A Resonance Board – providing Sensory Feedback
Sound and touch can be encountered in quite a random way for children who have low vision or blindness and particularly for those who are deafblind or have motor and medical complications.
A resonance board can provide a way of organising sound out of chaos in a very simple way by providing sound and vibrations transferred through the board, (think of a large drum skin). The board can work particularly well in turn taking and music-making activities with siblings. In addition, the child can be great at encouraging exploration and movement as the child is supported by the board (skin) and receives tactile feedback as the board flexes when they move and roll.
These boards are simple to make without investing a lot of money into high cost materials.
Building a Resonance Board
Materials
3 x 4' or 4x4' sheet of smooth one-sided plywood or panelling. (relatively thin to provide flex, without breaking as the child moves) Check acoustic properties, particle board will often deaden sounds.
2 x 3" or 2 x 2" framing on bottom sides of the sheeting
Nails or screws on the top side
Instructions
Glue the framing around the underside rim, if the board is likely to get a lot of use and a lot of lifting and moving around, use glue plus nails or screws, taking care to countersink the nails or screws into the surface of the plywood for safety.
You can use furniture polish or wax to give it a nice smooth finish.
A few tips of working with resonance boards
Let the lying child experience the vibrancy of the board as a beat is drummed onto it.
Try hooking a bangle or chain around a child’s ankle or wrist whilst he/she is lying on the board. This will rattle on the board as the child moves.
Sometimes using a board can produce very interesting and surprising outcomes
A distractible and very active child who moves around the room a lot may choose to remain on the board because it is the place where all the interesting feedback happens, yet a very passive immobile child may become more active on the board because of the feedback it provides, and also because it has a smooth surface that reduces friction and makes sliding, bottom-shuffling, and back-scooting easier.
A child who does not normally use vision may look to see what is tapping or rocking on the board or may use vision to guide arm or leg movements to produce interesting feedback again.
By traveling around the board in some way a child might discover the board’s edges and use touch or vision to explore them, thus expanding their understanding of space and boundaries.
Links for more in-depth instructions and further activity ideas:
https://documents.nationaldb.org/dbp/dec2002.htm#resonance
https://jessiesfund.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Resonance-Boards.pdf
http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/consumers/Youth/Tummy-Time-tip-sheet.pdf
Credit: Blind Beginnings, PRCVI, BC Blind Sports, Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada