http://www.upoucommunity.net/articles/56-commentaries/65-music-therapy-for-the-special-child.html
upoucommunity.net
by Maureen Vivienne Angelica S. Magallanes

Music Therapy is probably the oldest form of treatment on earth. The idea of music as a healing influence dates back to pre-historic times. Ancient healers used music to drive away illnesses and restore health.

Everyone has experienced music, and has developed a personal definition of what it is, and have a specific set of music preferences and appreciation. And the love for it is an inborn quality in human beings.

Music Therapy is the dynamic combination of many disciplines around two subject areas: Music and Therapy. Music is the phenomenon people create, sing, perform, listen to, appreciate, enjoy and share with others. Therapy is a means of helping a person with physical, intellectual, emotional, psychological, psychosocial, and spiritual problems; like special people: those who are autistic, visually impaired, hearing impaired, intellectually disabled, mentally retarded, Down’s syndrome, multi-handicapped, Cerebral Palsied, senior citizens, socially and psychologically embattled, even normal people.

The major goal of Music Therapy is to change the person’s behavior, remove unwanted, uncomfortable, and unhealthy conditions and replace them with more adaptive ones. If these are achieved, other needs could be supported and complimented.

Music plays an important role in educating the special person. And the therapy usually should start at an early age. Through music therapy, he can attain educational and therapeutic goals. It opens opportunities for participation at one’s own level of functioning and ability. It should be noted that people with disabilities aren’t necessarily disabled in their musical skills.

Music stimulates all senses and involves the child at many levels. Because the brain can process music in both hemispheres, music can stimulate cognitive functioning and may be used for remediation of some language skills. Quality learning and maximum participation occur when children are permitted to experience the joy of play. The medium of music therapy allows this play to occur naturally and frequently.

Music is highly motivating, yet it can also have a calming and relaxing effect. Enjoyable music activities are designed to be success-oriented and make people feel better about their selves. Music therapy can help a person manage pain and stress. It can also encourage socialization, self-expression, communication and motor development.

There is therapeutic value in music therapy because music helps improve physical problems, helps develop eye contact and increase attention span and helps modify hyperactive behavior and eliminate unwanted behavior. Music also develops speech, helps people memorize better and helps increase vocabulary. It makes people more cooperative and generous, makes it easier for them to relate to one another. It also promotes relaxation, reduces stress and helps ease pain. Music is also proficient in the area of non verbal and symbolic communication and aims to provide and environment in which people can feel free to express their emotions, even their unspoken emotions. It also helps in the continuous flow of oxygen to the heart through breathing and exercises; it helps strengthen the lungs through breathing and vocalization. It also encourages people to be more imaginative, creative and expressive in words and in movement.

Music should not be taught as an end product itself. It is difficult to understand and analyze how and what a handicapped person may gain through musical experience. But whatever it is, the most important purpose we should have is the happiness of each child and their feelings and the spirits gained from the music therapy sessions.

http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2009/8/3/music-therapy-helps-autistic-children/
dailybruin.com
By Sandy Bui

Miracle Mile resident Rosanne Walden and her family welcomingly embrace the potent power of music.

Walden’s 12-year-old son, Adam, though diagnosed with moderate to severe autism when he was 3 years old, has an affinity for music that has provided positive new approaches for his academic education, Walden said.

At first, the Waldens attempted to maintain Adam’s hyperactivity by encouraging him to play an instrument. Adam soon gravitated toward the cello, leading to his performances around the country, like at the United Nations two months ago, his mother said.

Adam, who will be the first autistic child to attend the Millikan Middle School and Performing Arts Magnet, is currently a prospective study subject for the Music Enhanced Learning Opportunities for Developing Youth research program at UCLA, Walden said. Through the study, researchers will be able to study Adam’s brain functions when he is playing melodies, she added.

In 2006, Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, a research neuroscientist at the UCLA Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity, developed MELODY to use music as a research and therapeutic tool to study children and individuals with autism, he said. Currently, research for MELODY is conducted under the auspices of The Help Group – UCLA Autism Research Alliance, which is a partnership between the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and The Help Group, said Elizabeth Laugeson, the director of the alliance.

The Help Group, a comprehensive nonprofit, specifically serves children with special needs related to autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, abuse and emotional challenges.

MELODY’s first study, funded by the GRAMMY Foundation in 2008, was developed to use functional MRI to identify the main brain regions involved in processing emotion from faces and in processing emotions in music, Molnar-Szakacs said. This specific study also sees how those brain systems differ in typically developing children and children with autism, he added.

“Behaviorally, children with autism have difficulties with social situations, processing emotion and understanding others’ emotion,” Molnar-Szakacs said.

About a month ago, MELODY’s second grant to study the effects of music education on socio-emotional functioning was funded by the NAMM Foundation, the supporting organization of the international music products association, Molnar-Szakacs said.

This recent grant will enable researchers to go directly to The Help Group’s schools for a naturalistic, 12-week period study to access the children’s behavior, musical ability and emotional functioning and collect quantitative and qualitative data, he said. Molnar-Szakacs added that this study will likely begin in the fall or early next year.

“We hope through this study to establish the positive impact of music education on developing and improving these critical social-emotional skills,” Laugeson added.

Since autism was identified in the 1940s, literature suggested that autistic individuals have a special affinity to music, such as enhanced pitch memory and pitch labeling, Molnar-Szakacs said. This literature ultimately suggested that music might be an effective way to communicate with autistic children, he added.

Molnar-Szakacs, whose interest in neural bases of social communication led to his studying autism and socio-emotional communication, said he wanted to develop a higher research program like MELODY rather than have just one project.

MELODY currently comprises three components: research, education and music therapy, Molnar-Szakacs said. The music therapy element of MELODY has not yet been funded, but this music-based therapeutic intervention will be developed based on the results from the two funded studies, Molnar-Szakacs added.

The reasons for music’s powers are debatable, but music’s impacts clearly exist for every individual. Despite his research in music’s undeniable influence, Molnar-Szakacs said he believes it is not up to him to explain why music is so powerful.

“Inherently, you know why music is powerful, you can feel why music is powerful,” he said. “I think that everybody (feels) that very same effect, that music allows them to maybe go back to their childhood and remember certain songs, or … bring back memories of people, places or events.”

For Adam Walden, his musical intuition provides a powerful and effective tool for teachers.

Adam’s talent has allowed teachers to link musical components with his academic education to facilitate learning, Walden said. For example, to teach Adam about the Revolutionary War and the eighteenth century, teachers first encouraged Adam to learn about the music of the era. As a result, Adam gradually became interested in the era, making it possible to teach him the facts of the history, his mother said.

“Adam learns like a Polaroid photograph. You present it all to him, and he gets like the tiniest outline of what it is, but as you continue to present it to him, it comes in clearer and clearer, and he goes from knowing nothing, to when it comes to focus, he knows it all,” she added.

Vanya Green, a board-certified music therapist at Mattel Children’s Hospital Child Life/Child Development Services who specializes in facilitating creative expression and anxiety reduction/increased relaxation through music therapy, explained that music can express both an idea and emotion simultaneously.

“I think whereas words are oftentimes symbols of something that you want to express, especially if you want to express a certain emotion, music is sort of a direct expression of that, and I think people feel that when they hear music,” Green said.

http://www.curiousparents.com/Main/xq/asp/article.music_therapy/qx/article.htm
curiousparents.com
By Jerry O’Leary, MA, MT-BC

Is it the melody or the rhythm? What about dynamics, pitch, timbre? Which one of these musical elements help children find happiness? How can music make someone feel excited one minute and relaxed the next? It really depends on the type of music and how the music is used.

Music has been around for since the beginning of mankind. Over the past 50 years, a group of dedicated professionals have applied music as a therapy to relieve stress, improve health and overcome physical difficulties and mental challenges. They are called music therapists. Educated with a delicate balance of music and psychology, these skilled artists apply and study the powerful effects of music as a therapeutic tool on our daily lives.

Music therapists employ both individual and group therapy sessions to assist people in developing socially, sharpening their focus and attention, managing pain, elevating their cognitive ability, alleviating stress, building self-esteem and essentially enjoying life.

How Do They Do It?

Music therapists create goals and objectives intended to answer the needs of their clients through the use of carefully constructed treatment plans. Music therapists interact with other professionals treating infants, young children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults and seniors. Two particular groups that benefit tremendously from music therapy intervention are young children and seniors. In this brief article we will look at some of the benefits children receive from music therapy.

What Attracts Them?

Children are fascinated by music because they can hear it, they can feel it, they can see it and they can make it. Music attracts their attention and focus. It provides children with a unique opportunity to express their creative spirits. With the professional guidance and oversight of a trained music therapist, children come to appreciate music as an innovative and expressive art. But what about children that face difficult challenges due to developmental or cognitive delays? How does music therapy impact their lives?

Music Therapy and Special Needs

As parents and professionals have become more aware of the various indicators of the presence of Autistic Spectrum Disorders or ASD, an astonishing number of cases have been discovered. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the recognition and diagnosis of autism has increased by 870% over the past decade. Music therapy can provide a safe and effective means for addressing the needs of children affected by ASD. Group music therapy sessions provide the social interaction so desperately needed by children affected by ASD. It incorporates sensory integration techniques into a supportive environment in which the children can flourish. As a practicing music therapist, I constantly hear from parents that their child loves and responds positively to music. Music provides stimulation to the entire brain while fostering growth, social development and learning. Music therapy focuses on their abilities, not their disabilities, to help them and their families overcome their personal isolation

Using sing along songs and rhyming patterns, children can be taught routine tasks and responsibilities. Through the repetitive nature of a music therapy sessions, ASD children find a safe haven where the playing field is more level in light of their specific challenges.

Looking to the Future

Music therapy professionals continue to reach out to special needs groups in the hope of offering solutions to the obstacles these children face. We offer a fulfilling and rewarding experience through the use of music as a therapeutic tool. We search for the little victories that can successfully offer positive alternatives to special needs individuals, in conjunction with other traditional therapies. With perseverance and the power of music, we can strive to seek the answers to many of the unknown questions about ASD and the children it affects.

http://www.indianetzone.com/16/autism_music_therapy.htm
indianetzone.com

Music therapy is a unique application of music, which is used for personal betterment and positive changes in human lives. Music therapy has a wide use, which cures the exceptional children, adolescent and adults by developing social, emotional and cognitive learning. Music therapy has a healing effect on autistic children also as it helps to improve the communication as well as speech therapy.

Autistic children are those who do not behave or interact in the expected manner. Instead, the child stays in his or her own world, which is characterized by repetitive routines. The autistic child has odd and peculiar behavior, communication problem and total lack of social awareness. The child having autism is generally withdrawn and aloof and cannot respond to the external stimuli. Many of the autistic children do not speak at all, some other autistic children speak in rhyme or echoes other person`s words or use peculiar language.

Music is effective in case of autistic child because almost everybody responds positively to at least some kind of music. Music is non-verbal form of communication and a natural reinforce, which provides motivation for practicing different nonmusical skills.

An autism music therapist must be fully trained with a full curriculum of music classes, along with selected courses in psychology, special education and anatomy as well as field experience in music therapy. Music therapy is particularly helpful for those autistic children whose world is confined in the non-verbal, non-communicating nature of medium. Parallel musical lessons are designed to support the objectives of the child as observed by the therapist or instructed by the parents, teacher or other professional. An autism music therapy professional must observe the particular child`s need to socially interact with others. Musical games like passing a ball back and forth along with music or playing sticks and cymbals with other person can be used to encourage their relations and communications. The autistic children avoid eye contact so eye contact is encouraged with imitative clapping games in front of eyes or with some activities that draws attention or any instrument is played near the face. Music is played to enhance social bond that leads to playing music while in a group of other children in a circle.

Music Therapy in autism is particularly effective in the development and remediation of speech. There is severe deficit in communication among autistic children that sometimes include nonexistent or impersonal speech. This speech can vary from complete mute to grunts, humming, pharyngeal sounds to cry and screaming. Musically chanted vocalization with some consonant vowel combinations, sophisticated babbling, interspersed with vaguely recognizable word-like sounds, or some unfamiliar jargon etc.are the characteristic of the autistic children.

Higher-level autism might include echolalia or pronominal reversal while some children might progress to appropriate phrases, sentences and longer sentences with repetitive monotonous speech. The autistic children are easily attached to music, which often seen in the mainstream public schools that autistic child attending music classes.

Autistic children are unusually sensitive to music. Some have perfect pitch while others are seen to play instruments with keen musical perception. This makes easy to adapt the music therapy for the autistic children and the therapists found their duty easier. Some children have unusual sensitiveness to certain musical sounds. An autistic child after playing xylophone bar would spontaneously sing up the harmonic series from the fundamental pitch. Syllable sounds were paired with careful structuring and the child began incorporating the easy consonant-vowel sounds into the vocal play. First the therapy begins with easy notes and tunes played in the xylophone but the therapist gradually include more complex verbalization, which the child slowly starts to imitate.

There are instances in which few autistic children can sing though they are incapable of speaking. Music therapists work systematically on their speech through vocal music activities. In the music classroom songs with simple words, repetitive phrases and even repetitive nonsense syllables can assist the language of an autistic child. The process is facilitated even further by meaningful word phrases and songs presented with visual and tactile cues. One such teaching is giving the child the object while singing:
Do you eat an apple? Yes, yes. Do you eat an apple? Yes, yes. Do you eat an apple? Yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. and Do you eat a pencil? No, no. Do you eat a pencil? No, no. Do you eat a pencil? No, no. No, no, no.

The teacher sings this simple question answer song with a familiar melody in full rhythm and harmonic accompaniment. To teach an autistic child the noun and verb phrases, a large doll was given to him/her and the teacher sang:
This is a doll. This is a doll. The doll is jumping. The doll is jumping. This is a doll. This is a doll.

Later, words were substituted for walking, sitting, sleeping etc. In the presented songs the bold words are faded out by the Music Therapists gradually. As all the phrases were repeated, the child could follow it through echolalic imitation to respond accurately. When the music was completely eliminated, the child could learn how to verbalize the entire sentence in response to the questions “What is this?” and “What is the doll doing?”

Some other autistic children could learn it more easily when entire song contains both the question and answer. The following phrases are sung to a children with the tune of `twinkle twinkle little star`, the words were faded out in the backward progression. The primary objective of the child is attention to the environmental sounds and the song structure assisted the child in responding in a complete, grammatically correct sentence:
Listen, listen, what do you hear? (music played on tape) I hear an ambulance. (I hear a baby cry.) (I hear my mother calling, etc.)

Eliminating the monotonic speech is another difficult challenge for autistic children. This can be achieved by singing songs which are composed to match the rhythm, stress, flow and modulation of the sentence followed by gradual fading of musical cues. Parents and teachers can help the child to remember the rhythmic aspect of the speech by singing the song again and again to the child.

The autistic music therapy needs to compose special kind of songs, which are repetitive in nature. Even in the higher-level elementary vocal method books, repetition of simple phrases is very common. For the music therapy of the autistic child, the ability to put words together is much vital for the beginning.

http://special-needs.families.com/blog/how-music-therapy-can-help-your-child
families.com
by Kristyn Crow

Music has a way of reaching us, touching our souls and inspiring us in a way that is very powerful. Often it can have a very effective impact on children with disabilities, especially children with speech and language disorders and gross or fine-motor difficulties. Studies have also shown that when children are exposed to classical music regularly, their mathematical abilities are boosted. If you have a child who is struggling in math, language, or physical development, music therapy is something you should seriously consider. Music therapy has been proven quite effective for children with varying disabilities such as Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and many more.

Judy Winter, the mother of a young son with cerebral palsy, said that enrolling her son in music therapy “paid off in spades.” In her book, “Breakthrough Parenting for Children With Special Needs,” she describes the experience as resulting in “remarkable gains, including enhanced motor skills, greater communication skills, heightened self-esteem, and increased motivation in his daily activities, including homework.”

Here are several ways that Music Therapy can help your child:

*  Singing stimulates and engages many parts of the brain not used in typical language processing. Often children who have difficulty with language can improve their skills through song. I have heard of some children learning to sing before they could speak.

* Playing an instrument helps teach a child muscle coordination, rhythm, cause and effect, and improves fine and gross motor skills. It also increases self-esteem and confidence.

* Music brightens a child’s mood. Have you ever noticed how certain songs can make you feel melancholy, or happy? Music is mood-enhancing, and children with disabilities often benefit greatly from upbeat, rhythmic music that they can sing or play an instrument with.

* Music is tremendously helpful with stress-relief and can be used with relaxation techniques.

* Interestingly enough, playing the kazoo has been found to be an effective way to promote speech. Something about the feel of the vibrations and hearing the sound emitted stimulates the desire to create verbal sounds. Many children have improved their ability to speak using a kazoo.

How can I get my child involved?

Visit the official website of the American Music Therapy Association for more information on the benefits of music therapy and how you can become involved. You can also check with the special education administrators in your child’s school district, and ask what programs are available. Contact a local college or university and ask for their music department. Ask if there are students or educators willing to provide music therapy for your child.

http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-health/articles/97/1Music-Therapy
hpakids.org
By Jamie Blumenthal, MA,MT-BC

Music Therapy for Healthy Children and Families
We’ve all experienced the power of music. Music can evoke emotions, memories, and spiritual or social connectedness, as well as provide a means of expressing feelings and a sense of safety, security and comfort to young children. Music especially provides a fun way for children to learn. It is the one medium that cuts through the boundaries of age, culture, disability and disease.

Traditionally music therapists have worked in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, state hospitals, and schools for children with special needs. But as the public has become more interested in “alternative” health care, the benefits of music for relaxation and stress reduction have been recognized and promoted. As more research is demonstrating the benefits of music on brain development, music therapists are now bringing their work and expertise into the mainstream.
There are endless ways you can bring music into your child’s life (and your own life) to enhance well-being and quality of life. Let’s begin with pregnancy.
Music Therapy for Pregnancy

Music Therapists are specially trained to teach pregnant women how to use music for relaxation and as a reminder of visual imagery. Music can be a means of changing a woman’s perception of pain during labor and delivery, thus eliminating or reducing the amount of anesthesia that is used during the birth process. The music therapist can often accompany the pregnant woman through labor and delivery.
During pregnancy, music can also be used for the baby. Prior to birth, babies may respond to music while in the womb. From personal experience, my son always kicked the exact spot on my abdomen that my guitar was touching. He would kick to each strum that I played on the guitar. It seemed that he became more active when he heard and felt the music. My daughter had a different response. She became quieter, less active when she heard and felt the music. They both continued their same womb responses after birth. Thus my son needed quiet to go to sleep and my daughter needed quiet music.
Lullabies

It is no mistake that lullabies from around the world all have a similar tempo. The tempo of a lullaby matches the tempo of the human heartbeat. Lullabies can be used to comfort crying babies and help them feel secure when going to sleep. When we sing lullabies to our children, we are nurturing them and communicating our love. Incorporating lullabies into a bedtime ritual can help children make the difficult transition into sleep. Lullabies can also be used if a child wakes up at night, has a nightmare or is sleeping away from home. With a lullaby in the background, babies and children can feel even more emotionally secure and safe when being held close to your body while you gently dance around a room or rock slowly in a rocking chair.
Crying is Musical

As parents, we become “in tune” with the sound of our baby’s cry. We know when it is our baby crying and if the cry is communicating hunger, a wet diaper, feeling tired or feeling pain. A baby’s cry is the beginning of speech and language. As amazing as it may seem, the cry is quite musical and the beginning of singing and discovering our voice. Each cry has a specific musical pitch and is held for a specific length of time (like singing). Eventually the cries become vocal sounds, squeals and babbling. Parents have often found that by exactly imitating their baby’s vocal sounds the baby will begin to make more vocal sounds. Before you know it, you’re having a conversation with your baby in “nonsense” sounds. Even very young babies are aware that you are communicating with them. They love the attention. This is the beginning of learning how to talk and how to have a conversation. Eventually the sounds become familiar – da, ba, ma etc. These sounds can be incorporated into familiar songs. Instead of singing the words to a song, you can sing ba ba ba, or da da da or ma ma ma, or that old standby, la la la. You might be surprised to find your baby singing along because the “words” are familiar. Soon your baby will combine these syllables into words that will be used to communicate thoughts and feelings.
Drumming for Children

In my experience of working with children as young as 6 months, I have yet to come across a child who is not able to play an instrument to the beat of a song, even if it is for only 2-4 beats. The drumbeat is the human way of imitating the heartbeat. Remember that a mother’s heartbeat is what a baby has heard and felt for the first nine months while in the womb. We never lose our response to this comforting sound. Even Alzheimer’s patients will respond to the beat of a drum when nothing else will reach them.

Children love to move to the beat of a drum. You can use different rhythms to indicate how to move. Play fast and children can run. Play very slow steady beats for big steps, softly for tiptoeing, silence for stopping, or make up your own. Doing this type of activity with children helps to develop listening skills, sound discrimination, awareness of starting and stopping (this could become part of safety awareness), as well as develop gross motor skills. You can do the drumming and have your child do the movement or better yet reverse it. Children don’t have a lot of opportunities to be in control. Let your child have the drum and you can do the movement. They quickly become aware of their “power” in a very positive way. They also learn about rhythm by doing this. This is a great activity for rainy days.
Music for Relaxation
Calm, quiet music can be used to reduce stress and enhance relaxation. The relaxed state induced by music is reflected in changes in brain-wave patterns. Simply having relaxing music in the background can change the way you feel. You can play relaxation music in the morning to reduce the stress of the morning routine. I sometimes like to play it around dinnertime when I’m tired, hungry and stressed. I find it helps to calm the children as well as me. Relaxation music can be used to reduce anxiety prior to surgery or in a medical situation where you feel anxious. Studies have shown that blood pressure is more stable when this kind of music is used before, during and after surgery. Relaxation music can be used when you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. There are relaxation and guided imagery tapes for children who feel stressed or are having difficulty sleeping.
Music for Education

Music can be used to teach and improve speech and language. Music incorporates rhythm, pitch and words, which are all part of speech and language. Both sides of the brain are used with music, so information can be learned through music and eventually transferred into speech and language.

Popular songs can be used to teach children different skills. I taught my children how to spell their names by changing the words to the song “BINGO” For example: There is a boy who has black hair and Tyler is his name T Y L E R (repeat) etc. As you already know, most children learn the alphabet by singing the alphabet song.

Learning to play an instrument can provide a sense of self-esteem as well as help to develop important skills. Reading music helps develop reading skills, eye hand coordination and math skills. Playing an instrument develops fine motor coordination, and if the instrument is a wind instrument, oral motor skills can become more developed. A recent study of preschoolers showed that private piano lessons enhanced their spatial-temporal reasoning.

Listening to music helps to develop the brain. Research conducted by a group of neuroscientists found that listening to Mozart enhances spatial-temporal reasoning in college students. A recent article in the New York Times revealed a proposal by the governor of Georgia to spend over $100,000 of state money to provide every newborn a CD of classical music, due to the positive effects on brain development and spatial and mathematical skills.
Music to Enhance Relationships

Singing or playing music together as a family or with friends can be a fun way to enjoy being together. There are many songs for young children that have hand motions or movements. You can do the motions hand over hand with your child. They love the physical touch, the play, the eye contact and most of all the love that comes from being with their parents. As a family, you can go to concerts or other performances together or make your own music at home.
Music to Express Emotions
As children grow older and listen to more music, they begin to have preferences for certain kinds of music. Music may become part of a person’s identity during adolescence. We all have favorite songs that we identify with. These songs may express an emotion that we feel or talk about an experience that we are coping with. Music is an expression of emotion and the words an expression of thought. Keep in touch with the music that your child listens to. Periodically join your child in listening to his or her favorite music. Ask why the song is important, what are the favorite lines of the songs. This is a way to communicate with your child and get a sense of things that you might not know about your child otherwise.
Music for Special Needs

As mentioned, music therapists are now providing services for the general public. Children with special needs utilize a large portion of our services. Music therapy uses music as a vehicle to achieve nonmusical goals. When a child has special needs, music may be one of the most powerful ways to reach her and to help her to function at her maximum potential.

References:

F. H. Rauscher et al., “Music and spatial task performance,” Nature 365 (1993): 611
F. H. Rauscher et al., “Listening to Mozart enhances spatial-temporal reasoning: towards a neurophysiological basis,” Neuroscience Letters 185 (1995): 44-47.
F. H. Rauscher et al., “Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning.” Neurological Research 19 (1997): 2-8.
K. Sack, “Georgia’s governor seeks music start for babies,” New York Times January 15, 1998.

http://www.more4kids.info/361/music-therapy-for-children/
more4kids.info

The Importance Of Sleep

We all know that sleep is very important. For young children it is even more important. When we enter a deep sleep, it  helps to enhance the immune system and stimulate the nervous system. When people dream, it helps to aid and enhance memory and learning. Both types of sleep are essential for childhood development. A lack of sleep can impair learning, reduce reaction time, cause moodiness, and increase the likelihood of accidents and injury.

Research Has Proven That Music Is Therapy For Children

Therapeutic music helps children fall asleep sooner and with greater peace of mind. Research has been applied on pregnant mothers, infants, toddlers, and even adults. Incorporating this type of music in preschools, daycare centers, doctors, and dentists offices has a positive result on the tempo of the environment. It sets the tone for a relaxed atmosphere and has the capabilities to lay a child or an adult to sleep. Songs that are recognized by children makes them have an added enjoyment for music.

Adding nature sounds to music makes the heart rate respond to a slower beat which in turn relaxes the body and mind. Children need this type of tempo to be calmed and relaxed. Listening to this music you will hear many different nature sounds. They include ocean waves, birds, ducks, horses, cows, heart beats, sea gulls, streams and many more. This is not only for a child’s enjoyment, but an adult will feel the same peace.

Reducing The Stress Of Childhood

We think of ourselves as stressed because of all the things we are asked to do or control. Imagine the stress of living in a world of complete dependency. The touch of a loving hand helps to ease this stress.

Over time a gentle touch assures the child that they will be cared for when needs arise. Therapeutic music is another gift to the senses that reassures the child that everything will be alright. Visual objects around the room or about the crib can only serve the child while the eyes are open. Therapeutic music continues to soothe and reassures the eyes close and peaceful rest sets in.
Intangible Gifts Are Everlasting

Music is an intangible gift that lives in a child’s mind, safe from the erosionary and destructive forces of time and environment. The songs we play or perform for our children are gifts that are carried inside. These gifts are with them through difficult times and times of celebration. Soothing repetitive music can build confidence that the love associated with the songs that last in their minds will also last forever.

http://www.togetherforautism.org/articles/music_therapy_language_autistic_child.php
togetherforautism.org
Myra J. Staum, Ph.D., RMT-BC

Music Therapy is the unique application of music to enhance personal lives by creating positive changes in human behavior. It is an allied health profession utilizing music as a tool to encourage development in social/ emotional, cognitive/learning, and perceptual-motor areas. Music Therapy has a wide variety of functions with the exceptional child, adolescent and adult in medical, institutional and educational settings. Music is effective because it is a nonverbal form of communication, it is a natural reinforcer, it is immediate in time and provides motivation for practicing nonmusical skills. Most importantly, it is a successful medium because almost everyone responds positively to at least some kind of music. The training of a music therapist involves a full curriculum of music classes, along with selected courses in psychology, special education, and anatomy with specific core courses and field experiences in music therapy. Following coursework, students complete a six-month full time clinical internship and a written board certification exam. Registered, board certified professionals must then maintain continuing education credits or retake the exam to remain current in their practice.

Music Therapy is particularly useful with autistic children owing in part to the nonverbal, non threatening nature of the medium. Parallel music activities are designed to support the objectives of the child as observed by the therapist or as indicated by a parent, teacher or other professional. A music therapist might observe, for instance, the child’s need to socially interact with others. Musical games like passing a ball back and forth to music or playing sticks and cymbals with another person might be used to foster this interaction. Eye contact might be encouraged with imitative clapping games near the eyes or with activities which focus attention on an instrument played near the face. Preferred music may be used contingently for a wide variety of cooperative social behaviors like sitting in a chair or staying with a group of other children in a circle.

Music Therapy is particularly effective in the development and remediation of speech. The severe deficit in communication observed among autistic children includes expressive speech which may be nonexistent or impersonal. Speech can range from complete mutism to grunts, cries, explosive shrieks, guttural sounds, and humming. There may be musically intoned vocalizations with some consonant-vowel combinations, a sophisticated babbling interspersed with vaguely recognizable word-like sounds, or a seemingly foreign sounding jargon. Higher level autistic speech may involve echolalia, delayed echolalia or pronominal reversal, while some children may progress to appropriate phrases, sentences, and longer sentences with non expressive or monotonic speech. Since autistic children are often mainstreamed into music classes in the public schools, a music teacher may experience the rewards of having an autistic child involved in music activities while assisting with language.

It has been noted time and again that autistic children evidence unusual sensitivities to music. Some have perfect pitch, while many have been noted to play instruments with exceptional musicality. Music therapists traditionally work with autistic children because of this unusual responsiveness which is adaptable to non-music goals Some children have unusual sensitivities only to certain sounds. One boy, after playing a xylophone bar, would spontaneously sing up the harmonic series from the fundamental pitch. Through careful structuring, syllable sounds were paired with his singing of the harmonics and the boy began incorporating consonant-vowel sounds into his vocal play. Soon simple 2-3 note tunes were played on the xylophone by the therapist who modeled more complex verbalizations, and the child gradually began imitating them.

Since autistic children sometimes sing when they may not speak, music therapists and music educators can work systematically on speech through vocal music activities. In the music classroom, songs with simple words, repetitive phrases, and even repetitive nonsense syllables can assist the autistic child’s language. Meaningful word phrases and songs presented with visual and tactile cues can facilitate this process even further. One six-year old echolalic child was taught speech by having the therapist/teacher sing simple question/answer phrases set to a familiar melody with full rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment The child held the objects while singing:

Do you eat an apple? Yes, yes.
Do you eat an apple? Yes, yes.
Do you eat an apple? Yes, yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
and

Do you eat a pencil? No, no.
Do you eat a pencil? No, no.
Do you eat a pencil? No, no.
No, no, no.

Another autistic child learned noun and action verb phrases . A large doll was manipulated by the therapist/teacher and a song presented:

This is a doll.
This is a doll.
The doll is jumping.
The doll is jumping.
This is a doll.
This is a doll.

Later, words were substituted for walking, sitting, sleeping, etc. In these songs, the bold words were faded out gradually by the therapist/teacher. Since each phrase was repeated, the child could use his echolalic imitation to respond accurately. When the music was eliminated completely, the child was able to verbalize the entire sentence in response to the questions, “What is this?” and “What is the doll doing?”

Other autistic children have learned entire meaningful responses when both questions and answers were incorporated into a song. The following phrases were sung with one child to the approximate tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and words were faded out gradually in backward progression. While attention to environmental sounds was the primary focus for this child, the song structure assisted her in responding in a full, grammatically correct sentence:

Listen, listen, what do you hear? (sound played on tape)
I hear an ambulance.
(I hear a baby cry.)
(I hear my mother calling, etc.)

Autistic children have also made enormous strides in eliminating their monotonic speech by singing songs composed to match the rhythm, stress, flow and inflection of the sentence followed by a gradual fading of the musical cues. Parents and teachers alike can assist the child in remembering these prosodic features of speech by prompting the child with the song. While composing specialized songs is time consuming for the teacher with a classroom full of other children, it should be remembered that the repertoire of elementary songs are generally repetitive in nature. Even in higher level elementary vocal method books, repetition of simple phrases is common. While the words in such books may not seem critical for the autistic child’s survival at the moment, simply increasing the capacity to put words together is a vitally important beginning for these children.

For those teachers whose time is limited to large groups, almost all singing experiences are invaluable to the autistic child when songs are presented slowly, clearly, and with careful focusing of the child’s attention to the ongoing activity. To hear an autistic child leave a class quietly singing a song with all the words is a pleasant occurrence. To hear the same child attempt to use these words in conversation outside of the music class is to have made a very special contribution to the language potential of this child.

http://www.musicworkswonders.com/html/curpartents.html
musicworkswonders.com
By Jerry O’Leary, MA, MT-BC MUSIC THERAPY

What offers an effective means for our children to learn and grow? How can our children develop a better sense of focus and concentration? What type of intervention allows both young boys and girls the ability to improve their power to remember? What type of intervention is commonly used to help children learn the alphabet? How can all of our parental aspirations be achieved in a fun-filled, creative and non-intrusive manner?

The answer to these questions has been around for thousands of years. But only recently has this field been recognized and implemented in selected educational settings. The therapeutic use of music or Music Therapy, as it is commonly called, offers parents and children answers to many of the challenges of everyday life. According to the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), “Music therapy is an established health and human service profession using music to improve our quality of life by optimizing health and wellness and addressing the needs of children and adults with disabilities and illnesses.” I suggest that music therapy, while being an effective treatment for people suffering from disabilities and illnesses, can be beneficial to all people with or without disabilities and illnesses.

HOW CAN THAT BE?
Let us look at the intrinsic nature of music and its therapeutic application to get a better understanding of how it can be beneficial to people of all walks of life. Music therapy, utilized by a trained professional, can excite us, calm us, make us smile, make us cry, release our inner feelings and increase our learning potential. As a therapy, music stimulates our entire brain not just the creative or the analytic areas.

Just take a look back at helping your children learn their ABC’s. By using a simple sing-song pattern, the letters of the alphabet are imprinted in a child’s memory. This musical rote memory tool is effective in teaching children their addresses and phone numbers. It can ease the education process in learning how to count. Teaching song phrases to kids demonstrates grammar and sentence construction. It can be effective in teaching children historical events and sto-ries. It conveys feelings, emotions and love.

My wife and I experienced this phenomenon with our five year old son as he grew from infancy to kindergarten. Singing simple musical phrases behind thoughts or ideas instilled the information that we have shared with him in his memory. A case in point occurred during Fire Safety Week 2001. To the tune BINGO, our son learned what to do in case of a fire or emergency. A simple melody communicated an important and possibly life saving message.

SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS
There are children that are challenged by physical, emotional, behavioral, cognitive and developmental issues. These children have demonstrated benefits from the inclusion of music therapy in their indi-vidual education plans. While directing the music therapy curriculum at the Archway Programs Lower School located in Atco, New Jersey, I had the opportunity to assist children through young adults confront serious impediments. The many faces of children dealing with autism, developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy, down syndrome and multiple sensory integration issues greeted me each and every morning. My task was to make the learning process fun and more meaningful through music therapy intervention. My friends at the Archway Programs grew to enjoy the music therapy experience, and I was able to offer special assistance as these kids matured and learned together. It was an experience I continue to remember fondly and the kids I will never forget.

ALL KIDS’ NEEDS ARE SPECIAL
All children are special and have their own set of special needs in the complex world in which we live today. We, as parents, want the best for our children. We need to recognize the value of music as a discipline and to be proactive in advocating music education and music therapy as a modality for all children.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030201759.html
washingtonpost.com
By Jean Hwang

When it’s bath time for Janna Simpson, her mother sometimes throws together a tune. “Take a bath, take a bath, take a bath,” Judy Simpson might chant, luring her daughter into the water.

Janna isn’t a toddler, and her mother isn’t simply singing along. Janna is a 15-year-old with autism, a speech impairment and a seizure disorder. Music, Judy Simpson says, has been key to getting her to engage in such everyday activities as taking a bath; it’s also an alternative to verbal instructions in helping her overcome social and behavioral problems.

Janna, who never developed normal speech, receives formal music therapy at West Virginia’s Hedgesville Middle School, where she is enrolled in a classroom for students with autism. Her mother, a former music therapist who is director of government relations at the American Music Therapy Association, based in Silver Spring, continues with that therapeutic approach at home.

“Latitude, longitude, looking through a microscope: Such skills are not important,” Simpson explains. “She needs basic skills to live, such as brushing her teeth, taking a bath, the pragmatics of engaging with people. This is a difficult thing to teach.”

Simpson’s confidence in music therapy is based on her own experience and that of other parents of children with autism who are eager to find ways to increase their children’s ability to function. But exactly how and to what extent music therapy works is not well understood. Just over a year ago, a session titled “The Autism Agenda” at the American Music Therapy Association conference stressed the need for more research and for practice to be based on evidence.

‘Hello, Everybody’

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Despite the limited data about its effectiveness, making music has become an integral part of many programs for children with autism. Leanne Belasco, a music therapist at the Kennedy Krieger School’s Montgomery County campus in Rockville, says music gives structure and a predictable rhythm to verbal directions. When Belasco strums her autoharp to her students, she sings encouraging, instructive lyrics such as, “I know I have what it takes; I am a good listener” and “Be flexible.”

At the school, where all 37 full-time students are enrolled in music therapy, Belasco begins her 30- to 45-minute sessions by singing a refrain: “Hello, everybody, it’s time for music today.” She wheels around the group seated in a horseshoe formation, addressing each student in song as she does so. A 16-year-old, who regularly wears headphones in class because of his auditory sensitivities, responds with apparent enjoyment, as does a younger boy, who strums the autoharp with seeming pleasure as he rocks back and forth in his chair. When Belasco asks her students to shake the blue plastic maracas she has passed out, classroom assistants help. When one student seems pained by the exercise, the assistants physically settle him in his chair.

Despite the benefits associated with music, there are special challenges for children with autism. “Some students are sensitive to sirens and vacuums; some are sensitive to music, to specific instruments or the frequency of the instrument,” says Linda Brandenburg, director of school autism services at Kennedy Krieger, which is based in Baltimore. The music therapist gradually eases students with such auditory sensitivities into the group.

For higher-functioning students on the autism spectrum, music can be a creative outlet in addition to helping regulate behavior, therapists say. At Rockville’s Frost School, for children with emotional disorders including those on the autism spectrum, ninth-grader Donny Toker has enjoyed music from a young age and now composes jazz and rock pieces, which he has performed at family gatherings and at school. His mother, Nancy Toker, says music helps him focus and relieves anxiety and frustration. “When he is in a musical environment, he is able to interact with his peers, and his conversational skills are appropriate, ” Toker says.

Measuring the Impact

Creating studies to assess the benefits of music therapy is a challenge. Petra Kern, a professor of music therapy at the State University of New York at New Paltz and one of the organizers of the Autism Agenda conference, says it is difficult to conduct autism research using randomized controlled trials because autism is a spectrum disorder and individual behavior varies greatly. She advocates learning as much as possible from groups of related individual case studies to understand how and why music therapy works.

Catherine Lord, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan specializing in autism research, says, “We know that music therapy treatment is associated with improvement, but we don’t know what the cause of that improvement is.” Studies suggesting positive results for music therapy, she says, typically “don’t control for what you need to control to find out what causes the change.” Students may improve because of factors such as the therapist’s enthusiasm and attention rather than the music itself.

Lord notes that she would support the use of music therapy only if it could be shown that it helped to decrease problem behaviors and also if it was clearly determined that students with autism enjoyed the therapy. Many people with autism lack forms of entertainment and relaxation, so providing effective behavioral treatment that is also pleasurable would be worthwhile, she says.

Mijin Kim, a music therapist at the Beth Abraham Institute in New York, says music may be effective because it complements the cognitive abilities of people with autism, which include a strong inclination for creating patterns.

“Music is inherently structured and patterned,” she says. “You can see people with autism who are hypersensitive to sound but respond differently to music because of its structure.”