What particular method or model of Music Therapy would work well with (specific population of clients of your choice)? Music Therapy for Children with Autism

Music Therapy for Children with Autism
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Effects of Music in Children with Autism
Recreational activities are essential to promote a child’s development. However, some children are not given the opportunity to fully enjoy and appreciate the world around them. This is because some children have behavioral disorders that hinder them to explore the world around them. Mostly, the limitations are not secondary to the disorders per se, but these are due to the prejudices that come with the stigma. Despite this, children with behavioral disorders shall be given the opportunity to develop themselves without discernment from people of their own society (Speaks, 2011).
One of the most common behavioral disorders is autism. The symptoms of autism can range from mild to severe. Thus, preventing a productive interaction with peers. Because of this, children with autism are mostly neglected and discriminated against. Aside from communication deficits, these children also have different perceptions and responses to particular situations. This prompted scientists and medical professionals to develop a way for these children to have a fruitful childhood development (Speaks, 2011).
Children are characteristically more engaged to play following a collective musical experience and interactions. These familiarities increase their emotional quotient and bonding with their peers (Sharda, Tuerk, Chowdhury et al., 2018).
Studies have shown that music can stimulate right-and-left-brain hemispheres, thereby providing more stimulation for self-awareness among children with autism. It has been proven to encourage emotional commitment, to enhance social interactions, and to improve child-parent relationships. Moreover, music has been found to teach children with autism musical skills such as absolute pitch and enhanced melodic memory. Research has also shown that there is evidence of improvement in the areas of the brain that involve hearing, movement, emotion, pleasure, and memory through musical therapies using neuroimaging studies. The structural reorganization of the brain is responsible for these changes (Sharda, Tuerk, Chowdhury, et al., 2018).
This population has been the area of interest for the author due to the diverse characteristics of children with autism. Moreover, this is a major population that consists of a large number of children. This condition is also less recognized especially in marginalized communities. Thus, writing about this condition can have a significant impact on the welfare of children with autism.
Benefits of Music Therapy
The following are the benefits of music therapy in children with autism: 1) It provides a platform of non-verbal communication.; 2) It encourages children with autism to recognize and to properly express their emotions.; 3) It engages the cognitive aspect of the brain through the stimulation of both hemispheres of the brain.; 4) It provides a multi-sensory approach that involves the sensory, perceptual, and motor developmental areas. Thus, organizing these systems and promoting more social interaction.; and 5) Music therapy promises a sense of security for children with autism (American Music Therapy Association, 2012).
Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) for Autism
This model aids children with autism to develop their skills and abilities by stimulating compensatory neural networks. This rehabilitation model promotes a child’s development by incorporating rhythmic stimulation and entertainment, properly designed information processing, and differential neurological dispensation aspects of music by stimulating specific brain structures that result in arousal, motivation, and the production of emotions.
NMT allows the child to use rhythm as the primary factor to promote cueing and coordination via cortical plasticity. This is a widely accepted treatment for children with autism for decades. Moreover, NMT is accessible and offered as a paradigm for the treatment of autism. The main issue in autism is the damaged central rhythm in the cerebellum. NMT helps in the synchronization of movements and convey the innate rhythmicity of movements by stipulating the reorganization of abnormal circuits (Bharathi, Jayaramayya, Balasubramanian, & Vellingiri, 2019).
Methods in Neurologic Musical Therapy
NMT offers all the three major types of methods, including the recreative, improvisation, and composition methods. An example of a recreative method of NMT is the use of Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT). The major means of employing MIT include the following: 1) Singing shall be utilized to promote melodic-rhythmic intonation whe...