Deborah A. Nelson provides practical tips and recommendations for engaging students with profound and compound disabilities in the arts in her VSA Webinar, “A First Step to Facilitate the Engagement of Individuals with Severe Disabilities in the Arts.”  Here she highlights five takeaways from her presentation.

Providing access to all means including everyone.  It’s a quality of life issue.  If it seems like a person doesn’t react to the environment, try vibration.  Vibrating toys, car seats, and pillows can all be used for cause and effect learning, which is a gateway to further learning.

Being a good communication partner is important to measure the success of your activity.  Without some sort of feedback or skill learned, how would you know your activity had any impact at all?

Social communication implies reception and expression.  Be that partner and engage all individuals.  It also helps to be aware of special needs such as sensory overload, sensory preferences, and visual needs: people with cortically blindness need contrast, as opposed to people with autism who focus better with visuals that move.  Additionally, things like props, masks, or costumes may help to focus an individual or could cause a distraction.  Less is more, most of the time.  Discover what’s best for your partner and not just serve your own needs.

Funding isn’t a big issue with low technology communication means, like pictures or objects.  As noted in the webinar presentation, the app MyTalkTools has a free version that works on most iDevices.  The paid version allows you to print communication boards, share communication boards, and other functions.

Further than the academic subjects, the arts usually involve emotions on some level.  The emotional level of pleasure is a common link where people with and without disabilities can interact on a level playing field.  Give it a try, reach out for help, and help others.

The link to the recording of Deborah Nelson’s VSA Webinar “A First Step to Facilitate the Engagement of Individuals with Severe Disabilities in the Arts” can be found under Webinar Recordings.