Developmental Music

Developmental Music Therapy provides a variety of developmentally appropriate music experiences in an intentional way to facilitate change and development in communication, social emotional learning, sensorimotor and cognitive skills.

Developmental music therapy enhances quality of life, reinforcing the ‘inner healthy self’ in a child regardless of existing conditions. This brings forth tremendous benefits to the child in terms of :

Developing social communication skills vital for speech and language acquisition.
Nurturing secure parent-child attachment through fun and motivating sessions.
Normative and inclusive experiences for parent and child.

Social Communication

Social communication is the precursor to speech and language development and vital for a child's development. A mixed methods study by Dr Grace Thompson (2002) showed that family-centred music therapy made a significant impact on the quality of the child’s social interactions, engagement, and the parent-child relationship.

Contingency Plan

A music therapist works with more than one session plan in mind, drawing skills from a vast array of skill sets to attend to different needs and reactions from a child. The diagram below shows the thought process behind a "sing and dance" session in a 30 minute session.

The complexity of adapting and switching activities require extensive music therapy training and experience in order to engage a child meaningfully at all levels of interaction.

Thompson G (2012). Making a Connection: Randomised Controlled Trial of Family Centred Music Therapy for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder [PhD thesis]. Melbourne, Australia: The University of Melbourne.

Developmental Music Therapy is suitable for:

Parent-Child playgroups of all abilities age 0 - 5
Young children with Developmental Delays
Children with Autism, Rett's Syndrome, William Syndrome, Trisomy 21