Music Therapy Patient Views

So true and it’s hard to make decisions! We have had several types of music therapy and they have been so good every time. When my child was little she was deaf and as her hearing recovered she was very scared of noise, we used music therapy to tune her into sound, this really helped her language and communication. It also helped body awareness and motor skills using drums, resonance boards, twinkling chimes. All sorts. And it was fun! now we use singing which is a type of music therapy but our own made up version. Essentially she has a singing teacher come, they work on singing but also posture, breath which all works on head and trunk control, it’s highly motivating. They write raps and when my child needs to stand or do things, she says her breathing tall rap to herself!

While we love going to music therapy each week we don't really feel like we have achieved much. My child often looks bored throughout the session and doesn't engage as much as we thought he would given just how much he loves music and dancing

Music therapy is a WIN

My child loves music therapy. She just started it in January but the clinic she attends is building a sensory room and the therapist has worked physical therapy exercises into the session, such as standing assisted and dancing and following prompts in songs, such as stepping, kicking, etc.

We had a great experience with this in our in-hospital post SDR therapy. They teamed up a music therapist with the rehab team and it made such a difference for my child.

Yes, also for my child it’s one of the best therapies ever done 🥰

Music has been our go-to for therapy. I sing/sign a lot of songs to my son during therapy (especially when he was really little) and really the only way I can succeed with my son for tummy time is putting Ms Rachel on a phone in front of him. Now that my son is getting older (close to 2), board books have been great distractions for him and double as ot because my son tries to turn the pages. We’ve also been pretty successful with bubbles (which my son enjoys watching and then we’ll catch them on the bubble wand and hold out to try and get my son to pop). My son also really likes little toy cars which we zoom around in front of him or up and down the tumble form wedge.

Also, when my son was really little, his amazing pt would do most of therapy while slowly swinging on a bolster or platform swing to keep him happy. We also used mirrors a lot to get my son to look up or so my son could see a smiling face when I was behind him.

I think my most successful therapy hack lately is that I started paying my older kids to help me with at-home pt since it’s so hard to do if I don’t have someone who can entertain my son! 😄

What happens in music therapy?

What is music therapy? What did they actually do?

Excellent question Elena! Music therapy for children with cerebral palsy (CP) is a therapeutic approach that uses music to support physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Through activities like singing, playing instruments, moving to rhythms, and listening to various sounds, music therapy can help children with CP improve motor skills, coordination, and muscle control. Rhythmic activities, for example, encourage movement and can be especially beneficial for gait training and other motor planning skills. We will post a full treatment resource in the coming days!

We use music in therapy. It’s not metronome like you describe but our pt said the music for vestibular activities like swimming and swimming, and for walking, can help effectiveness. So we have a playlist of songs with good beats for these type of activities.

I also found lately that a good strategy for my child holding her breathe when activities are scary or hard is for us to sing while we do it, then she has to breathe and ir makes it all better.