One of the biggest lessons learned in the almost 20 years of working with people, is that every single one of us is different! While we may share character traits related to a medical or psychological diagnosis, each person is still unique. Many times a technique that works with one individual may not work with others, so when I find a technique, or tool that meets a variety of individual needs and goal areas, I gladly adopt that method into my practice.
The ocean drum that I use is 22” round and about 4” deep. The back piece is a specially treated canvas material that has an ocean print design, and the top is clear plastic. Inside the drum is a whole bunch of small metal beads or bb’s. When held in a horizontal position and gently moved side to side this drum really sounds like the ocean. When the drum is held with the clear side up, I encourage participants to put their hand under the drum and feel the beads move over the canvas. I tell my preschoolers to hold out “flat pancake hands under the drum” so they can feel the tickles. Then I have them lie down on the floor and put it on each child’s tummy so they can feel it. After they have felt it that way, I tell them that this drum also sounds like the ocean at night. I remind them that they have already seen, heard and felt the drum, so there is nothing to be afraid of, but it will be louder. I then turn the drum over so the clear side is on the bottom. The kids are still lying down, so I move the drum over them and encourage them to look up. There is a visual sense of being under water looking up at the drum this way. I present it in a more age appropriate way with older kids and adults. The ocean drum is an important part of the multi-sensory approach, because, in addition to providing visual, tactile and auditory input, presenting the drum in this way also addresses auditory sensitivity issues.
Next week, I will provide a more in-depth example of how the ocean drum was used to foster trust, learning and self-esteem with a young child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
How do you use the ocean drum? Please let me know in the comments below!