Making Connections Through Music

Leanne Belasco, MS, MT-BC

Director of Music Therapy - Levine Music

Diamonds Conference - March 8, 2014

Why Music?

• How do we respond to music:

– Movement – dancing, swaying, tapping

– Mood – calming, alerting, energizing, focus

– Language – singing, vocalizing, vocabulary expansion

– Learning – ABCs, phone number, body parts

– Creating – playing instruments, singing

– Anything else?

Why Music?

• Music… – Is a non-threatening medium – Provides multi-sensory input – Is highly motivating and provides instant feedback – Is processed in both hemispheres of the brain – Can affect change in mood states – Elicits physiological changes – Is adaptable and success oriented to best meet the

needs of the individual – Inherently structured and organized – Resembles language – Is truly the “Universal Language”

Why Music?

• Music and biological functioning

– Heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, suck reflex in infants

– Entrainment and the isoprinciple

Music therapy

• What is music therapy?

• Where can you find a music therapist?

• What do you work on in music therapy sessions?

• How are goals accomplished?

• Neurologic music therapy for individuals with neurologic impairments

Music

Physiological

Motor Skills

Cognition

Academics

Social Skills Psychological

Emotional

Communi-cation

Music & physiology

• Motor skills

– Gross motor

• Range of motion, endurance, strength

• Movement with music (marching, jumping, dancing)

• Learning dance steps

• NMT – gait training; range of motion exercises

– Fine motor

• Grasp, dexterity, flexibility, strength

• Playing instruments – mallet percussion, piano, guitar

Music & physiology

• Motor skills – Coordination and Motor Planning

• Crossing the midline

• Bilateral movements

• Jumping

• Multiple step directions

• Sequences

• Physiological responses to music – Heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, etc.

Music & Cognition

– Pre-academic Skills

• Colors, numbers, letters, counting, labeling, etc.

• Prescriptive songwriting

• Movement and Music

• Instrument playing

– Academic concepts

• Reading, math, etc.

• Music as a mnemonic device

• Specifically designed music interventions

Music & cognition

– Memory

• Short term and long term memory

• Music as a mnemonic device

– Attention

• Increasing and sustaining attention, divided attention

• Improvisation exercises

• Instrument playing – learning an instrument

• Motivation through preferred music

Music & Social Skills

• Conversation skills, taking turns, problem solving skills, teamwork, initiation, engagement, etc.

• Music is naturally social

• Group music making – Singing, instruments, movement

• Individual sessions target foundational skills for mastery before engaging in a group.

– Prescriptive song writing

– Role playing

– Nonverbal interaction with instruments

Music & Emotion

• Adjusting mood states, increasing flexibility and tolerance for change, coping skills for anxiety or anger, increasing self-expression, building confidence and self-esteem

• Improvisation

• Lyric analysis

• Songwriting

• Learning an instrument

Music & Communication

– Speech skills – articulation, fluency

• Vocal exercises

• Singing

• Prescriptive songwriting

– Expressive or receptive language

• Following directions in a song

• Increasing use of verbal language

Music & Communication

– Communication – turn taking, social skills, nonverbal skills, listening

• Prescriptive songwriting

• Role playing

• Group music making – structured or improvised

My child and music

• Is my child appropriate for music therapy services? – No prerequisite skills needed – Assessment process

• Location of services – Private music therapy – IEP services

• Types of services – Individual – Group – Consultation

Questions?

• Contact information:

Leanne Belasco, MS, MT-BC

Certified Neurologic Music Therapist

Director of Music Therapy - Levine Music

lbelasco@levinemusic.org

(202) 686-8000 ext. 1103

www.levinemusic.org

References

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• American Music Therapy Association. (2007). Special Education: Music Therapy Research and Evidence-Based

Practice Support. Retrieved January 22, 2014, from http://www.musictherapy.org/ • Braithwaite, M., & J. Sigafoos (1998). Effects of social versus musical antecedents on communication

responsiveness in five children with developmental disabilities. Journal of Music Therapy, 35(2), 88–104. • Bryan, T., Sullivan-Burstein, K., & Mathur, S., (1998). The influence of affect on social-information processing.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31(5), 418-426. • Buday, E. M. (1995). The effects of signed and spoken words taught with music on sign and speech imitation by

children with autism. Journal of Music Therapy, 32(3), 189–202. • Claussen, D., & Thaut, M. (1997). Music as a mnemonic device for children with learning disabilities. Canadian

Journal of Music Therapy, 5, 55–66. • Colwell, C. M. (1994). Therapeutic applications of music in the whole language kindergarten. Journal of Music

Therapy, 31(4), 238–247. • Edgerton, C. (1994). The effect of improvisational music therapy on the communicative behaviors of autistic

children. Journal of Music Therapy, 21(1), 31–62. • Peterson, D. A., Thaut, M. H., Sena, K. M., O’Shea, G., & McIntosh, G. C. (2005). Music modulates neural

network synchronizations in verbal learning. Proceedings Society for Neuroscience. 192.20. • Rainey Perry, M. M. (2003). Relating improvisational music therapy with severely and multiply disabled children

to communication development. Journal of Music Therapy, 40(3), 227–246.

references

• Register, D. (2001). The effects of an early intervention music curriculum on pre-reading/ writing. Journal of Music Therapy, 38(3), 239–248.

• Standley, J. M. (1996). A meta-analysis on the effects of music as reinforcement for education/therapy objectives. Journal of Research in Music Education, 44(2), 105–133.

• Standley, J., & Hughes, J. (1997). Evaluation of an early intervention music curriculum for enhancing pre-reading/writing skills. Music Therapy Perspectives, 15, 79–86.

• Thaut, M.H. (1999). Training manual for neurologic music therapy. Fort Collins, CO: Center for Biomedical Research in Music.

• Thaut, M. H., Hurt, C. P., Dragan, D., & McIntosh, G. C. (1998). Rhythmic entrainment of gait patterns in children with cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 40(78), 15.

• Thaut, M. H., Peterson, D. A., & McIntosh, G. C. (2005). Temporal entrainment of cognitive function: Musical mnemonics induce brain plasticity and oscillatory synchrony in neural networks underlying memory. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1060, 243–254.

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• Wigram, T. (2002). Indications in music therapy. British Journal of Music Therapy, 16(1), 11–28. • Wolfe, D., & Hom, C. (1993). Use of melodies as structural prompts for learning and retention of sequential

verbal information by preschool students. Journal of Music Therapy, 30(2), 100–118.