Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Music therapy helps a young man with developmental delays work on motor skills

One of the fun things working with special needs individuals is that they are a mirror of what you do.  I quickly find out the phrases that I say most because they start saying them.  I find out what I normally do at the end of a song because they start doing it before I can do it at the end of a song.  They also will follow my movements.

I was sitting at the piano with a young man with developmental disabilities.  He has some problems with sensory issues as well as problems with his motor skills.  Because of that, he moves very deliberately and slowly.  I am working on having him move through instrument playing a lot.  Then something fun and exciting happened when I was playing the piano with him. I tap my foot while playing the piano with out thinking about it.  He looks down at my leg while I am playing and then he starts tapping his foot in perfect rhythm while he is playing the piano with me.  We were really jamming together!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Music Therapy helping a young man with sensory processing difficulties

Music therapy is great when working with anybody who has difficulty with sensory issues.  This is very common in people with developmental delays, especially autism.  Music therapy helps by getting the individuals to engage in a sensory experience in a way that is more motivating because it is paired with music. 

An example is a young man that I have been working with.  He is very sensitive to touch.  He has a real problem using his hands because of it.  However, music is a really motivating thing for him.  He will use his hands when it involves drumming or playing other instruments.  His family was surprised to see him playing the instruments at all.  They were really surprised when they took him to a graduation and watched as he clapped for each of the graduates.  Because of his sensory issues he has not really clapped before.  The music therapy has helped lower his uncomfortableness with touch.