Tacpac is a sensory communication resource using touch and music. Tacpac helps people with sensory impairment, developmental delay, complex learning difficulties, tactile defensiveness, and limited or pre verbal levels of communication.
Tacpac was created to help develop communication skills with children who have profound and multiple learning difficulties and aims to heighten levels of awareness and arousal and also promote responses to various stimuli.
Tacpac is an integrated experience which uses music and textured objects to match the different patterns of the music and is based on the idea of tactile play. It combines touch, sound, pattern and relationship as a fluid process between partners. Tacpac works as a partnership between a ‘giving partner’ and a ‘receiving partner’.
Benefits –
- Tacpac music is composed specifically to reflect the texture of each object so that the receiver experiences total sensory alignment.
- Tacpac can be used by anyone.
- Tacpac builds communication skills.
- Tacpac enables progress to be measured and recorded.
- Tacpac can be used in any setting – at home, in school, in hospital, in residential care or even outside
Throughout Tacpac, each piece of music has been selected carefully to evoke a certain mood and match a tactile sensation, and has been prepared with a mix of texture, volume, speed, rhythm and beat. It is important to stick to the beat throughout the activity.
Touch – The skin is the largest organ in the body, and has many receptors of varying densities. For many of our young people, touch is a primary means of contact and can be the beginnings of pre-intentional communication which means that the child does not intend to convey meaning however we can interpret the responses to have meaning.
Music – From very young, we develop associations with sounds that accompany particular experiences – touch, taste, smell, emotion and people. Sound is also physical and contains vibrations which can be experienced throughout the whole body as well as the ears.
How Tacpac works –
Each Tacpac activity has music which is specifically composed to reflect the texture of the object which goes with it. This means that your child experiences complete sensory alignment – what they see, is what they hear, is what they feel. Over time, this enables them to develop trust with you as their partner in communication. They can then begin to express themselves by showing what they feel or what they want.
Some of the objects used for Tacpac activities include: a washing up sponge, chopsticks, a pastry brush, a fan, a paint roller and marbles – to name a few. These are all objects which you may already have around your home. There is no need to buy any expensive equipment.
We hope this gives you an understanding of Tacpac as you consider using it at home.
