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Description of initiative
Plymouth Music Zone (PMZ) is an award winning music charity that believes in the power of music to reach out and help transform the lives of some of the most vulnerable children, young people and adults across Plymouth and beyond. Beyond Words was a 2 year research project between Plymouth Music Zone and Plymouth University Institute of Education. The project was one of only eight national projects funded by the Arts Council England Research Grants programme in 2015 and an international conference took place on 14th and 15th March 2017. Beyond Words focused on how the arts use the unspoken and how those who face problems communicating with words (such as those with dementia, stroke, autism and learning difficulties) are valued and included across communities.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
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Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
The research showed that valuable lessons can be learned by working across different groups of people who may face problems communicating in words (such as those with learning difficulties, autism, dementia, brain injuries or stroke), rather than seeing each group in isolation. Significantly, the research also demonstrated that the term non-verbal is redundant and that post-verbal should be used to recognise and respect all the ways that they can communicate beyond words. It has also opened up a much richer picture of their lives and music, becoming a celebration as well as an investigation. They found words are not the only way to communicate or be fully human and working with post-verbal
people can be a joyful and eye-opening experience. They helped researchers to re-define what a human is and to attune to communications manifesting in a different way.