Sensory Integration

Benefits of Music for Children with Developmental Delays

Music offers a lot of benefits for children with special needs. According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy is effective in numerous areas like:

  • Facilitating movement
  • Providing overall physical rehabilitation
  • Providing emotional support
  • Increasing motivation to engage in treatment
  • Providing an outlet to express feelings

Below are some benefits of music therapy for children with sensory processing or other developmental delays.

Enhances Motor and Sensory Skills

One vital benefit of music therapy is it helps increase motor and sensory skills. Playing with instruments, beating rhythms and clapping are all outstanding ways of refining motor control and improving coordination.

Provokes the Senses

Music helps to stimulate all the senses, involving the child at various levels. And, this “multimodal approach” expedites various developmental skills.

Stimulates Cognitive Functioning

Since music is processed in the brain in both hemispheres, it can stimulate cognitive functioning and parents, teachers and therapists could use it to remediate some language/speech skills.

Provides a Self-Confidence Boost

Music therapists try and set manageable goals to guide their students through. And, this results in boosting the children’s self-confidence since they experience success in beginning to experience making their own rhythmic patterns and sounds and following musical tasks.

Music therapy also helps:

  • Captivate and maintain attention
  • Encourage movement
  • Release emotions
  • Tap into all brain regions
  • Facilitate learning

Individuals of all ability levels can participate. Music appeals to all cultures and ages and therefore is easily adapted to an individual child’s special needs. Music has provided a positive impact on children with:

  • Autism
  • Down syndrome
  • Brain trauma
  • Tourette syndrome
  • ADD/ADHD

It has positively impacted kids with a host of other conditions as well. Talk with your child’s pediatric occupational therapist about ways music can become a part of your child’s therapy.

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