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Music Therapy for the Child with Special Needs

Music therapy is a service provided for children to influence changes in learning or behavior patterns. It is recognized as one of the related services in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that can be used to assist a child with disabilities to benefit from special education.

Music Therapy has been effective in helping children with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, brain injuries, chronic illnesses and more. Therapy is designed to reinforce and strengthen skills identified on the students Individual Education Plan (IEP) and can address areas such as receptive language, expressive language, socialization, and motor development.

There are many reasons why music therapy is a successful treatment for children. The following are examples of how it works:

• Rhythms of sound have a powerful impact on cognition. Songs and rhymes are things that most adults remember from childhood.

• Music is processed by a different area of the brain than speech and language, therefore, a child may be able to more easily absorb information and skills presented with music.

• Memorizing songs and rhymes is helpful in developing literacy skills.

• The rhythm and repetition in songs can help the student internalize the sounds and patterns of language.

• Connecting song, language, and movement dramatically increases learning.

• Music is a valued tool for stimulating the right side of the brain and encourages bilateral activity between the brain hemispheres.

• Music enhances attending skills and reduces distraction.

• Music is motivating and fun, which is useful when working with a child who demonstrates low motivation to learn.

When considering requesting music therapy services, the first thing the parent should do is obtain a copy of the child's IEP. An important thing to keep in mind is that music services are provided according to demonstrated educational need. There must be a clear difference in the way that the student performs IEP goals and objectives in the music therapy setting versus the classroom setting. Services will not be provided simply because the student "enjoys" music or because the student has a disability.

So, the parent should consider the following questions:

• Can the student be motivated to attempt and complete tasks by the use of music?

• Could the student benefit from the use of additional communication modalities?

• Does the student initiate interaction with music or musical instruments in the classroom or home?

• Does the student retain information conveyed in songs more easily than information conveyed in spoken interchanges?

Should the parent feel that the child may benefit from music therapy services, the parent can request a music therapy assessment be provided by the IEP committee or the school district. The assessment is administered by a registered music therapist (who must have completed at least a baccalaureate program from an accredited university) and usually takes 3 to 5 hours.

During the assessment, the therapist will look at the child's emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills through musical responses. They will determine music preferences, interests and skills, identify specific skill areas in which the student could benefit from therapy, and recommend music therapy strategies for reinforcing and strengthening critical skill areas.

Once music therapy has been approved for the student, the therapist will select and design songs, instrumental activities, movement activities and other types of related musical approaches that will help address the designated IEP objectives. For example, for a child who has a goal of recognizing numbers from one to ten, the therapist might use flash cards, paired with a song about numbers, and use instruments with numbers taped to them.

Music therapy is not a "miracle cure" and the effectiveness of this tool varies from child to child. However, it has been proven to be successful with many types of disabled individuals including those with autism, learning differences, mental retardation, multi-handicaps, speech and language delays, and visual impairments. Below are some examples of real people who have benefitted from music therapy:

 

Success Stories (names have been changed)

Bryan has Down syndrome and has shown difficulty with several academic skills. After starting music therapy, pairing specific learning skills with music seemed to help Bryan concentrate and retain information. His first goal was to expand his vocabulary and length of utterance. When he first began with music therapy, he spoke in single words and a few phrases. Shortly thereafter, he rapidly learned the names of musical instruments and began requesting certain instruments using longer phrases or sometimes even simple sentences. Also, he quickly mastered eight verses in his favorite song!

Josh has a diagnosis of neuromuscular disease, immune deficiency, mid-line apraxia (non-verbal), and general developmental delay. When Josh began music therapy, he had difficulty imitating even the most basic movements. He was just beginning to point to simple pictures in a book. When music was presented, he demonstrated an excellent and lengthy attention span for learning new tasks. The initial therapy focused on improving motor movements and his ability to point to pictures in a book. Songs that required three to four different actions were used to improve imitation skills. Josh showed improvement right away. A variety of children's songbooks and a basic children's vocabulary book were paired with songs to increase his ability to point. His parents noticed that with the use of music therapy, not only did he improve in imitating motor movements, but also in imitating some vocalizations and words!

Katie has septo-optic dysplasia or DeMorsier's syndrome. She is blind, but has some light perception, and also has a severe language impairment. When Katie began music therapy, she would listen with interest, but did not participate without extensive prompting. When a particular song was played one day, it was encouraging her to imitate the sound "me, me, me" and she did it! Soon, Katie began responding consistently to each task presented to her and her ability to imitate sounds improved. In addition, she began to add to her vocabulary of single words. She learned to identify several body parts when they were introduced by song. Katie now is able to say a number of single words and phrases. Also, she attempted to play three keys on a piano using raised dots and songs that cued her to play 1, 2, or 3 notes!

Michael was born premature with respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular brain hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, strabismus, patent ductus arteriosis, and cerebral palsy. His intellectual skills were sharp, however, he had fine and gross motor problems. His parents decided to pursue music therapy to increase independent finger isolation for computer use (which is what he would use to complete schoolwork). When he first started therapy, he used one finger on the keyboard. He was barely able to make any sound when he pressed down on the piano keys. He had little strength and his right hand tended to crumple on the keyboard. He made slow, but steady progress and with practice and encouragement from his family, he began to play the piano with both hands, using all of his fingers!

If you are interested in looking into music therapy for your child and would like more information, you can contact the American Music Therapy Association at (301) 589-3300.

References: Information provided by Kathleen A. Coleman, MMT-BC, Prelude Music Therapy Products http://home.att.net/~bkbrunk/music.html

 

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