Special Needs & Education

Sensory Perception

OptiMusic opens up a whole new
multi-sensory world

OptiMusic is a unique audio-visual system that is played by interacting with coloured light beams - any movement within the beams triggers a sound. It is very flexible which and can be tailored to the needs of those in care. It has a role as a musical instrument, a simple switch (to control other multi-sensory equipment including bubble tubes, projectors and fibre-optics), a powerful communication tool and an invaluable teaching aid. It can be calming and stimulating, fun and educational, challenging and creative.

OptiMusic empowers people to make choices about the sounds they hear and influence the sights that surround them. It opens up a whole world of sensory exploration which is truly liberating for every age and ability.

Versatile

A multi-sensory system of interactive light beams, revolutionising the way people with special needs communicate, learn and make choices. It's versatility enables it to be used as a musical instrument, an interactive story telling device, a virtual switch and an effective communication aid giving it multiple applications in the care, education, entertainment and health sectors.

Active Participation

OptiMusic supports a wholly inclusive experience and the philosophy of active participation as a simple, creative and effective tool which stimulates and encourages interaction, communication and self-expression at every age and level. The latest model is supplied with microphone and USB camera, which through the simple programming feature, encourage and enable facilitators to proactively create their own sessions.

It only takes minimal movement to activate a variety of music, sounds and images to create a powerful, multi-sensory environment to explore. The coloured beams of light act as powerful visual reference points that attract the user instantly to move a part of their body into the beam with every action producing a real-time event and instant auditory or visual reward. Users are empowered by this sense of control and encouraged to influence their own environment.

Widely Used

OptiMusic is being successfully used in special schools, day centres, health care trusts, elderly care homes, rehabilitation units and therapeutic organisations with all ages and abilities including those with:

• Learning Disabilities (including Severe)
• Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD)
• Sensory Impairment
• Autism
• Dementia and Elderly Care
• Communication and Speech Therapy
• Physical Disabilities and Rehabilitation
• Mental Health Problems
• Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Teachers, therapists, parents and carers continue to speak highly of its accessibility.

Educational Standards

OptiMusic has wide-ranging educational benefits, actively supporting standards set by the National Curriculum including those for literacy and numeracy, music and drama. With a wide variety of presets that support and cater for the demands of the curriculum, this enables teachers and facilitators to provide customised and focused sessions with clear learning goals in mind.

Story-time With Sounds and Images

We have developed and programmed interactive storytelling with sounds and images across a wide range of abilities. Users participate by triggering sounds and images that reinforce the storyline and promote greater narrative understanding. The stories contain core skill and educational categories including Nature, Music, Numeracy, Literacy, Science, Technology, Transport, Health & Safety, Food & Drink, Signs and Symbols and The World Around Us.

Monitoring Progress

Our special needs consultants have devised fully illustrated and easy to use story sessions and a progress monitoring template, which enable facilitators to record, assess and evaluate users' progress. Using this template teachers/carers can quickly assess and evaluate the level, consistency and precision of every user interaction, producing a unique reference score that enables them to clearly chart individual progression. Formally assessing interaction is just the first in a range of measures designed to help schools and care service providers meet national standards and deliver life-long learning opportunities for their students/clients.

Key Benifits

OptiMusic has proved to be an important tool for challenging and encouraging participation. Key benefits experienced include:

• Improved understanding of cause and effect
• Stimulating fine and gross motor skill development, particularly hand-eye coordination
• Improved communication and interaction - it encourages users to listen and respond
• Confidence building - users develop a more positive self image and self esteem
• Greater participation - users interact with the beams and each other
• Aiding the ability to make choices and demonstrate preferences
• Encourages users to move/use physical exertion
• Heightened sensory awareness & increased concentration span
• Improvements to visual memory and aural sequencing
• Able to express likes and dislikes in sound and music
• Greater sense of musical timing and rhythm
• Improved relaxation skills
• Ability to have fun!
• Helping reduce instances of challenging behaviour

Seminars

OptiMusic will be extensively touring the UK during 2007/8, running demonstrations, training and workshops. To participate or put yourself on our map, please call us on 020 8441 8080 or email info@optimusic-i-tech.com.

Sample Sessions

See our Sample Sessions page for a few ideas.