By: Stephanie H. Morris, MM, MT-BC, NMT As I stated last month, reading research is an art and takes practice. My goal for discussing this particular article is to help you understand the significance of this research for the music therapy community and for parents and caregivers of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This research was a joint effort by Dr. Lim and Ms. Draper, who at the time were at Sam Houston State University. For those who have been around others who live and work with individuals on the Autism Spectrum, the term “Applied Behavior Analysis” (ABA) is commonplace. It is often the way we…
By: Stephanie H. Morris, MM, MT-BC, NMT As a music educator, as well as a board certified music therapist, I thought it might be interesting to jump into some music education research this month for a glance at music educator’s views of individuals with disabilities and the challenges they face in the music classroom. Mr. Abramo is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. I read this article in 2012 when I was in the middle of my master’s degree and highly interested in how music therapy impacted school districts across the United States. Surprisingly, Mr. Abramo did not mention music therapy in this article. I wrote…
By: Jessica Schlabach, MT-BC Living with a child with anxiety can be stressful for the caregivers, siblings, and other professionals interacting with the child. Without treatment, these behaviors can extend into adulthood so intervention should occur as early as the behaviors appear. Current treatment includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, pharmacological treatment, or a combination of these treatments. Music therapy is a non-invasive and safe way to help children manage their anxiety. This therapy is hands on and gives children an alternative method to communicate their feelings, which children may have trouble conveying through words. Goldbeck & Ellerkamp (2012) conducted a study of children ages eight to twelve diagnosed with anxiety disorders.…