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From: Erika Shira
Date: 16 Oct 2008
Time: 15:22:22 -0500
Remote Name: 204.11.150.154
These are great questions! "For example: Tourette's, Down Syndrome, etc." Yep, I've had really good luck using it with several people with tic disorders (both typical folks and folks with other autism/MR/MH issues). Some folks with tic disorders and severe MR/autism haven't responded at all. "Can you still use music therapy with people who cannot use as many words to help increase their word use? ..or for people who have a type of brain disorder/delay?" Oh, definitely. MT can be used with people at all levels of cognitive functioning. I worked at one school where several children functioned at a level where they could rate on a coma scale (had developed extremely minimally since birth, due to various causes). They all received music therapy, and many of them made progress in making purposeful movements and vocalizations. Even if they didn't make measureable progress, improving quality of life is generally a reimburseable service for people at this level of functioning -- we can bill MT sessions for folks with severe/profound MR as a mental health counseling service, because we will be doing things like playing/singing to mirror someone's breathing and body movements to promote relaxation or stimulation, depending on what seems to be needed. "I was also wondering if you knew how well fluency in singing generalizes to fluency in speech after the use of music therapy?" Skim through some of the previous threads; I discussed how I often don't even have to fade out the musical support, because the brain has already learned what producing words in a fluent rhythm feels like, and many people don't end up needing the support of the pitch or the accompaniment once this patterning has taken place. Thanks for the thought-provoking questions!