Page 25 - Boca ViewPointe - November '24

November 2024 Viewpointe, Page 25

Clowns On Call from page 21

Recently I was reading a fairly new clown’s comments
about how surprised she was at the responses she received
in a dementia facility. It might surprise some of you readers
in our community as well, so I am going to share some
memories with you. As a Speech Pathologist, working
strictly in hospitals and nursing homes for 60 years, I spent
most of my hours with adults of various cognitive levels.
When I was experienced sufficiently in clowning techniques
in the 1990’s, I started to volunteer at my various nursing
homes and the hospital I worked out of in Bergen Co.
N.J. Initially I went solo to make room visits, and provide
balloons to residents and patients. After I started my alley
with about 10 other clowns, we went in small groups and
added our skit performances, dancing and singing with
patients, and generally making them feel special. Since I
was a very experienced Speech Pathologist, It amazed me
time after time, the different responses I was able to observe
when dressed as a clown. In those days, I had a total white
face and was really unrecognizable as Harriet Rubin, SLP,
even to staff. Dementia patients literally “lit up” when I
entered their rooms, and I don’t believe I ever encountered
a patient who did not welcome me with either smiles, hugs,
or recognition in their eyes if they had little speech. I can’t
tell you how many times a staff or family member told
me they hadn’t seen the kind of positive reaction from a
severe patient in months as when I was with them. It was At the YMCA pre-school classes

not only me, but most of the clowns who were
happy to do this kind of interaction had the same
response. Of course there were no scary clowns
at that time, and also we had no “tramp clowns”
in our group, so everyone of us had happy, funny
faces, and positive personalities. Can you imagine
how wonderful those responsive reactions made us
all feel? I’ve thought about it a lot, and my most
logical explanation would be long-term memories
of clowns, that elicited happy feelings from these
elderly individuals making them feel peaceful
and relaxed and able to derive some pleasure in
the moment . Anyway, it was and is a wonderful
moment to be able to elicit these positive reactions!
Thanks for listening!
That’s it for now! Don’t forget to wave if you see
Florabelle, Twinkle Toes, Juggles, and Candy Bar at Trunk or Treat. a clown on campus! 

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