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Music Therapy (Autism, Alzheimer/Dementia, Dyslexia)

Introduction:
1. According to the Canadian Association for Music Therapy (CAMT), music therapy is
defined as the skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music
therapist. Music therapy combines music with the personal qualities of the therapist
in order to rehabilitate, maintain, and improve the lives of persons with emotional,
cognitive, social, spiritual, psychological and physical needs.

2. Music possesses the following characteristics which makes it a valuable therapeutic
tool. Music reflects the entire spectrum of human emotions, it is a form of expression
that is nonverbal; it can reduce anxiety and tension, it can help induce sleep, provide
tools for pain management, and it promotes relaxation. Music can speak on
emotional, intellectual and physical levels, and can break down cultural and/or
linguistic barriers while uniting people in a common experience.

3. Autism is a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by great
difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using
language and abstract concepts.

4. The term 'dementia' describes a set of symptoms which can include loss of memory,
mood changes, and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms
occur when the brain is damaged by certain diseases and conditions, including
Alzheimer's disease.

5. Dyslexia is a disorder that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words,
letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.






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Body:
(Autism, Alzheimer/Dementia)
1. Music therapy can stimulate individuals to reduce negative and/or self-stimulatory
responses and increase participation in more appropriate and socially acceptable
ways.
- Hard time with socio emotional functions
- Musical instruments can be used as a buffer
- Positive changes in mood and emotional states, opportunities to interact socially
with others
- A study published in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis states that music
therapy can help dramatically reduce vocal stereotypy (repetitive singing,
snorting, and slurring)

2. Music therapy can enable those without verbal language to communicate, participate
and express them non-verbally. Music therapy also assists in the development of
verbal communication, speech, and language skills.
- Difficulties with communication lies in their fundamental inability to understand
and use symbols and their representations
- Using familiar songs can soothe and take the edge of difficult moments (verbal
communication failed).

3. Memory recalls which contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life.
- Patients have poor memory recall.
- Musical memory refers to the ability to remember music-related information, such
as melodic content and other progressions of tones or pitches.
- Hearing to favorite songs, plays musical instrument to increase better
development rhythm, timing and coordination.
- Patients enjoy and happy, gives more input to relaxation.

4. Music provides concrete, multi-sensory stimulation.
- Our ears probably provides second most vibrant source of sensory stimulation.
- Auditory stimulation - for mood enhancement, relaxation, and cognition.
- Natural sounds - for mood and meditation. (rain, wind blowing through pine trees)
- Mozart symphony (to stimulate cognition), and the favourite music is best to
stimulate reminiscence.
- Therefore, a variety of sound stimulation is important.
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(Dyslexia)

5. There is no relationship between a lack of musical ability (or amusia) and dyslexia.
- Morais et al. (2010) - music (tones) and language (phonological units) are
different.
- They present the argument that the inability to discriminate pitch (amusia) had no
bearings on ability to understand phonology (i.e., persons who are deaf who
read).

6. Three reasons why the theory that music training helps with dyslexia is wrong:
- the quality of studies that make that claim are poor;
- the current studies imply causality when, in fact, they only show an association;
- A couple of studies have shown there is no link between ability to hear and the
ability to read.

7. The development of the ability to operate explicitly on phonemes and syllables with
the development of the ability to operate explicitly with notes and intervals.
- Children with dyslexia performed poorly on phonological tasks and musical tasks.
- Music, through its ability to be "emotional," may be very useful for "motivational
support" in speech therapy.










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Conclusion:
1. Music therapy works on a number of different levels and in a number of different
ways.
2. It has been proven that music, especially pieces with a strong rhythmical element,
can affect heart rate and breathing, and promote the release of endorphins, or
natural painkillers.
3. It has also been shown to reduce muscle tension, and can be very helpful in
promoting relaxation.
4. Music can also be helpful in releasing memories or negative feelings that may have
been repressed, which can help to change behaviors and affect behavioral issues.
5. Playing music can also improve skills such as communication and physical
coordination.
6. Music influence on our brain - music therapy can be used to target physical, sensory,
cognitive, emotional, regulatory, and psychosocial goals.
In my opinion:
- There is still hope that music training may help with phoneme discrimination of
dyslexia.
- Music training involves any and all aspects of learning music: playing an
instrument, music theory, singing, reading music, and writing music.
- Music therapy for dyslexia involves the application of music-based interventions
on non-musical treatment goals.
- Music therapy is "musician-proof" and has nothing to do with the musical ability of
the dyslexias patients.
- Music therapy works for dyslexia because many of the brain processes shared
with the brain processes used to process music.
- Music touches on brain areas responsible for motor movement, coordination and
balance, emotional regulation, language production, executive functioning,
auditory processing, learning and memory, state regulation.