I was at the hospital last week and it was closed down because the management thought to fumigate the hospital.
Every disappointment is truly a blessing, I have been wanting to share with you one of my experiences in the hospital where I had a patient who almost dislocated my arm.
I have this strong love for autistic children. I remember feeling the warmth of the embrace of a particular autistic child in my church, I must tell you I loved her immediately. There was this aura of peace she carried.
Well that’s not even the gist, I had a session with an autistic child in the hospital and honestly I was lost for songs or activities.
He was one child that had a very strong grip, you couldn’t just beat him to getting his body calm, he’d struggle with you.
If you know children living with autism, you’ll know that this comes with aggression that is common with the mental disability.
He also had difficulty in concentrating, so I could hardly get him to focus because it felt like something else needed his attention.
I figured out that I was not going to get his attention easily so I started by beating a rhythm because I was told he loved drumming, I did this repeatedly and honestly you will think he wasn’t listening or paying attention until he played the exact rhythm back to me without me asking and that was the bonding point for us.
He did the rhythm repeatedly and we transited into singing.
I did a song in his name letting him know that He is a gift from God and it was beautiful, he slowly calmed down and gave me his full attention. His mum was with him and she was so impressed, the song sent a message to her thatsaid regardless of the health challenge of her son, it doesn’t change the truth that he is a gift from God to the family and the world.
One thing I learnt from this session is this; producing a simple rhythm and hoping for him to reproduce it helped him concentrate. If this is continuous and consistent, he would be able to concentrate always and learn concentration in other aspects. Asides from the administration of Music Therapy helping patients calm down, it helps focus and concentration.
I am committed to doing this anytime and any day because the transformation I see always is priceless.
This is the #DiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist, Episode 9
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