Music Therapy
MUSIC FOR ALL
Music therapy has an advantage to other interventions; it is failure free! There is no right or wrong way to express oneself through music. Music is organized sound and silence in the progression of time. It can be used to address social, emotional, cognitive, communicative, and physical modalities. For children struggling with intelligibility, music is a fun way to exercise "prosody" or the rhythm, stress, and intonation of spoken language. It can turn a "flat" voice into a "colorful" voice. It can help children to understand sarcasm, idioms, metaphors and similes. It can be an avenue for teaching impulse control, how to express emotions, and reciprocal communication. Music can aid in physical training and learning processes. Group music therapy sessions are a safe place for kids to develop relationships.
A typical session, individual or small group, may be structured like this:
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Greeting Song - signals that the session is starting and acts as a transition into therapeutic environment.
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Sing Along - promotes relaxation and breathing, involves client in the music-making process
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Percussive Improvisation - initiates the client physically with the session, allows for non-verbal expression, creates a rhythmic identity, encourages experimentation and exploration of self
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Movement activity - combines music, rhythm and motion
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Music listening activity - such as "name that tune/artist" or lyric analysis to challenge memory, cognitive, or processing abilities
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Sing Along - promote relaxation and breathing while maintaining focus
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Closing Song - signals the end of the session and allows the client to recapture or sequence what was done during the session
Sessions are adaptable to the level of interest and involvement of the participant.
MOMMY AND ME
Children ages 6 months to 3 years along with mothers can get a chance to spend quality time together in a fun atmosphere. Our little participants, about 10 per class, get a head start on physical and social development. Moving and grooving to the music helps children to develop balance and coordination and learn to live a healthy, active lifestyle. Come wiggle and giggle with us as we tinker on instruments, dance to the beat, take turns with others, and play with props such as: balls, parachutes, and scarves. The class costs $125 per semester. Each semester lasts for 10 sessions. From 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturdays children and their mothers bang away on drums, shake tambourines and dance to music.
MOMMY AND ME SCHEDULE 2022
Jan 01 - March 05
March 12 - May 14
June 04 - August 06
August13 - October 15
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MUSIC THERAPY IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
Music therapy is a related service under the Federal IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) legislation.
If you would like your child to be evaluated for music therapy services a request for assessment must be made by the student's IEP committee. A music therapy assessment is administered following a request from the student’s IEP committee and must be performed by a board-certified music therapist. The assessment will indicate whether music therapy can or can not make a significant difference in the student’s ability to improve in or achieve the IEP goals and objectives. The assessment can be used as a descriptive tool or snapshot of the client’s functioning abilities. It will later be referenced for baseline information and be conducted additional times to re-evaluate progress and appropriateness of treatment. If the assessment process conducted by the music therapist shows that music therapy makes a significant difference in performance and motivation to perform IEP tasks then music therapy may be recommended as a related service.
Direct services may be provided if the music therapist is to provide all recommended therapy. This usually means that the music therapist will treat the student out of the classroom for individual and/or group sessions. Consult services may be provided if the music therapist is to serve the student in the classroom and provide insight and materials to the classroom teacher so that the therapeutic techniques can be continued when the music therapist is not present.
A combination of direct and consult services may also be recommended.