Today we’re going to talk about another population that benefits from music therapy – individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). As has been mentioned in previous blogs, music itself is inherently motivational and people are more willing to participate when music is involved.
Music therapy offers them the ability to improve skills that are necessary for their daily lives, having fun while doing so. These skills can be cognitive, physical/motor, emotional, or behavioral in nature. Some examples include: appropriately following directions, providing an on-topic response, grasping an object for a certain period of time, filling a leadership role, and more. Music therapy also provides them with autonomy – the ability to choose for oneself. For example, they get to choose which color shaker they’d like to use, they get to choose which dance move will be incorporated into the movement intervention. These individuals have a lot of their autonomy stripped away daily, whether it be due to the support needs and assistance they require for day-to-day living, their living situation itself, or by support needed due to their cognition levels. Music therapy offers them these concrete, easy choices that they can make to have some control over their lives. Since music therapy uses live music during the sessions, the music is able to be manipulated in order to best work for the participant. Everybody has different abilities and also has different support needs – we are all unique in our talents. Individuals with IDDs may need more support and assistance when it comes to motor tasks, such as improving upper body movement skills to make dressing themselves easier. They may need more support when it comes to behavioral skills, such as creating coping mechanisms for when their emotions feel out of control or following directions even when they don’t feel like doing so. These may seem like simple things for somebody to learn as they grow up, but for somebody with an IDD it could be much more difficult due to their disability. While Morgan and I were in college we learned not only the therapeutic techniques to help these individuals achieve their goals and improve their skills, but we also learned how to apply instruments and adapt the music. We then learned how to combine the musical techniques and the therapeutic techniques to provide the best environment for success for different populations we work with. For individuals with IDDs, music therapy creates that structured environment which allows them to make independent choices, utilizes interventions that are easy for them to understand yet difficult enough to challenge them, and provides a safe and welcoming atmosphere that makes them comfortable enough to participate in the session. -B
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