Dad, You Too Can Make a Difference!

It seems I get inspired and learn something new from my clients every day.  Most of what I know about Autism I learned from my clients over the past eight years.  Recently, I was especially touched and inspired when a client’s FATHER joined us in the music therapy session.  And he still comes faithfully each week.

Image Courtesy of Ambro by FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have been working with this young boy who is quite charming and gifted, but lives with the challenges of Autism, which affects his speech and language.  From the beginning, I saw that the boy’s mother was very involved with her son’s cognitive development.  I see mothers take on this role quite often, so this was somewhat expected.  But rarely do I see dads come to the music therapy session as well.  So having BOTH of this young boy’s parents present during the music therapy made for an incredible session.

When Dad first walked in, I expected to receive a barrage of first-timer questions about music therapy, its effectiveness, and my experience.  Earlier in my career these questions would put me on the defensive, but as my confidence grew over the years, I began to see these questions as a wonderful opportunity to explain the amazing power of music therapy.  

And Dad indeed had a lot of questions.  He was genuinely curious about how this modality could help their boy, whom he obviously loved very much.  As the session progressed, I watched him go from “protective mode” into “enthusiastic supporter” right alongside Mom.  It was incredibly gratifying to see them cheer their boy’s progress as if he had just scored a winning soccer goal!

While this experience was special and moving for me, I believe it was exponentially more beneficial for this boy’s cognitive development.  It was so clear to me that the cheering from Mom and Dad greatly enhanced my effectiveness as a music therapist. It was as if the combination of music and cheering parents generated an exponentially greater benefit.

In a society where both parents are often working full time jobs, it is understandably difficult to have both available to participate in music therapy sessions.  But I am amazed at how quickly we are achieving our therapeutic goals for this boy, which I believe will go along way towards ensuring he grows up to live a happy and productive life.

We are always so appreciative of mothers who work so hard to provide the very best for their child.  But we also want to send a big “thank you” to Dads who are able to take time to be a part of the program as well!  For Dads that are not yet involved, we invite you to join us one day, ask questions and learn about how your participation in music therapy can really make a difference in your child’s life.

Music Therapy is Not The Same as Music Lessons!

Photo Courtesy of: Alexandra Stead

As a parent, you should be sure you clearly understand the difference. 

Music Therapy might seem like a new kind of therapy, but in fact it has been used for hundreds of years.  In the last fifty years, music therapy has become a widely accepted treatment modality for patients with a broad range of illnesses and disorders.

Still, many people have never heard of music therapy, and are unfamiliar with its benefits.  I believe one of the biggest reasons for this is the varying levels of quality we see in music therapists that are practicing today.

Sadly, many parents may be wasting their money on ineffective music therapy treatments.  If you are a parent using the services of a music therapist, you should routinely do a progress check to make sure goals and objectives are being achieved.  This is only possible if parameters are established in the beginning so that you can effectively measure therapeutic progress. 

To better understand the difference between music therapy and music lessons, I think it is helpful to think of the difference between physical fitness training and bodybuilding.   With physical fitness training, the goal is to improve health and proper body function.  Bodybuilders however, have a very different goal, and that is to achieve cosmetic “perfection” by a particular date, such as a bodybuilding contest.  In both cases, the same exercise equipment is used, but for very different goals and objectives.

Music lessons help students attain a high level of performance “perfection” which can be showcased on a particular date, such as a recital. On the other hand, Music therapy helps clients enhance cognitive, social and learning abilities, with no attempt to achieve perfection.  Achieving musical proficiency is not the focus in music therapy, and is certainly not a requirement. Music and the instruments used to create music are simply tools for the music therapist to achieve his or her goals.

Using brain-imaging technology, scientists have shown that when we hear music, we stimulate both sides of our brain.  We believe this explains why our clients with speech difficulties respond so well to music therapy – the part of the brain that control’s speech is also being stimulated by music.  Since music stimulates the brain so broadly, we have seen music therapy be very effective for a wide range of interventions for children with special needs.  Music rewards engagement, and this can be a powerful motivator for children. Therapists can use music to reward desirable behaviours and eliminate undesirable ones.

For children with special needs, their quality of life is closely related to the time of intervention – the earlier the better.  Therefore, we believe children with special needs should begin therapy as early as possible in their development. It is crucial that time not be wasted on ineffective music therapy interventions or music lessons that have no therapeutic benefit.

If you’d like to learn more about how music therapy can benefit your child’s needs, please give us a call for a free consultation.