• recognizing numbers from one to ten
• saying the days of the week in order
• using a short phrase to request items
• reading 5 safety and survival signs

Why Does Music Therapy Work?

• The brain is a musical brain. The rhythms of sound have a powerful impact on cognition. The information most adults consistently recall from childhood is songs and rhymes.
• Emotional engagement is the key to effective learning. Music therapy engages the emotions; thus unlocking the brain and preparing it for learning.
• People have at least seven distinct intelligences. One of these intelligence areas is the musical area. Often people with special needs learn best through music because that part of the brain is an older part of the brain and less likely to be damaged from birth defects, accidents, etc.
• Enriched environments literally change the brain. Intelligence is not static. Students can lose brain cells in impoverished classroom environments; i.e., classrooms that are barren and unchallenging. Music therapy provides a way to enrich the educational environment of a student with special needs.
• Singing and chanting relaxes students which puts them in the optimal state for language learning.
• The rhythms of sound have a powerful effect on cognition skills. For students with special needs, retention of cognitive skills may be more consistent when music therapy strategies are used.
• Memorizing songs and rhymes is a helpful step towards developing literacy skills.
• The rhythm and repetition of the texts of songs help students internalize the sounds and patterns of language.
• Long term word for word accuracy in recall often comes if something is set to words and melody. (i.e., A-B-C song)
• Connecting song, language and movement dramatically increases learning.
• Rhythm, rhyme and music are powerful hooks to memory. Adults remember songs from childhood and the emotional context surrounding them.
• Research studies have shown that 80 - 90% of individuals with autism respond positively to music as a motivator.
• Research has shown that music is a valued tool for stimulating the right side of the brain; and also is helpful in encouraging bilateral activity between the brain hemispheres.
• The area of the brain that responds to music is located in a different area than the speech and language area.
• Music can be paired with primary reinforcers (food!) to help a student develop a reaction to a secondary reinforcer and reduce dependency on food rewards.
• The sounds and vibrations of music can be a temporary replacement for self-stimulating behaviors exhibited by a student.
• Music is an easy reinforcer to deliver; it doesn' t require heavy duty equipment!
• Music used as a reinforcer does not tend to cause satiation, which is a common problem associated with food reinforcers.

Colby Bannister
     Colby is seven years old and is a gregarious, personable young boy. He thoroughly enjoys all life has to offer including his dance lessons, camping, fishing, playing with his friends and reading books. He attends a regular first grade class with help from the resource room teacher.
     Colby has Down syndrome, which causes him to learn more slowly than the average child his age. He learns best when concepts are introduced repetitively in various ways. Math skills, such as number concepts and addition are more difficult for Colby, while letter skills and reading come more easily. Colby' s excellent memory helps him retain skills once he is able to master them.
     Colby' s parents decided to pursue music therapy because Colby had always liked music and was in need of a therapeutic avenue to work on language and academic skills. Although private speech therapy had been helpful in the past, he had benefited all he could from this avenue learning. Music therapy offered a different way to reinforce goals on his Individual Education Plan. Pairing specific learning skills with music seemed to help Colby concentrate and retain information.
     Colby' s current Individual Education Plan (IEP) prioritizes primarily academic skills in the areas of language arts, mathematics, science, health, physical education and fine arts. In addition, he does receive speech therapy through the school district. Speech therapy objectives include: choosing the picture that does not belong, identifying an object or picture by function, telling the function when an object is named, answering questions from an oral story, giving personal information in sentence form, and understanding and responding to "wh" questions. Speech therapy also addresses articulation of the "K", "G" and "F" sounds.
     Colby began receiving music therapy in the summer of 1990. Initially, he attended a group music therapy session offered during the summer. At the end of the summer, his parents decided to enroll him in private music therapy. When Colby first began music therapy, he spoke primarily in single words and a few phrases. He was always willing to try any task presented with music, so motivating Colby was quite easy. Initial focus of music therapy was on expanding Colby' s vocabulary and length of utterance. Colby rapidly learned the names of instruments, even unusual ones such as the cabasa, and began to request his favorite instruments with longer phrases and sometimes simple sentences. Academic concepts, such as color, shape and letter identification were addressed through music therapy by using various songs and instrumental strategies which reinforced these concepts. Providing a tape for Colby to listen to at home or in the car was additional reinforcement.
     Currently, Colby receives private music therapy once a week for thirty minutes. His music therapy objectives include such skills as completing a rhyme with a rhyming word, sounding out words by using beginning and ending consonants of a word, acquiring a basic sight word vocabulary related to music (i.e., names of instruments), demonstrating understanding of number quantity to 10, stating his address and phone number and several other skills. One of Colby' s favorite songs, The Riddle-Rhyme Song, encourages him to complete each verse with a rhyming word. He quickly mastered the eight verses, which left the therapist with the task of writing more verses!! Colby enjoys one strategy in particular which involves choosing a card with the printed name of an instrument from a stack of cards. When he correctly reads the name of the instrument, he has the opportunity to play that instrument. He is always able to identify the word drum!
     His parents think that music therapy has been particularly helpful in reinforcing the goals from Colby' s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). In their words, "music therapy provides a different and fun avenue for learning, and provides the additional repetition that Colby needs to learn and retain specific skills."