Something to sing about... Music therapy

For me, this is really coming full circle.  For years, I have talked to people an  why music works for those with any sort of learning  disability.  Now research is finding even more ways to back up the point...

First of all, by now, we all have a basic understanding of the brain and how it works.  We have a stimulus enter the brain, let's say a written word.  The brain takes that information, interprets it and acts on what it has learned.  When every system is working correctly, this is done with relative ease. When we start to label someone as learning disabled, we find that this system has developed a permanent glitch. Information goes in but somewhere on the way, it gets lost.  For a dyslexic, the visual cues are not processed correctly.  For someone with auditory processing disorder, it is the spoken cues that are lost or processed slowly enough that comprehension is difficult.

So, why music?  Let's keep checking out the way the brain works.  When a person looks at a piece of music, each dot on a line has to be 'read'.  That dot becomes a letter.  The brain has to take that letter and translate it to specific way to play an instrument.  All this happens at such a rapid rate that the person can play a piece of music.  The addition of the need to change the dot on the line to a letter that requires a certain body movement increases the processing speed of the brain.  For those with learning disabilities, increasing the processing speed is critical to overall success.

Let's keep on the brain study.  When a person reads a book, studies have shown that a specific area of the brain fires up and responds to the stimulus.  When a person reads a piece of music, the area of the brain that fires up is different.  This is good for two reasons.  One, for those who struggle to learn to read, presenting the information as 'music' will fire up a different area of the brain and encourage more success.  Secondly, for those who need a multi-sensory approach learning information through music provides that connection since it is processed in a different area of the brain.  (think about the ABC song and how easily even very small kids learn non-sensical letters of the alphabet)

On a totally different note...(pun intended) several studies have looked at music and the affects on the the brains of those who are stressed or have ADD/ADHD.  For one study, scientists logged the brain patterns before listening to classical music and then during.  Those brain patterns were compared to the patterns of those without ADD/ADHD.  What they found is that listening to classical music normalizes brain patterns.  So, when I start a training session in which I strengthen skills for those with learning disabilities, I start with a hands on activity and classical music.  I can watch the affect of the music on a stressed out person.  It is wonderful to see.

So, when I see facebook questions about music... I always answer with a resounding YES!!!  In one way or another, music is good for ALL learners, but especially those with a learning disorder.

Does Brain Training Work?

                        To begin to understand how brain training works, we first need to understand where the ideas developed.  Let’s say that we have a family member who was involved in an accident.  As a result of that accident, he/she no longer remembers how to read.   Before the accident he/she was a college professor and reading is not just important part of their life, but imperative to their livelihood. 

So, once the physical wounds have healed, your family begins the arduous task of re-teaching the person to read.  Your employ occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech and language therapists.  You research and begin to find ways to help with the task.  It is a long and tedious process, made all that much more maddening because you don’t totally understand how a person who could once read at a higher level than you could, can’t tell an ‘f’ from a ‘j’. 

In their mind, what has happened is that the initial path; the easiest one for learning to read has sustained permanent damage.  The person however, knows that they want to learn to read and is trying very hard with all the people to learn to read.  Everyone is dedicated to the task at hand, including the brain of the person who was injured.  Eventually, over time and with much patience, a new path is forged and the skill of reading is slowly re-learned.  In the brain, the damaged area is not being repaired, but a new path is being forged.  Slowly and with much patience, that new path will gain strength and the task will become easier. 

Now, let’s look at the mind of a person who is learning disabled.  We have the same kind of problem.  For someone with auditory processing struggles, the ears work and the brain works, but the connection between the two gets jumbled.  When we employ brain training tactics, we are attempting to give the auditory cues a new path to follow.  The same tactics will not work for every person.  Anyone who says, this always works, makes me nervous.  The success of any program depends on the commitment of the learner and the wiring of the individuals’ mind.  

Growing Up With Prosodic Presentation of APD

When I give talks, I tell people that the prosodic presentation can be the most difficult piece of the puzzle.  My oldest has it and so does my husband.  Teddy has it too, but it looks different in him.  Prosodic means that while you are trying hard to decode exactly what words are being said, you loose the ability to decode the meaning of those words.  The question, "What are you doing?" can either be said by someone showing interest or someone who is questioning your motives.  For someone who has the prosodic presentation, the latter is often assumed.

For Seth, it has been a struggle all his life to try to realize that people are not always mad at him.  Because he doesn't 'hear' the irony or sarcasm in someones voice, he usually assumes the worse.  He hears people being upset with him and angry with him, all the time.  In the hallways at school, he was always questioning why someone would call him a name or why teachers were singling him out.

When he was in second grade, he was the child who thought kids were always picking on him and laughing at him.  He sat in the back corner of his classroom and cried when others talked to him.  At recess, he often hung out by the teacher so that he felt safe from childhood messing around.  He switched schools in middle school and finally started coming out of his shell a little bit.  He started to make friends with a couple of great kids who remain friendly today.  When he started high school in a small rural environment, we were very concerned for him.  His graduating class of 40 only had 5 boys and they didn't share any real interests with him.  Seth did begin to make friends in high school though and gained a large group of people who were friendly with him.  Seth also began to advocate for himself which made him a much more successful student and helped with his self confidence.

Becoming involved in sports such as cheerleading and baseball and in clubs like DECA and FFA helped him gain even more confidence.  In college now, Seth continues to struggle to maintain successful relationships with his peers.  As his mom, I continue to try to encourage him to watch body language and assume people are being good, but it is hard.  Seth is wanting to leave home and go out on his own for school.  I continue to pray for him as he moves forward with his life.  His potential is huge.  He is bright and good looking.  He is a real go-getter having started his own business and financed a vehicle already.  I hope he continues to grow in understanding of the way his APD affects his social relationships so he does what I want him to do most; be happy.