Music Therapy - changing lives

Back from a week off - my weekly "blog" is back!

"If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind - Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind..." - Simon and Garfunkel

We hosted an event last week at The Music Settlement at which we highlighted the efforts and talents of our Music Therapy staff and their clients. As the evening progressed, I was reminded once again of the truly significant impact that our Department of Music Therapy makes in our community. The breadth of knowledge and skill represented in our Music Therapy staff allows us to touch so many lives, at all ages and levels of need, and to provide effective and caring service to individuals, families and groups.

At this event, individual therapists spoke about the programs in which they work and introduced the individuals who performed at the event. It was especially touching when parents of the performers gave their own perspective on the music therapy experiences that their families enjoy. In each case, these testimonies vividly illustrated the special qualities and personal victories that our music therapists and programming have brought into their lives. I would like to share one of these stories with you.

William, who is 16, has attended therapy sessions at The Music Settlement since he was four. He performed on several instruments at our event, including piano and drums, and was accompanied by his current therapist, Ronna Kaplan, the Director of the Department of Music Therapy. His enthusiasm and ear for music are undeniable, as is the progress he has made in socialization skills and other identified objectives in his therapy schedule. When he finished his performance, his mother, Tamera, read aloud some reflections she had prepared on their family's experience over the 12 years that William has been with us. There are no words I could write that would summarize the experience of a music therapy family more eloquently than Tamera's. What follows is from her heart, and gets to the crux of what we do every day here on Magnolia Drive.

"Music has the power to charm the savage beast. It also has the power to enrich the mind of a child with autism. Many people with autism have limited verbal expression. They live a life of involuntary silence. ‘After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.'(1) That is the reason why ‘music (became) the shorthand of (William's) emotions.'(2) It gave him opportunities for speech, emotional contact and mental focus.

"From the age of four through his current age of 16, William has taken a music bath once or twice a week at The Music Settlement. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, ‘...a music bath... is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.' Music has flown out, immersing restless feelings, calming William, minimizing his hesitation. Then it ebbed and he met the eyes of the therapist. With the guidance of Ronna Kaplan and other music therapists, William has developed, encouraged to tune his fine and gross motor skills. The therapy program made use of live and recorded music, pre-planned dialogues for the clients and sound effects. While learning to play instruments, William also learned life skills. ‘Music (became the soundtrack of (his) life.'(3)

"Being born autistic makes it difficult to interact with others or communicate verbally. It causes the affected person to be unaware of reacting in ways that others do not commonly react in society. Music therapy provided William a non-threatening environment in which to build relationships with peers, express himself verbally and nonverbally and learn to participate in socially acceptable ways. This was achieved through group therapy, as well as individualized sessions. Both forms were ideal for William, because individual lessons allowed him to learn at his own pace. These lessons were tailored to meet his needs. They helped him to learn to read music, follow a rhythm, and to respect the need to display the proper behavior in the proper situation. Small group therapy required him to learn to take turns and to be a focused member of a team. He had to use proper questions and verbal responses. He had to learn to be both leader and supportive member. This even carried over to life outsider of The Music Settlement, as William auditioned for and earned a position on a regular team of drummers for his school. He was able to perform at the House of Blues in front of a large, noisy audience, with no problem. This was not something that he would have been able to withstand before his experiences in music therapy."

"We are very pleased and thankful for the progress that William has made over the years and we foresee him continuing to flourish with additional music therapy. The combination of an excellent music therapy curriculum and an enthusiastic, care-giving staff, has enabled William not to just, '...go where a path might lead, but instead to go where there is no path and leave (his) trail.'(4)

"I am closing with a short poem, expressing my feelings about The Music Settlement and its staff. It is simply entitled, Thank You."

Thank You

Music therapy teaches
Social skills.
It's about communication.
It's about what William's taught,
In nurturing situations.
He's learned patience
And tolerance,
Growing in many ways.
His social skills developed,
Made him what he is today.
So, thank you for your guidance,
As only music can touch.
Thank you for reaching our William,
Because it means so much.

This is what it's all about; this is what we do every day at The Music Settlement.

Have a great week!

Charlie

1 Aldous Huxley
2 Leo Tolstoy
3 Dick Clark
4 Ralph Waldo Emerson