Cognitive Benefits
A music therapist can use music to stimulate developmentally disabled children and help them focus their attention. Changes such as crescendo and decrescendo may teach these patients to recognize interactions and incoming information. Such awareness and cognitive recognition can then be applied in life situations outside of music therapy sessions with practice.
Music therapy helps developmentally disabled children learn through repetition. Music can make repetition easier and more enjoyable for young patients with developmental disabilities. Depending on the condition and temperament of the music therapy patient, enjoyment may be paramount to the repetition learning process.
Music can quell anxiety. Music therapy may be a good option for your child's care if you recognize anxiety and related social disorders. Have your child's music therapist determine and apply music that provides a calming effect on your child.
Physical Benefits
Music therapy uses rhythm to stimulate and organize muscle response. This can be of great benefit to children suffering from neuromuscular disorders resulting from their developmental disabilities. Physical response-based music therapy can motivate a patient to complete or attempt physical movements that require more effort than is normally exerted.
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Social Skills and Communication Benefits
Some aspects of music therapy, such as performance, encourage cooperation. Collaborating on a song or dance can improve a developmentally disabled child's social skills. This is an additional benefit to participating children being motivated by their own importance to the completion of a musical project.
Children with developmental disabilities benefit from maintaining relationships and familiarity with the clinicians who provide musical instruction.
Improved speech and nonverbal communication are important to children with some developmental disabilities. Rhythm stimulates motor function. When applied in music therapy, rhythm association can help condition children to speed up or slow down their speech as necessary.
Emotional Benefits
Music as an emotional outlet can be helpful to children with developmental disabilities. Music therapy may be just the arena for expression your child needs to control emotional outbursts and extremes. Music listened to and performed can be altered to affect patients' moods during therapy sessions. Music therapy's effects on physical health, communication, social skills and self-esteem can also lead to a happier life for your child.
Read more: Music Therapy for Children With Developmental Disabilities | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5569650_music-therapy-children-developmental-disabilities.html#ixzz2BGg442f1
How to Conduct Music Therapy for Learning Disabled Kids
By Raina Ando, M. A., eHow Contributor
Listening
to music is therapeutic
The American Music Therapy Association states that music is used therapeutically to "promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, express feelings, enhance memory, improve communication and promote physical rehabilitation." Research has shown that music can integrate the mind and body, which helps change "neurological pathways in the brain, facilitating changes in behavior. A change in one's nervous system directly affects the ability to learn, adapt and grow," according to the certified music therapists at Valley Music Therapy in Arizona. Children may have different needs and considerations, but all children can benefit from music therapy. Learning disabled children in particular benefit from music therapy because of the functional behavior changes it produces and the language development, sensory integration and brain stimulation that occurs.
Read more: How to Conduct Music Therapy for Learning Disabled Kids | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6116836_conduct-therapy-learning-disabled-kids.html#ixzz2BGhAJpwy