Tacpac:
a tactile approach
to communication
through touch
Sue Murray, Rosemarie Ells, Hilary Wainer
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Tacpac:
a tactile approach |
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Paper presented at South Pacific Educators for Visual Impairment (SPEVI) Biennial Conference, Jan. 2007, Perth
Introduction
Tacpac is a structured tactile play format for children with profound
and multiple learning difficulties. It aims to heighten levels of
awareness and intentional communication through responses to stimuli.
These responses may be reflexive, for example sucking, grasping, Moro
(startle) reflex, or they may be perceived as a response to the
stimuli. It encompasses a tactile approach to communication.
Rationale
The Tacpac activity pack is based on the notion of tactile, heuristic
(real object) play experiences that are a recognized and established
part of Te Wh_riki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum. The
introduction of Tacpac to a child's routine underpins and extends their
ability to respond to external stimuli through the sense of touch. The
skin is the largest sensory organ in the body. It is covered in
receptors of varying densities. For the child with profound learning
difficulties and additional sensory impairment, touch may be the
primary means of contact. Such primal responses or behaviours, although
perhaps limited in range, are the beginnings of pre-intentional
communication. That is, the child does not intend to convey meaning
through his/her responses, but the adult interprets these responses as
having meaning.
Background
Tacpac is a learning experience developed within the special education
field by Hilary Wainer and two colleagues. In Hilary's own words:
"Tacpac was created in response to the total lack of tactile/music
resources for the kind of children I was working with at that time:
children with severe learning disabilities, autism, Down Syndrome,
communication difficulties, and a host of other syndromes. The way it
all started was that a colleague, the movement specialist, was running
a movement session in the hall of the school we were working in. Her
tape recorder broke down. She ran into my room (where I had my first
free non-contact time in months!) and asked me to wheel the old piano
into the hall, to improvise some music so that her lesson could still
progress. The result was very exciting. The improvised music, with the
feely sensations we gave to the children, was a hit. To cut a long
story short, we repeated the session for many weeks. The other staff
became enthusiastic, and asked us to make it into something more
permanent, easy to use and transport, so they could do this too. It
took some time, but we eventually recorded the improvisations, and
hence Tacpac! A tactile pack for sensory awareness. It was great fun,
and very rewarding to see how many children responded so positively to
the pack".
Why Tacpac
Tacpac is a portable and simply structured play activity that can be
performed (ideally) while the child is lying supine on the floor,
although other positions may be equally rewarding and appropriate
dependant on a child¹s individual need. A variety of everyday
articles such as fans, spatulas, little mops, kitchen scourers and
aromatherapy oil are used, while the child listens to set pieces of
music. The music is designed to reflect the sensation of the object on
the skin. As the child becomes more familiar with the music, so he or
she can anticipate the tactile feeling associated with it. The
conditions are now set for optimal learning, bonding, listening and the
growth of confidence.
Parent and caregiver participation is encouraged with the view to
Tacpac being included in the home routine. For example, the mother of a
child with severe sensory impairment, complex neurological, physical
and cognitive needs and global developmental delay, describes her
initial exposure stating: "When I first did Tacpac I sat fighting back
the tears. Finally I had found something that was specifically designed
to meet the needs of my child." Furthermore she added that after a
period of exposure to Tacpac once a week for three terms this mother
felt that she was, "... just beginning to see some small reactions",
and says she enjoys doing Tacpac because it gives her child, "... a
chance to explore the world". The father of this young boy adds "We
have been concentrating on his feet when doing Tacpac over the last
term, and I believe he is beginning to show some awareness of this".
Tacpac is one way in which we can bring the world to the child. It
reflects the theories that inform the work of Dr Lilli Nielsen, whereby
the adult is responsible for providing the learning environment and
there is the expectation that all children can learn. (Nielsen, 1993).
There are three Tac Pac activity packs, each requires its own set of
objects. The programme is designed to be carried out the same way with
the same tactile objects and music introduced in the same order. That
is to say, it is a structured, repetitive, consistent and predictable
play activity that enhances a child's sense of anticipation. This is an
important first step for the child in making cognitive links such as
cause and effect and rudimentary choice making skills.
Children with severe learning and sensory impairments need this type of
predictable, structured programme in order to develop reciprocal
interactions and intentional communication. In addition we are
providing them with a valuable opportunity to develop such cognitive
notions as body awareness and their bodies in space while building an
understanding of different sensory information from a variety of
sources. During Tacpac these sources include visual stimuli, auditory
input, tactile information, even taste!
Serpa, 2001 argued that, "Body stimulation with different gentle
textures will help the child to understand that s/he is 'something'
apart of the world and is an important initial communication strategy."
Language acquisition
As adults we interpret and assign meanings such as: like, dislike,
want, rejection, known and unknown to an infants communicative
responses. An infant's gestures, babbling, body language or early
reflexive responses and behaviours are termed pre-intentional
communication. If interpretation of these responses is consistent, the
child learns that there is a connection between his or her actions and
the consequences of those actions. As children interact further with
others in their environment their speech progresses from the
pre-intentional stage to become a concrete, intentional form of
communication (in other words saying what they mean).
Tacpac shapes these communication behaviours to become consistent and
reliable. Tacpac facilitates this process and as a result the child's
communicative intent and their responses are according to Wainer,
Stormont and Marks (2000), "... elicited, responded to, more clearly
defined and developed into intentional communication", thus supporting
the child's language acquisition skills. The child conveys meaningful
responses to key adults in their environment. This is an important part
of early language development and the establishment of reciprocal,
responsive communicative interaction and language acquisition. This
begins to occur once the initial contact and interaction between the
child and adult is established. In using their voice, auditory input,
touch and waiting for the child's response are
vital points in the development of communication.
Therapists' perspectives
The following is a summary of the benefits associated with the use of
Tacpac with blind or low vision children including those with
additional special needs.
Speech and Language Therapist
Benefits
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Overseas ordering - order and pay online. Contact Hilary Wainer on info@tacpac.co.uk, tel +44 (0)1865-772213 |