Testimonials for the Octaband™
"Allow me to act as your infomercial! I purchased this item last week - it arrived in 4 days. It's FANTASTIC. I work in geri-psych with patients with severe dementia and it was such a hit. Patients of all levels enjoyed. The loops at the end of the ribbons for attachment to the wrists are brilliant - allows less aware patients to participate passively, feeling the movement / rhythm through the fabric. THEN I used with my other group of adult psych patients and discovered many other explorations on more ambulatory and metaphorical levels. THEN I used it with another high functioning elderly group to whom I teach fitness... and they had a BLAST!
'Fantastico" proclaimed one elderly Mexican man, repeatedly, between bursts of laughter and breath - "teacher, we have never done this before!'
And anyone working with the elderly - you should definitely acquire this - you'll have so much
fun!!!”
- Lora Wilson,
Dance / Movement Therapist, California
“My students love the Octaband. It is an excellent tool for our gross motor groups. It promotes
visual attention, coordination, 
motor planning, strength and endurance. Students of varying ages,
cognitive levels and physical abilities can participate and most of all... have fun... one particular
student who is shy and doesn't typically participate in our gross motor group activities without
continuous prompting, etc... loves the Octaband. He is a 4 year old little boy with a cortical
vision impairment and developmental delays. It is the one activity that he really enjoys. We tried
the "mine"/ "ours" game this week and it was a big hit.”
- Kelly McDermott,
Physical Therapist, Massachusetts
"I have to tell you what a success it was with the OctabandTM ... totally fantastic... One of the (multiply handicapped and developmentally delayed young adult) clients who is blind loved it! ... He could feel the resistance, but he was not going to give up his hold. I'm not sure if he gets to be 'in charge' much in his life, but he was at that moment... One (client) kept signing 'more, more, more'. He laughed so hard and we had such a blast! Thanks for such a wonderful invention."
- Maggie Rodgers,
Music Therapist, Kansas City
"I started out using it with my older adults in a small group, small space. We started out pulling and pushing, lifting and sinking, very simple movements, side to side, using soft, new age music and they loved it. We noticed who had which color. I especially love the wrist band because they were able to keep it on. It’s very stimulating without being difficult.
In adult psych, I have adolescents to 90 year olds all in the same group. I’m working right in the middle of the unit. As soon as I pull out the OctabandTM, everyone gasps - the doctors, the nurses, the social workers... so enticing, that (others) will come over. We do this standing to rock music, twisting and turning. I love how everyone holds a band, turning into the center and turning out. We have a very good time.
I started using this with my Russian and Chinese, healthy older adults. We started using the OctabandTM. Most of these people speak no English. We created a new game each visit. Each person holds a band. I go under and visit, then someone else goes under visits and come back. A wonderful meeting tool if they don’t know each other so well.
You can’t resist it."
- Nancy Koprak,
Dance Therapist, New York
"A boy with Downs Syndrome was drawn to it. He wanted to have his foot in it. It helps build tone, and helps with coordination. Sometimes they put things on the middle. The center has become a useful focal point. It’s great for reflex
integration,... head righting,... rocking, vestibular stimulation, side to side,... integrating language skills with movement. The OctabandTM is a spatial tool. Kids can lie with their belly on the ball. They can push the ball toward the center of the OctabandTM, rolling the ball forward. Everyone is moving in time, stimulating the autonomic nervous system. It helps them to calm down."
- Anna Kemble,
Dance / movement therapist, Vancouver, BC
"OctabandTM Increases Engagement in Elders with Dementia"
"People with dementia often lose concentration and wander off during activities. Residents remained engaged longer with the OctabandTM than with balloon toss.
The OctabandTM "can be used in many ways, but for this simple study we placed a small bean bag in the middle and tried to keep it on board while the residents lifted the legs in counting unison and bounced the OctabandTM lightly. The conclusion is that residents will hang on to the hemmed ends of the OctabandTM and lift longer than they will sustain an interest in returning a ball in ball toss." Also, local high school students (who) came in to socialize with the residents ... got into using the OctabandTM (with the elders) during one visit. The OctabandTM gave the students something to do, which seemed to make them feel more comfortable."
- Susan Ruka,
Nurse and Dody Coman,
Activities Director, North Conway, NH
“The Octaband has been great fun to use with my after school music club. The neuro-typical kids,
who range in age from 11-13, adore it. The nice thing about the Octaband is that when kids have
a poor sense of rhythm, the rhythm of the group helps them stay on track. They can literally feel
the pull when the band starts moving... I love the big size. When lots of kids come to Music
Club, we have a band for everyone. And when it's smaller, the kids just put a band on each hand.
Thanks for inventing this!”
- Debbie Muldawer,
Dance / Movement Therapist, New Mexico
I have put my little turtle bean bags (6) on top
of the center circle... and I got a completely different response,
directed by them, than when I had put the turtles on the parachute.
Instead of trying vigurously to get the turtles off, as they did
with the parachute, the clients instead as a group worked together
to keep the turtles on... 
which allowed for a different and more
expanded movement range, as well as giving the group a central
focus and using team effort, which I do not usually see. This same
reaction to the turtles with the octaband happened on both the
traditional and dementia programs.
One particular client, who is typically the only man in the group... a sweet man, very quiet, and often sitting with his head falling forward and his eyes looking down. Many of the other clients in the groups often forget he is there... each time we used the Octaband,... he pulls on his strip, wrapping it around his arm, pulling strongly until the center circle is almost in his lap. The Octaband provided a way for him to communicate nonverbally his needs to be connected to the group, to be seen, and to receive attention... He was pulling us into his world, into his space, and the Octaband provided an avenue for him to do that through, which was great!
Thank you for your inspiration, and for taking the time and effort to create the Octaband, I feel that it is a great prop for... many populations!
- Danielle O’Brien
Dance / Movement Therapist, Massachusetts
- Joyce Wolpert,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Virginia
“So many different clients have been enjoying (the octaband). I initially got it for yoga / movement therapy classes I teach to developmentally delayed adults. It helps unify the group and gives them a sense of moving as a unit, as in walking in a circle, first in one direction and then the other. Because the prop was new to me, I also shared it with my adult yoga classes, just to see what they would do with it, and THEY LOVED IT! We placed a bean bag in the center and then as a group tried to bounce it up in the air and catch it, adapting as a group to how we need to move so it wouldn't fall on the floor. Then they came up with all kinds of wonderful stretches, using feet, legs, heads. The prop is quite versatile for all kinds of groups. I also used it with a private DMT client - a child and her parent, the child being under the center of the band, and the parent and I moving it up and down over her. The child loved it.
- Vitalah Simon
Dance / Movement Therapist, New York
“I used (the octaband) with geriatric psych; it was amazing. Something that stood out for me was
using it as a jump rope 
towards the end when 2 clients were remaining. The two held half of the
ropes on one end, while I held the rest on the other. Together we started swinging it like a jump
rope. This brought so much stimulation for both the participants and the observers who were
still very engaged. One of the clients started singing old songs she used to sing jumping rope as a
little girl. This was very poignant as the theme of the group was about reminiscing through
movement. Although I was getting tired, the 2 clients kept the swinging action going and
verbalizing their enjoyment...
“The octaband is now being requested during groups from clients... People went around the
circle and (initiated) a movement with the band while group members mirrored. We went around
as if it was a choreographed dance. The elderly in the group (some sitting, some standing) really
felt that they were jammin' to the Motown hits by simply being connected to the bands and doing
this group dance!! It was great!!
“Although I use the Octaband on a weekly basis with my elderly and rehabilitation DMT groups,
it is using the Octaband in my work with children that I find makes this prop so unique... Overall
this is my favorite prop in my bag. Just when I think I have learned all the ways to move and
dance with it, sure enough a client surprises me and does something I never would have thought
of doing.”
- Suzy Rossol Matheson,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Dallas, TX
“easy to travel with and not heavy to carry on-board an airplane... Yesterday I did my program at
a hospital... The children were ages 2 yrs to about 4 or 5... most have cancer, one almost
drowned, MS, downs syndrome, autism, etc. I used it (for them) to connect with others since the
children came from different hospital wards, floors and have different reasons for being in the
hospital. The kids with cancer are withdrawn... the colorful octaband was helpful for them to get
acquainted within their own body, boundaries, and with others whom they never saw before. It
was amazing... You've brought smiles to very sick children by your colorful Octaband.”
- Jean Basiner,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Florida
“The Octaband has been a huge hit, used it last week with a group of preschoolers... I had to pair
them up... I can see now why people get the 16 leg one! Anyways, it was great, we practiced
moving in synchrony up and down to the count of three, slow then faster, laying all the way down
on the floor. We walked in a circle keeping all the legs stretched out, we wiggled it, breathed up
and down with arms with it. The kids LOVED IT!
- Anna Kemble,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Vancouver, BC
“the preschoolers... love going in and back and waving hello and 
good-bye. They also like being
connected and having handles to hold onto... The connection to the handles made the dance a
group dance even if everyone wasn't moving the same way.
The concept of group connection without the intensity of the pull... is a nice way to invite
individual dancing to music while still having a concrete connection to everyone else... I think the
octaband lends it self to group connection and imagery. There seem to be endless ways to use it...
It has been a spider, the sun, a cloud, the sky, a creature, an octopus, a flying disc and more.
It was particularly successful with a group of developmentally delayed and autistic teens. It
allowed one girl who normally hangs far away from the group to successfully participate in a
group activity. It allowed her to keep some distance but for the first time actually move with the
others in the group. It was a turning point for her.”
- Rena Kornblum,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Wisconsin
“The kids loved dancing with the octaband. They would say things like, ‘This is so cool I want
one’, ‘Or it reminds me of an octopus’, ‘I love the colors’... It is an amazing prop. Everyone
that sees it and moves with it just loves it.”
- Rachel Morales,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Pennsylvania
“My residents LOVE it, we are currently using it both in activities groups and restorative nursing
exercise groups... It is specifically for movement and exercise, and, while it can be used by a
diverse population, is a wonderful tool for the elderly... It can be used by residents both sitting
and standing. Ten percent of all net profits from the Octaband™ go to the Alzheimer’s
Association, making it even more attractive as a product!”
- Julie Wood,
Activity Director, New Hampshire
“The Octaband is magical and delightful. The residents are finding ways to use it and are very
responsive to its give and take capacity and the ways it brings them together. The PT and OT staff
have happened by while we've been playing with it and are quite enthusiastic about what they've
observed.”
- Naomi Nim,
Activity Department Program Coordinator, Virginia
“the most exciting and stimulating use was when it 
came out of spontaneity, not from how I
presented it, but how my students chose to use it. It was a creative movement class for women’s
studies. The women ranged from ages 28 to 60+. The women were very anxious about moving
and dancing, even though they all wanted to. They had many body issues and they were simply
uncomfortable working without some sort of prop to not only offer them support but for them to
offer each other support and of course it was the group format which your octaband really is
wonderful for.
We did a lot of different exercises. I initiated some. As the group got more and
more comfortable they started becoming more daring, using the octaband on many different
levels, threading it, 
going up, they would use the lower level, then they would move on top of it,
holding onto it as if it was a web. They would move underneath it, holding onto it. . . In fact it
was somewhat like a Mayday sort of pole. Evokes creativity, joy, playfulness, laughter... It also
was visually very pleasing, decorative and also very theatrical. It not only offered a way for them
to connect, but also gave them an opportunity to separate out and to be individual and be very
colorful... when they worked separately. And they were also supported by the octaband to be
creative. It was a wonderful opportunity for them and for me, and I loved it and I wanted to thank
you for that.”
- Deb Smulian-Siegel,
Dance / Movement Therapist, Social Worker, Massachusetts
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