Unexpected connection with a young boy with autism

I love a good surprise.  A great one happened to me recently.  The week before I have to admit was not my best session with a young boy with autism that I work with.  He was distracted, and I could not get him to focus on me.  One of the things that was distracting him was a book.  I decided to make up a song for the book while he was reading it.  I thought it did not really work that well because he did not engage in the song.  He simply kept reading it as though I wasn't doing anything.

The following week I went to see him.  The session started great with a lot of interaction.  He then went and got the book from the previous week.  He opened up the book and looked at me.  I started singing the song, and he sang it with me while making eye contact.  It was a good surprise.  I love a good surprise.

Music therapy with a young man with autism

It has been really fun working with this 7 year old boy with autism that I see.  The music therapy has been really great at helping him make social connections.  It has been fun to watch him begin answering questions in the context of the songs, singing with me, and asking me for his favorite music.

At the last session, during one of his favorite songs, he made a point of looking at me to make eye contact and make sure that we were in sync musically.  That was so huge because eye contact in general is a difficutl thing for people with autism.  But not only was he making eye contact, he was making eye contact for a specific social purpose!

Music Therapy with a young boy with autism

I recently went to see a young boy with autism at his home.  When I got there, I could hear him screaming when I was outside the door.  When they opened the door, it was clear he was upset.  He was wondering around, screaming asking for things, but not really wanting what he was asking for because when his mom would give it to hm he would just scream and ask for something else.

The mom looked at me and said, "go ahead and see what you can do."  I took out my guitar and strummed a chord.  The boy stopped.  He looked at me.  He came over and we sang and played instruments.  It doesn't always work that quickly and dramatically, but it has worked like that enough that I wasn't surprised.

A young man with autism finds his voice through music therapy

While working with a young man with autism this week, I had an amazing experience.  The young man is hypoverbal, he rarely speaks.  The music therapy is helping him to speak more in the sessions and even in general.

This week I decided to improvise a song about him playing on the drum.  He is singing more and more of familiar songs so I thought I would try to get him to sing something new in that moment.  I set up a song with repeating words, and then left out the word drum to see if he would sing it.  He did which was great, but then something unexpected happened.  He started singing an improvised song himself about playing the drum.  It was amazing.  He continued singing for about 5 minutes.  It was very exciting to see him find his voice through the music.

Music Therapy breaking out of the Isolation of Autism

Many people with autism use music a lot.  Yet, most of the time they use music in isolation.  They put on their headphones and listen to music for hours and do not interact with anyone.  Or they watch the same youtube video over and over again.

For these individuals, music therapy is great at bringing them out of their isolation by using music as a way to interact with someone.  They sing with someone.  They play music in the same rhythm as someone, follow the directions of the music and learn how to use music to connect with someone.

I work with a young man with autism who is beginning to break out of using music in isolation.  He smiles when he notices that we are playing in the same rhythm and is beginning to sing with me.  The last song we use to sing good bye to each other.  I first sing using their name.  Then they get a chance to sing good bye to me using my name.  He has sung good bye to himself since the beginning.  But this time he looked at me and sang, "Good bye Matthew."  It was so exciting.

Music Therapy with someone with autism in Boise

It is great seeing the progress of people when doing music therapy.  I have been working with a young man with autism.  In the beginning I could get him to focus on me for a little bit, and he did sing one to two words when prompted.  Now, he comes in, asks for specific instruments, and initiates singing specific songs.  We can plan in rhythm together, and perhaps my favorite thing is to see his smiles and see how excited he is to come to the sessions.  His mother has also commented on how she has noticed that he is communicating and interacting more in general.  I love being a music therapist.

Music Therapy with a Nonverbal Adult in Boise

Sometimes it is interesting the things that excite me during a music therapy session.  One of the great things about music therapy is that it is personal to each individual.  Everybody has different things that we are working on through music therapy.  I got really excited about a seemingly small thing because it was a huge step with the person I was working with.

I have been working with a nonverbal young adult woman for a while, and she has a real difficulty connecting with people and especially with playing an instrument by herself.  This week I kept encouraging her to play my keyboard.  I held it out to her, and she started reaching her hand out.  That was a big step in and of itself for her.  But I kept the keyboard there and she reached her hand closer and closer to the keys until she played a note.

After she played the note she got the biggest smile on her face.  She got out of her chair and gave me a big hug. Who knew that one note on the keyboard could bring that much excitement and connection.

Music Therapy dealing with intense emotions in Boise

I am working with a young man in Boise who is working on a dealing with some intense emotions.  One of the beautiful things about music therapy is that we can address things without the client realizing that is what we are addressing.  So during our music therapy sessions, I am teaching him different things on the guitar and we are playing and singing different music and generally "jamming out" as he likes to call it.  In between we talk about using music as a positive outlet, and he discusses his feelings.  We have written songs talking about what is going on with him.

During the session he looked up at me and he said, "You don't know how much I look forward to this every week.  This is really the only thing that I look forward to."  So, I am able to help him work through his difficult and intense emotions without ever having to ask him, "how are you feeling?" or say "let's talk about your emotions."

An Experience with a Music Therapy Group in Boise

Doing music therapy in groups has a different dimension than individual music therapy.  Sometimes it is the peers that they are interacting with that bring things out of them.  Recently while doing a music therapy group I saw an amazing interaction.

One of the participants is very withdrawn and one of the participants is very outgoing.  It is really fun to see the outgoing person really draw something special out of the withdrawn person.  This was really evident when we started to do some dancing to the music.  I have not seen the withdrawn person dance, but when her peer came over and asked her to dance she stood up, had the biggest smile on her face and danced with him for the whole song.

Smiles through music therapy

Great things in life happen in small moments.  One of my favorite things while doing music therapy is seeing the smiles.  Smiles for most people is a regular occurrence, but for some people smiles rarely happen.  They are stuck in confusion through dementia or frustration because of a stroke.  Sometimes it just difficulty connecting with people.  It is amazing when I see these people smile.  I just love being able to see a change from frustration, confusion, pain, or disconnection to eye contact and a big smile.  Smiles are a thing that most people take for granted, but I have seen smiles that were miraculous.

Experience of Music Therapy in Boise, Idaho

I love being a music therapist. I have been able to see some amazing things. It really is true what the tagline to my company says, "music makes connections when nothing else can." Yesterday while working with someone that idea really came home.

I was working with an individual who has limited speech. By working with her, I have got her to sing quite a bit with me. Although she sings, it is very difficult to get her to play any instruments. That is kind of an unusual thing with people I work with. I try almost every session to get her to play some instrument and most sessions she will shake a tambourine maybe once or twice. She is progressively doing more, and we had a breakthrough yesterday.

I brought a djembe, an African drum, with me. I've brought it before and she has showed some interest so I was hoping she would engage more than other sessions. It took a little bit of encouragement, but she began to play a little bit. I would play and then she would take a turn. After a few turns, I did a rhythmic pattern and to my surprise she then did the same rhythmic pattern. My eyes grew wide and she gave me a big smile. I started playing more complex rhythms and she would do them all the way to two measure rhythms. She began laughing at the end and I was so happy to make that connection.

It was a small experience, but it was so exciting to be able to connect in a different way with the client.

Boise - Music Therapy for Children with Special Needs

Music Makes Connections has Partnered with Idaho Parents Unlimited/VSA to provide music therapy for children with special needs!

Our two groups at IPUL/VSA's downtown Boise location include:

Fundamental Skill-building (including nonverbal participants) 

This group is for youth 11-17 and is held Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:30 pm. Through fun musical exercises, these youth will have the opportunity to learn critical communicative skills including verbal initiation, turn-taking, and social reciprocity. 

Social Skill-building and Behavior Redirection

This group is for youth ages 5-12 and is held Fridays 4:30 to 5:30 pm. Music in this group will be used as a means to help the children learn positive mood expression, respect for others, and listening skills.  

Location: 

IPUL/VSA facility at:

500 S 8th Street
Boise, ID 83702

Please call (208) 405-9454 or email info@musicmakesconnections.com for more info.

Boise - Music Therapy for Youth at the YMCA

Improving Social Skills and Behavior through Music for Youth Ages 7 and up

An increasing number of children are struggling with managing social situations and behavior. In the hands of an experienced music therapist, music can help focus your child’s energy and provide a creative outlet for appropriate expression and interaction. Through therapeutic musical exercises, your child will enjoy positive peer interactions and learn how to communicate in meaningful (and fun) ways.

This group meets from 4:00 to 5:00 pm on Wednesdays at the West YMCA.

Please call 208-405-9454 or email info@musicmakesconnections.com if you are interested.