Although the songs have been written by myself, a great deal of work has been put in by the North Wales Sexual Health and Relationships Clinical Interest Group in giving me ideas, encouragement, advice, backing and help in so many ways. Many of the songs are derived from information and packs already collected and produced by people within this group and I have been able to try these songs, through the help of these like-minded professionals, with people that use the Learning Disability Service. At the moment I have no funding for this project therefore rely on friendly musicians and nurses to help me out to whom I am very, very grateful.
To many, maybe most, people, masturbation is a natural thing to do. We understand the physical need to be stimulated sexually from time to time but are also aware of the need to do this privately because of our social culture and what behaviour is acceptable in society. There are other people who do not have the same insight but still have the same natural physical urge to want to masturbate. Many people with learning disabilities do not masturbate privately as a result of not understanding fully the need to be private.
This can lead to someone gaining a label they do not deserve and being told that it is ‘wrong’ to do such a thing. A person therefore can easily get confused and might think that masturbation is wrong rather than that masturbating in public is what is unacceptable. This song is aimed at two kinds of listener: the person who masturbates and has little insight into the need to do it privately, and the person who possibly does not masturbate as a result of misunderstanding the social culture and attitude towards masturbation, thinking it is ‘wrong’, ‘dirty’ or ‘bad’ to do it at all. The intention of the song is to give an accurate message without being ‘blunt’ or ‘smutty’ about masturbating. It includes how someone might feel about masturbating, that it is not bad or dirty (these are words that I have heard used when discussing masturbation with the Learning Disability Service users) rather it is about feeling good about yourself and having freedom of choice – provided you do it privately.
This song has been written to help people with a more severe learning disability learn about the importance of personal hygiene. The long musical introduction is to aid the person to have time to listen-in properly and feel the groove before the singing comes in. The words are in short sentences or one-word at a time so that a person who might not be able to grasp a long or complicated sentence can understand the meaning more easily.
Because of the simplicity to the word arrangement it is also quite easy to use sign language along with the song. This song has been reviewed by Gwennan Roberts, Speech and Language therapist based in Bryn y Neuadd Hospital in North West Wales who helped a great deal by giving me advice and by showing us how we could use symbols with this song (we unfortunately cannot show symbols at the moment due to copyright issues). The simplicity of this song also allows easy translation therefore we have a Welsh and English version and it could easily be translated into other languages which I hope to do (especially some other minority languages we have in Britain). I feel that this song could also be used with children of primary school age to learn about personal hygiene and learn the names of body parts etc and has created some interest among primary school teachers and workers in the Dwyfor area and is regularly used with a small group of people at ‘Gwystl’ a day care centre for people with learning disabilities near Pwllheli, North Wales. I hope the tune is catchy enough for people to enjoy it and learn at the same time. I have had help in recording the two versions, the Welsh version by two pupils of Ysgol Pont y Gof School, Magi Elin and her sister Nel Bryn and their mother Hafwen and her sister Nin. The man who recorded bongos and tambourine on the English version is Kevin Hewitt who uses the learning disability service and whom I met through music workshops with
Anheddau services for people with a learning disability in Bangor, North Wales. The singer on the English version is Jane Williams who is a musician and also a qualified nurse.
Trying to explain to someone how you might check your testicles for lumps is always a bit embarrassing for all concerned and usually a topic of hilarity and mirth among groups of men who would attend a learning session on this subject. Nobody could actually show someone how to do it with the real ‘things’ and nurses and teachers have to rely on synthetic testicles that are passed round for everyone to have a feel.
This song is to aid a session on the topic by going through what you have to do through song. It is aimed at all men whether they have a learning disability or not and written a bit ‘tongue in cheek’ alongside a light and catchy tune. Listening to this song should allow a man to understand the importance of checking yourself properly without anybody directing that information towards them personally, so making the situation a little less embarrassing. The song could possibly be used at the end of a learning session to review the information. It could even be played in doctors’ waiting rooms so men could hear and take in the information. The words were evaluated by Stuart Whittle and Martin Jones, both nurses who specialise in mens’ health issues from the Arfon Community Learning Disability team who intend to use the song within their workshops. Stuart, alongside Mai Rees (Community LDS Health Team, Wrexham) runs a Sexuality and Relationships course within the school of Nursing and Midwifery at Bangor University, North Wales, and it was on that course that the song (and the whole idea of writing these songs) originated. Helping out with his ukulele is Phil Lee Jones of the band, Gwibdaith Hen Fran.
This song was written as a demo to introduce people to the idea for the Songs for your Body project and is one of the first songs written. It is aimed at all ages and capabilities and is designed to promote safe sex, deliberately written in a light manner so as to appeal to young people who are beginning to think about sex and relationships. The song has been used a great deal for over two years by Learning Disability Nurses in the
North Wales Clinical Interest Group and has since been edited and changed through suggestions made by those nurses. We hope that nurses and teachers working in schools in the 11–16 age range could also use this song, possibly at the end of a teaching session to recap on the importance of safe sex, giving a light touch that brings a little fun in learning. I have been helped musically on this song by Jane Williams (for her Cilla Black impersonation), and the wonderful Rhys Parry on Guitar.
This song was written on request by Linda Hughes, Nurse Co-ordinator with Cervical Screening Wales and Community LDS Nurses in the Flintshire area who had heard some of the other songs and felt that a song about the smear test would be useful especially as Cervical Screening Wales would be working closely with school nurses in the future.
The song is aimed at young women from age 14 upwards and simply follows the process women have to go through in having a smear test. Phrases such as ‘Open your legs for me’ are quite deliberate so that it is to the point. We asked a number of women if they knew exactly what a smear test entailed when they went for the first time and the majority had not expected the process that actually happens to them during the test. As the song is sung by a woman (and from a nurse’s perspective) and given the light style of the music I think that lines such as ‘open your legs for me’ have the right context within this song and do not convey anything gratuitous or unsavoury. The song was discussed thoroughly by the teams in Flintshire before we agreed to the final composition of the song and it has turned out to be a popular song with the teams. No one to our knowledge has found anything offensive about the words. The song could be used at the end of a learning session or simply to just listen to. The words follow closely the information given in a Smear Test Information Pack by Penny Tomlinson and Alison Corfield, (Community LDS Nurses in Flintshire and Wrexham). The singer on this track is Jane Williams.
‘Tell Someone (You Can Say No)’ is a song that is aimed at communicating with the most vulnerable people in our society. It is designed to convey a message to a person who might be suffering from sexual, physical, or psychological abuse or harassment and tells them that they have a right to say no to this abuse and that it is a good thing that they should tell someone about it.
The idea for the song originates from work done by nurses and teachers in the Wrexham area after I saw their work during the ‘Showing Off Our Bits’ conference in Wrexham in 2007. The project demonstrated at the conference is called ‘Keepsafe’ and involved Amanda Williams Jones and Linda Jones (nurses), Cath Davies (teacher), and Jo Hinchcliff (Project Jiwsi, which works with vulnerable groups of young people delivering developmental SRE). The Keepsafe project focuses on issues to do with inappropriate touching, invading a person’s personal space etc. The three verses in the song use key words such as ‘touch’, ‘push’ and ‘bully’ and are intended to send a message that can be understood by a person with a mild-to-severe learning disability. This song could be easily used with symbol or sign and has been written with that in mind. I love the tune. It’s lovely and warm and you could easily snuggle up to it at any time of day. I have had help by Jane Williams with some of the backing vocals and at some stage would like to ask a friend who has a learning disability to sing the song in my place therefore this song is still unfinished in a way so please feel free to comment on the contents. The finished product will also have some mean banjo playing included.
