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Disabled Find Their Rhythm

Tribune photo by KATHY MOORE

Volunteer instructor Polly Stannard, center, and her husband brought The Rhythmic Arts Project to the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens adult day training center about a year ago.

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2008

CLEARWATER - Drumming class used to send David Hoyes pacing nervously across the floor.

Karl Kiker would sit alone in a corner, gnawing on his knuckles. Beverly Hadlock wouldn't speak. Cynthia Rivera refused to even hold the tambourine.

Their teacher pressed on, encouraging her developmentally disabled students to pound their hands on the drum's smooth surface, wave maracas over their heads and rap a clave against a block.

Months passed, and amazing things happened.

Hoyes sat rapt through a 40-minute class. Kiker joined the circle of students. Hadlock counted out loud to the beat, and Rivera tucked the tambourine onto her lap.

"I can't imagine an area that has not improved," said Maureen Walters, an adult day trainer at the facility. "It encourages their speech, encourages their social skills and provides physical therapy as well."

Polly Stannard volunteers to teach the class every Wednesday at the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens adult day training center on Belcher Road.

Stannard and her husband, John, brought the concept, known as The Rhythmic Arts Project, to UPARC about a year ago after convincing agency leaders such a class would serve as therapy for adults with autism, Alzheimer's, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

The couple witnessed as much when they attended a music convention two years ago in Anaheim, Calif., where they met famed drummer Eddie Tuduri. The musician developed the program after breaking his neck in 1997.

At first, he was paralyzed, with only slight movement in his right arm. Tuduri, who has performed with The Beach Boys and Dwight Yoakam, asked for drumsticks and percussion instruments with the hope of regenerating his nerves and impulses.

It worked for Tuduri, who is still considered a quadriplegic but can walk on his own.

"I still have weakness in my arms and legs," he said from his Carpinteria, Calif., home, "but I'm not upset about it. I'm very grateful."

His recovery took several years and gave him a new purpose in life: to start the project and share his knowledge with others. The reactions have been so positive that the program, known nationally as TRAP, is now offered to preschool and elementary children.

The drums make it fun for children to learn to count, talk and spell, said Tuduri, who encourages organizers to include disabled children in mainstream classes.

"It fosters tolerance, understanding and compassion at an early age," he said. "That stays with you forever."

Last year, Tuduri traveled to Clearwater to teach volunteers and staff about the program. Now, once a week, Polly Stannard oversees four classes.

"Hey, hey, ho ho!" she shouts with her students. "C'mon everybody, let's go!"

A cacophony of pops, clangs, jingles and thuds rises in the room. Karl Kiker smiles.

"It's just been such a phenomenal change," John Kiker said about his 36-year-old autistic son's progression. "They broke through that shell. I've been flabbergasted. It has been like a dream."

He hopes his son can continue the classes, but the latest round of legislative budget cuts might make that difficult. Karl Kiker lives in a group home operated by the UPARC. If he loses some of his state benefits, the Kikers may not be able to afford the agency's daily training, which includes the drumming class.

The association recently lost $550,000 in state and Medicaid funding. The agency is poised to lose $800,000 more as lawmakers try to devise a tier system that will cap allotments for disabled residents statewide.

His agency will save some money by using staff to paint walls, fix toilets and mow grass for the 21 UPARC group homes. They'll keep the training center operating with a $12.5 million budget. They'll continue classes such as drumming, which is funded by the Stannards.

The volunteer work only mitigates the effects of the budget cuts. UPARC Executive Director Tom Buckley says that won't be enough.

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144 or sackerman@tampatrib.com.

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