My Music Man // by Dana Greenberg

For many of us, music is a part of our lives. Whether we play an instrument, enjoy concerts or just like to listen at home. For many kids on the autism spectrum, this is also the case, my son being one of them. He loves music! We often find him listening to classical music by different composers, or asking us to spell the names of certain performers that he likes to google and check out. This is why we felt it important to try to include music a regular part of his life. Lucky for us, we found a wonderful music teacher named Stacey at innovativemusictherapy.com.

Twice a week he has "Music With Stacey" as he likes to call it. One of those days is a group of three children with Stacey and another adult. They play with instruments, have sing alongs and play games. Not only is music therapeutic for many kids on the spectrum, but there is so much that can be learned. This group puts him in a wonderful social atmosphere where important life skills can be worked on. Waiting, turn taking and verbal skills are just a few.

The second day, he does a 1:1 session with Stacey. On this day the focus is the piano and the drums, the latter of which seems to be his favorite....no surprise there. Here he also works on some really great and important skills such as listening, staying focused, imitating, and lengthening his attention span.

Did you ever realize how much there is that can be worked on for our kids during music? If you think your child might be interested in music at all, I highly recommend giving it a shot....you never know what kind of a response you may get. Seeing my sons excited face as he goes in with Stacey each time reminds me that the benefits of this will clearly outweigh the sound of the drums!