils which creates great excitement when the children feel the warm air!   It can also ‘eat’ carrots or apples offered by children.  The other element that is crucial in getting the children to respond is that the horse makes no demands on them – and neither do we.  The horse is there to engage with – but engagement is not compulsory.  We make invitations by taking the children close to the horse – or by the horse approaching them – but how and whether they engage has to be up to them.  This is at the centre of our methodology.

You see, if we are not careful children with these sorts of needs can very easily have things done to them, rather than offered to them.   And you can see why – sometimes it takes for ever to get a child to make a choice, or to even understand that a choice is being offered let alone take some action.  We, the rest of the population, who express our wants and dislikes in our own - usually spoken - language, often find it difficult to understand what the child with complex needs requires; so we might imagine, for example, that Jane will love to touch the horse, just because we like it; when actually she just wants to look or, even, not look.   If we can accept that all responses, including no response, are valid and if we can detach ourselves from our desired outcome then we are respecting the child’s ability and right to choose – we are ‘offering to’ rather than ‘doing to’.  For example in the case of the horse we use it because our experience is that children with profound needs react positively to it.  Because of this experience and because we have taken a lot of trouble to set up the opportunity, creating an environment – stable, sound effects, atmosphere etc. – we have to be careful not to want the child actively and visibly to engage with the horse.   This means that we have to actively detach from outcome.   If we do that then children are respected and in our experience relax and actually get more from any stimulus we present them with. 

The other key to enabling children to demonstrate what they like to engage with is time.  Sharon Bull, who has brought her daughter Alison to many Bamboozle residencies, says:  “Time is the biggest single difference that Bamboozle offers.  There is no rush to go on to other activities – Alison is given all the time she needs.  This makes it much more relaxing for both of us, which is rare.”  

When designing a residency for children who have PMLD [profound and multiple learning difficulties] we have a number of other considerations in our minds.  How can we:
• find ways to discover what each child can do
• give enough time for each individual to relax and engage with activities
• create a whole range of multi-sensory opportunities
• keep the activities age-appropriate
• challenge the children to take some chances and engage with things that may be new to them
• enable the parents to relax and have a great time with what might be a new experience

Bamboozle creates residencies for all learning difficulty groups [PMLD, SLD, MLD, EBD as well as inclusion projects for special & mainstream schools together.  We have an INSET programme for schools and trainings for artists.  We also tour interactive performances to schools. 
If you would like to work with Bamboozle call us now on 0116 255 2065 or email us at info@bamboozletheatre.co.uk. 
Further information can be found on our website: www.bamboozletheatre.co.uk

Posted Sep 15, 02:58 PM in category Published-Articles Multi-sensory-ideas

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