"A Sound Connection" A Project for Children with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities)

The Chuckle team was delighted to hear that Youth Music had decided to fund our long awaited project “A Sound Connection”

We launched the project last June, with the project commencing in September, with great excitement (and some trepidation with not really knowing how much a change we could make) but now we can already see huge changes in some of the children taking part in the project.

When we met all the children for the first time, we saw how much a challenge even just getting them to come together in a group was, but now through weekly structured sessions and close one to one working the children have learnt to come in and sit down, turn take and interactively take part in music making.

So what do we do?

We always start and finish as a group, the session is based around music making and our Connective Therapy approach, which is a form of movement therapy using music. Both sessions have overlapping themes and techniques such as encouraging communication, whether through music or contact. In Connective Therapy the creation of a significant bond between the child and adult is key and it is a two way process. The spaces we use are always calm, peaceful and uninterrupted, and we actively try not to “chat” or speak whilst the session is in progress. The music sessions are structured but always allow for sections of improvisation whilst introducing the child to new sounds, lyrics, melody and rhythm, most very importantly allowing the child to choose what they might like to play with. Use of specialist Sound Beam technology has opened up a new world to some of the children, and we hope to spend the last few months of the project creating a composition of the children in a group setting.

What changes have we seen so far?

At first it was a challenge to actually spot the small changes occurring week on week but working within the SOI (Sounds of Intent) Framework we were able to record these, alongside our own observed evidence.

We have started to see major changes in behaviour, on the whole the children are calmer, sit for longer, take notice when asked to listen, increased (or in some cases first time) eye contact and children who were non-verbal and who didn’t acknowledge any other children, adults or objects are now recognising others and actively seeking out objects/playing instruments. Some of the children are now attempting to communicate verbally, taking part in the activities, initiating contact with the leaders, and we are now seeing the children choose what they want to do/play, and most of all enjoy making music. One young person has even used the sound beam technology to play music using just his eyes as this is the only part of his body he can move, so he can now participate and compose his own music. All children have moved upwards on the Sounds of Intent Scale from their baseline starting point.

We hope to build on these changes as the project moves forward, to bring in the children’s families and work with them to further extend their progress at home, and to also work with local special schools and musicians to share our practice.

If you would like more information about our project please contact us at admin@chuckleproductions.org or visit our website