MUSIC THERAPY & CEREBRAL PALSY

We know, as professionals who work in the  area  of  health,  that  people  who  have 

disabilities not only suffer physical impedi-ment which manifests itself in the malfunc-tion of a particular area and/or function of the body, but also that this disability brings with  it  the  impossibility  of  practicing  joy-ful  and  recreational  activities,  which  are very important for the development of the personality, in addition to purely useful or practical actions.

During  their  daily  activities,  the  person with  special  needs  faces  many  obstacles, such  as  going  to  the  bathroom,  eating, getting dressed, communicating, or clean-ing themselves without help. And  this  is  the  case  with  patients  who 

have  cerebral  palsy  when  they  come  to  a music  therapy  session.  They  want  to  play instruments,  sing,  create  melodies,  play music, but the difficulties which their clini-cal diagnosis brings, most of the time, does 

not allow them to do what they would like to. It is our duty, as music therapists, to as-sist and to find a way of making this possi-ble for the patient; to make those activities as easy and comfortable as possible; to try to reduce the effort needed; to make the activity not frustrating but joyful; and also to  offer  the  most  comfortable  environ-ment we can for the patient to be able to perform  gratifying  activities  such  as  com-posing songs.

1.  Song  theme:  With  the  help  of  pictograms (symbols, pictures, letters), the patient indicates the  picture  which  summarizes  the  main theme of the song.

2.  Style:  The  music  therapist  shows  M. various  musical  styles:  rock,  pop,  reggae, reggaeton,  classical,  tango,  folk,  punk, alternative,  march,  waltz,  etc.  The  patient 

selects the most desired.

3. Harmony: The professional shows a series of chords  (major,  minor,  diminished,  seventh, etc.), which the patient selects for his song.

4.  Lyric:  Perhaps  the  hardest  part  of  the process,  but  not  impossible.  The  patient enters  into  the  computer  a  series  of words  associated  with  the  theme  he  has chosen. Then the music therapist helps the patient to link them up together, forming sentences. Together, they go on correcting and editing.These steps form a “template” to create 

the  song.  Once  this  stage  is  finished,  the patient  begins  to  use  the  music  software on the computer.

FruityLoops:  This  program  creates  the foundations  for  a  song.  The  patient 

selects  various  instruments  (drums,  violin, guitar,  bass,  etc.).  He  composes  a  rhythm, harmonies,  melody,  and  lyrics  created specifically  for  the  song.  Sometimes  we work  with  students  who  are  not  able  to create  rhythmic  patterns,  due  mostly  to cognitive  disorders.  This  is  a  barrier  for them;  not  understanding  certain  rhythmic 

structures. However, this program contains a  database  with  pre-set  rhythms.  This means  that  with  one  click  of  the  mouse, students can listen to a beat (reggae, rock, pop, funk), and if they like it, select one of 

the pre-set rhythms for a song.Cooledit:  Once  the  rhythm,  melody  and chords  of  the  song  are  ready,  M.  uses  this 

program to mix and master the instruments and the therapist’s recorded voice. He  can also  edit  the  .mp3  files  and  add  to  them some  effects  like  reverb,  echo,  distortion, etc.

Adapted musical pedagogy Following  the  experience  we  had  with M. we decided to go further and deeper, so 

we opened a department of adapted music education,  whose  purpose  is  to  give  peo-ple with disabilities the possibility to create and make music.This  space  was  created  for  people  with 

special  needs  to  learn  to  play  an  instru-ment,  both  in  theory  and  in  practice.  The 

4 types of adaptations which we introduce 

are  those  which  help  the  student  to  have 

fewer difficulties in developing their musi-cality. As some children with special needs 

have highly developed musicality but their limitations  prevent  them  from  playing  a proper  musical  instrument,  we  intend  this department  to  be  a  supplement  which helps  them  develop  their  musical  sides  in a more flexible and accessible way. At the 

same time, we teach how to use music pro-grams, which are the base for creating mel-odies, harmonies and rhythms.

The  department  of  adapted  music  edu-cation  is  based  on  the  principles  of  music 

therapy which we call “instructional music therapy”. Within this field, people with dis-abilities have to deal with the lack of space for  learning  music.  Recognizing  this,  we have created “adapted musical pedagogy”, in which the experience of teaching music is used to treat the special needs, specific to each student.

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