Using music therapy along with other therapies has been proven to help special children. - Reuters photo
Over the past 20 years, there has been an increase in interdisciplinary studies by speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists to help children with special needs in an educational setting.
Music therapy has been proven to be effective in enhancing special education objectives while offering an alternative to traditional teaching methods. These goals are developed in response to the needs of individual students. Thus, the aims of education and music therapy are complementary, that is, to facilitate the student’s growth and development.
Music has been used therapeutically in a variety of ways to treat children and adolescents with behavioural, emotional and learning problems. These interventions include listening to songs, songwriting, improvisation as well as playing instruments.
During my clinical studies with a school for special needs in Australia, the music therapy programme focuses on the following goals:
- Building self-esteem through successful musical experiences.
- Developing and refining auditory processing skills.
- Encouraging attention to task.
- Enhancing speech and language skills.
- Improving fine and gross motor skills.
- Promoting academic concepts.
- Developing appropriate social skills.
- Expanding leisure-time activities.
- Encouraging self-expression.
This clinical placement took place at a high school for students with learning difficulties, attention deficit disorder, Down Syndrome, autism, speech and language delays, etc.
Students are streamed in classes according to their cognitive levels and interests. They are also provided with extra help for their schoolwork, focusing on literacy, numeracy, and psycho-social development.
Group and individual music therapy sessions were conducted with students who had anxiety problems, were lonely or bullied, faced social-emotional and behavioural problems.
There were also combined sessions with the speech pathologist and music therapist on a weekly basis.
Group intervention has been used successfully for adolescents to improve their communication with peers. Music is employed to facilitate the group process and development.
In other areas, social skills can be targeted by group integration through activities such as choir or group playing of instruments, lyrical analyses and songwriting, where emotions can be evoked and expressed in appropriate ways.
Moreover, singing and speaking are natural pathways for human expressions. Therefore, singing is often used to facilitate speech.
Group music performances can also be part of the therapy programme as it contributes to group cohesiveness and peer acceptance, and promotes self-esteem and self-expression.
Each individual in the group is given individual goals/strategies and is prompted to practise them as therapy sessions progress.
An example would be with Sam, who would jump into a conversation out of turn and speak very fast. However, as therapy progressed he was able to slow down his speaking, which greatly increased his speech clarity and made it easier for others to understand his speech. The singing and breathing exercises helped him to control his tone of voice and to stretch certain vowels or sounds.
In another example, Tamy, who was hyperactive, practised her listening skills when listening for cues during group music performances and preparations. She would control herself, not to interrupt inappropriately, wait until the activity was completed and focus on her role as part of the band. The group performances also gave her a sense of mastery, which increased her self-esteem.
In conclusion, students in the group speech and music therapy sessions achieved their goals using speech and social skills. Further music-related sessions and role/imaginary play activities are recommended for children in special schools to develop their potential.
Cheryl Mow is a registered therapist with the Australian Music Therapy Association. She will be conducting a workshop for parents and teachers on Music Therapy for Children with Special Needs in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, on Jan 26. For more information, contact Coreen Paul of JPL Training Track at (013) 330-1728 or email coreen@training track.biz.
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