At the Elizabeth Lee Black School, we’re always looking for new ways to engage our students. We recently invited Jim Donovan, M.Ed., for drumming training for our staff who work with students with disabilities. Jim is an award-winning musician, teacher, motivator and founding member of the multi-platinum band, Rusted Root from 1990 to 2005. He is also a full-time instructor at Saint Francis University and regularly offers workshops in the United States and Europe.
Jim was at our school a few years ago for an in-service program and he was very well received. As that was pre COVID and we have many, many new staff we thought that it was time to bring him back. We are so glad that we did! The goal of the training was to learn how to use rhythmic and musical strategies to elicit increased attention to task, support nonverbal expression and to encourage socialization. Some givens: non musicians can effectively use rhythm and sound with their students, prior musical experience is not necessary, and percussion is not necessarily loud and disruptive.
So, what is percussion intervention? It’s a technique that uses easy to learn percussion approaches, instruments, and methods as a way to elicit a desired behavioral response. This is done in an atmosphere of safety, acceptance and positivity.
Access a copy of a research article that Jim Donovan and his colleagues wrote on the positive impact of percussion and distance learning has on attention-to-tasks in children with autism.
We have been collecting drums since Jim was last year but utensils and materials that you have at home can be used. Coffee can serve as a perfect example.
The question I always ask when new techniques are suggested for working with children with disabilities is, “What if any research has been done to support the technique?” Yes, in 2010 a study involving 41 students with a diagnosis of ASD was conducted. For each participant, an initial measure of attention to task in seconds was recorded. Attention to task was measured during each therapy session and the percentage change from the baseline measure was calculated for each session. The overall result for all participants was an impressive positive average percentage. I would like us to consider conducting a replication study in the upcoming months. I will be discussing this with Mr. Donovan and our team.
A great way to kick off the start of our 71st year!
All About Autism 