music therapy

[Jean Berko Gleason]

There may be therapies developed  just for children, but some of what is 
out there is based on research with adults:  Some time in the 1970s a 
music-based treatment called Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) was 
developed at the VA Medical Center in Boston.  It was used with adult 
patients with aphasia, and, as I recall, produced some fairly dramatic 
results with patients who had difficulty initiating speech, including 
some global aphasics.  But, like everything else, it is limited.  I know 
that this therapy has also been extended to kids, and am sure that a 
Google search of Melodic Intonation Therapy will turn up a lot of hits.  
So this is at least one direction to look....


Jean Berko Gleason





James Russell wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> An undergraduate has just asked me about the efficacy of using music 
> therapy with non-communicating children.  There is apparently a 
> literature on this; but I'm completely ignorant of it. Can anybody 
> give us some pointers, please.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> James Russell
> Experimental Psychology
> Cambridge UK
>