Music therapy can address specific needs, and sometimes it can have positive effects without having specifically addressed them. There is a young man that I am working with in Meridian who is nonverbal and also has a lot of difficulty swallowing. One of the goals that I am doing with him is working on using his voice more. He is doing singing (though he doesn't form words) and he is beginning to verbalize when I ask him questions. That in and of itself is great. We want to see him using his voice as much as we can, and his verbalizations are getting more clear so that family is saying that they are understanding him more.
There is another effect that has occurred because he is using his voice more. The family has noticed that his incident of choking has gone down most likely because he is using his voice more and strengthening the muscles. One of the things I love about music therapy is that like anything there is side effects. However, music therapy's side effects are positive rather than negative.
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