Tag: MUSIC THERAPY

ways to improve motor skills in a cerebral palsy patient

Posted on by Escape Global

Last week was World Cerebral Palsy day and I thought to do a post that will be helpful to caregivers of Cerebral Palsy patients, children especially.

Cerebral palsy is a motor disorder that is caused by damage to the developing brain. It primarily affects an individual’s movements, balance, and posture. I want to show you practical ways to help a child who has cerebral palsy;

👉 Teach the child to play a musical instrument, this is what it’ll do, it will enhance flexibility and dexterity, which will in turn help refine gross and fine motor skills. A small drum with sticks for example or a small tambourine or a maracas. If you can not teach the child to play a musical instrument, you can employ a tutor if possible who is patient and capable of teaching the child.

👉 Encourage and model walking, dancing and doing exercises while listening to music, it will help strengthen the child’s muscles. It’s technically called Rhythmic auditory stimulation in music therapy, it is the synchronisation of sound and movement to facilitate improvements in biologically rhythmical functions. This rhythmic nature of music also helps to organize the child’s gait, it will teach movements timing to the beat of the music. For example modelling synchronisation of steps to lively music to improve walking speed, you can begin on a slow tempo and increase speed gradually if you are playing a live music and not a recorded one.

👉 The last but the most important is to engage in repetitions, when the results of the first try is pleasing, do not give in to the temptation of relaxing but keep on and on because the human brain is incredibly adaptable, but needs repetitive activities or exercise to become familiar with new functions.

I really looked forward to putting up a video that demonstrates what I have shared here but somehow I can not, please look out for it on my Instagram pages next week; @mercykaynimi or @escape_global. Don’t stop being grateful, I’m rooting for you always!

Kindly let me know in the comment box if this post was helpful.

Need counsel? Need help or have questions? Feel free to drop them here or if for confidentiality’s sake you don’t want to, kindly write to me; mercykayt@gmail.com.

Thank You.

HOW TO HELP A CHILD WHO HAS SPEECH DISORDER USING MUSIC THERAPY

Posted on by Escape Global

Children who have speech disorder may not learn or master language milestones as other children.

Few years ago I had a patient who had speech disorder, on first meeting he was quite curious to know how the guitar is being played, he also wanted to know how to accompany his voice with it so I gave him the guitar and taught him the placement of the G Major chord, he was able to try it out though his hands were not firm on it, I also taught him the placement of his hands to make the E Minor. He was able to interchange both chords but not conveniently. He sang and played though it felt like noise to everyone around but he enjoyed it and did not feel like returning home with his parents. In the atmosphere of music, he could vocalize.
This experience made me realize the need to teach few simple and helpful ways of working on a speech disorder.

👉 First is to allow your young one listen to music, it helps boosts cognitive functioning, put it on at different times of the day.
A particular study done in 2010 revealed that Children who listened to music closed the developmental gap faster than those who had no music therapy. Those with speech delays moved faster toward correcting speech or improving communication skills at all ages, from toddlers with speech delays to older children. The balanced rhythm of the music helps the child match the words to the beat, providing more measure than normal speech, and therefore helping the child learn how language works trouble-free.

👉 Possibly get a mouth organ to help in breath production and by mouth organ I mean the harmonica or a recorder.

👉 Engage in vocalization of vow and consonant sounds alike, I did a video exemplifying this on my Instagram page, be sure to check it out @mercykaynimi or @escape_global

👉 Engage in the turn-taking technique singing simple and familiar songs with short lyrics. For example, Twinkle Twinkle Little star. I exemplified that too in the video I made on my Instagram page.
The child will be able to pick the words of the shorter song better and will more readily repeat them to the beat.

👉Playing an instrument, such as an acoustic guitar, it also helps the cognitive development of children just like the story of the patient I shared earlier in this post.

👉 Make sure also that everything you are teaching is age appropriate and more importantly be grateful for every process, don’t compare your journey with another.

You are doing very well and I’m rooting for you!

Do let me know in the comment box if this post was helpful.

Need counsel? Need help or have questions? Feel free to drop them here or if for confidentiality’s sake you don’t want to, kindly write to me; mercykayt@gmail.com.

Thank You.

TEACH SOCIAL SKILLS TO CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEED USING MUSIC

Posted on by Escape Global

One time I had an autistic patient who came to a session I was to have with her crying, I went on to ask her mother the reason for the tears, she told me that she raised her voice at her because immediately they stepped into the hospital, she covered her face. If you are familiar with children who live with autism, you will know that they have very poor social skills, they can hardly make an eye contact.

The major reason why I’m doing this post is to help you as a caregiver teach a/your child social skills using Music. non-musical pathway may seem forceful and tiring for you and your child.

Children with poor social skills are often seen as preoccupied in their own world and may be highly passive or unresponsive in social situations. In this post, I’ll share with you steps to take and five social skills to target for intervention.

The first is to be grateful for your journey again and again, there is an air that gratitude brings, it dispels toxicity and comparison.

Next is to enrol your child in a music school if you might not be available due to work schedule or other things. The music school attendance may be an extra-curricular or full-time activity, either way is perfect. The goal is to be in an environment that is musical and increases curiosity first.

Getting a musical instrument of their choice will not be a bad idea, take note of choice because you don’t want to buy one that your child will not like or end up making use of. What musical instrument does is that it builds a level of self-awareness in them and improves relationships with others. It encourages a level of communicative behavior and interaction with others, which is something that autistic children have great difficulty with. An illustration of a band was given by someone, if we look closely at the way that a band works, it is obvious that the instruments must all interact with one another, but the player only needs to interact with the instrument at first. interacting with others can be troubling for children living with autism, but through the introduction of a musical instrument, there are possibilities that they will connect first with the object and then open up to others interacting with their musical instruments also. The autistic child whose story I shared earlier on was able to bond with music and myself through the use of musical instrument (The Guitar).

Proper interpretation of music both in lyrics and in sound, this can go a long way to help in teaching us to converse. For children with autism, it could mean learning a new word from a song, or better understanding on the way to act in a social situation based on the messages that a song expresses. We know that autism can create barriers for children in social settings, but small groups of children listening to music together may feel confident and comfortable enough to comment or sing along with others.

Using musical parody to teach them this social skills that are targeted for intervention: eye-contact, vocalization, imitation, initiation and turn-taking. For example, the popular twinkle, twinkle little star can be sung using other lyrics but same tune. That’s parody, different lyrics but same or popular tune.

  • While you do this try to make eye-contact with them, let them look you in the eye and make sure to do same.
  • Ask them to vocalize the song you just taught them.
  • Sing and ask that they imitate you, try to make it funny and creative.
  • Initiate the song and allow them continue, you can sing the first line and allow them continue
  • Take turns in singing, use words likes “whoever sings first gets a bowl of ice cream”. This is to motivate them.

Finally, be sure to go over what they have learnt in the music school with them even if you are not available. Don’t just leave the entire responsibility to the music teacher.

Be sure to check my Instagram pages for a video showing you an example of social skills you can teach your child with special need using music; @mercykaynimi, @escape_global.

You are doing so well and I am rooting for you!

Do let me know in the comment box if this post was helpful.

Need counsel? Need help or have questions? Feel free to drop them here or if for confidentiality’s sake you don’t want to, kindly write to me; mercykayt@gmail.com.

Thank You.

HOW YOU CAN TEACH A SPECIAL NEED CHILD WITH NO Background in music

Posted on by Escape Global

I have no background in music and I want to teach a/my child with special need.
I know the previous post may have got you wondering how you can teach your child music with no music inclination. I will be sharing few simple steps on how to teach your young one in such a way that it is beneficial to both you and them.


The first thing I’ll like to mention which I mentioned in my previous post is to OWN YOUR JOURNEY, I apologize for reiterating it but if you must make the most of this journey then you will part ways with impatience, comparison, ingratitude and be companions of gratitude any day any moment.


Focus on knowing your CHILD(REN): When preparing to teach music to your child(ren), focus on knowing them, understanding their personalities, what they love and will tend to. Knowing them means you will have to recall the times when they engaged in music, what their response was like, if they love calm or fast music, if they enjoy rhythm, whether they have ever been fascinated by a musical instrument, if there is any genre of music that makes them aggressive or feel frustrated. All these are to let you know that you must be a keen observer, it will help you know which to tone down on and which to elevate. Ask them questions and don’t feel bad if they don’t like what you envisaged them liking.


Focus on learning a musical instrument, be it Voice, Piano, Guitar and so on. Do not dabble into too many musical instruments, you can download videos online to learn, explore yourself and all other spontaneous ideas that might come in the process and as you learn, try engaging your child with it. The goal is to learn while they learn.


Keep things simple with your child. your child isn’t an adult that you would want to please by being prim and proper, you can say things like “Honey you know mummy or daddy is just learning to figure this out so let’s just go with the flow”. Your child will appreciate the commitment, vulnerability and simplicity you put into it. I remember when I just started playing the guitar and was visiting the hospital, because I didn’t know much I always wanted to cringe, then I realized from my interactions with each kid that they didn’t care, they just wanted the simple thing I could play then.


As you grow in teaching them, avoid being rigid, kids love to play and explore a lot and sometimes you might have a bucket list of how you want to teach music but they are just concentrating on one. I used to ‘overprepare’ and then when I begin sessions, they just always have something else they love to do. Do not rush them, give grace and watch how they explore just the one you’ve taught them. the joy is not in how many lessons you can pump down their brain but in the journey that is moving steadily. Be grateful!


Watch sessions on YouTube where children with special needs are engaged in Music Therapy, it will boost your confidence and you’ll have lot of innovative ideas on how to utilize music in helping your young one.


Paste colourful postcards containing illustrative affirmations in your music space. Affirmations like; I am smart, I am well-behaved, I sing well, I play my musical instruments well and so on. Just be creative about it.


Finally, as you teach them the little you’ve learnt, don’t stop learning also. It’s never bad to learn on the job, some days might seem frustrating but please do not give up, give grace.
You are doing so well and I am rooting for you!


Do let me know in the comment box if this post was helpful.
Need counsel? Need help or have questions? Feel free to drop them here or if for confidentiality’s sake you don’t want to, kindly write to me; mercykayt@gmail.com.
Thank You.

HOW TO UTILIZE THE GIFT OF MUSIC IN HELPING CHILDREN LIVING WITH AUTISM- FOR CAREGIVERS (Parents especially).

Posted on by Escape Global

I have worked with a couple of autistic children and one common thing I have noticed is that caregivers wish children will just respond using force. Force has never guaranteed response from anyone, it might work when you are present with them but when you are not with them, they will follow what they feel is cool. Here are ways to utilize the gift of music;

 Own your journey; this is the most important point in everything I’ll be sharing with you today. Many caregivers, parents especially have a pattern in their mind of how things ought to be based on a number of information they have read, seen or heard. They are quick to forget that every child is unique and how they are related with is key in healing. Owning your journey means taking it a step at a time and being thankful all the way. Be thankful for your child, be thankful that you are their parent and above all be thankful that Jesus has beautiful plans for them no matter the disability.

 Engage them in music at every instance: Studies show that children with autism can understand both simple and complex emotions in music and are more responsive to sensory stimulation compared with other children especially in music, even over speech or noise.
Music can positively impact children with autism in diverse ways. You can use songs to emphasize speech in children with autism who struggle with language. One technique is to sing with vocabulary cards in order to teach vocabulary skills, you can also play music videos like COCOMELON that teach all these using music. Singing can considerably enhance language skills in students with a type of autism that has language delays.
Music can be used to help a child with autism recollect important information when it is linked with a musical sound, like a melody or rhythm.
One critical study found that music can be used to focus students’ attention, keep those with disabilities on track and decrease their anxiety from stress. I once had an autistic patient who could hardly focus but would pause at the sound of a rhythm made, master it and give you the exact way he heard it.

 If you are musically inclined, try engaging them using music elements in the simplest form.
Music elements such as pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm and so on. When children listen to a piece of music, the combination of musical elements are in it. However, some children with autism are auditory sensitive and it makes them experience a lack of forbearance for sounds.
You can help them by using separate musical elements to simplify their music. For example; start with a song, you as the caregiver can try teaching in stages by isolating pitches on the piano first. As they get comfortable with it, you can slowly introduce the other elements one at a time. be sensitive to know when they are not interested in one element and when they are interested in another.

 Compose songs with the child’s name as song title, it has a way of building self-confidence. For example, in this part of the world, many people have native names. If your child has a native name, you can make use of the name interpretation to compose a song and still mention his or her name in it. It gives a feeling of being loved, being known and all the god feeling.

 Employ music to help the aggression they feel. Autistic children are most times frustrated because of the difficulty they experience in expressing themselves but music can help as it can keep them calm by lessening their feelings of anger. Try different genres of calming and sensory music, see what works best for your young one.

This is not an exhaustive list on how to utilize music in helping children living with autism and like I mentioned earlier, it’s a journey you should take at your own pace encouraging yourself and your child as you walk through it. This journey will be both beneficial to you and your child.
You are doing a great job and I’m rooting for you always.

Need counsel? Need help or have questions? Feel free to drop them here or if for confidentiality’s sake you don’t want to, kindly write to me; mercykayt@gmail.com.


Thank You.

LINKS:

F O R E V E R A L I V E

Posted on by Escape Global

Olubunmi Onadipe (I’ve always known her as Amoke) is an amazing and professional Singer who majored in Music performance. I mean she’s so good (No hype), she was my senior colleague in the University.
This particular podcast makes me extra glad, because it’s the first I’ll be having with someone beyond the shores of Nigeria 💃💃💃

Her background in music according to her is simple, she was simply around music, a family of music and this seemingly ‘simple background in music’ inspired her to study it as a course. She studied Music first at the Polytechnic of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria where she had an Ordinary Diploma (OND), she then crossed to Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Osun state, Nigeria to further in Music. It’s been an amazing journey for her.


She’s very passionate about Music Therapy and she shares how Music has healed her in the past and how she’s continually healed by it Everytime.


She shares how much she fell in love with a particular piece written by the delectable Johann Sebastian Bach popularly known as J.S Bach. In my conversation with her, she shared that this piano piece of his gets her whether she’s happy or sad.


She has listened to this piece for years but she can’t just explain why something in her just comes alive anytime she listens to it, she has never been bored listening to this.
My conversation with her opened my eyes to the fact that there are certain persons who could have this one song or piece of music on repeat forever because it makes them come alive and they never get bored.

This conversation is worth your time I must acknowledge, kindly click the link below to listen 👇

Thank You for always reading and listening 💜

Song recommendation for you;
Mai Taimako na (My Helper) by Solomon Lange, kindly click link below to listen 👇https://youtu.be/4lPZlJ5fZZ8

W A L K I N G

Posted on by Escape Global

I remember reading Deforia Lane’s account of her patient who was about to have a bone marrow transplant and because of loneliness and anxiety had trouble sleeping. The suggestion was made to try Music Therapy and she did, she found out that he loved hymns so he decided to sing ‘Oh, how I love Jesus’.

He had his oxygen mask on earlier but because he needed to sing, he removed it. The nurse stepped in and was taken aback by this sight, she noticed the atmosphere had changed and there was something different about the way music made the kid feel, she took his blood pressure and exclaimed that it was the lowest she had seen in him.
To help his insomnia, Dr Deforia had him listen to music on a cassette player and in 20 minutes he slept soundly, first time in a long while…


I had to share this story because I didn’t understand the gravity of what Esther Odeyemi, my guest on this week’s Podcast went through when she had an accident. Her legs were going to be amputated due to the effect of the accident. She shared with me how she found it hard to sleep many times because she was depressed and couldn’t explain why she was in such pain. She found a light in her questioning season, it was music. It was music that gave her feet strength to walk again, it was music that helped her sleep soundly, it was music that gave her wings to fly despite the obstacles, it was music that lifted her head high when all she could see around was shame.


Her legs weren’t amputated, call it a miracle but till date she still limps while walking, she shared how she was able to overcome the depression that came with people jesting using music.
She’s a warrior in every sense and I’m thankful she’s walking.

You can listen to the full episode here👇https://anchor.fm/mercy-kay/episodes/W-A-L-K-I-N-G-Esther-Odeyemi-el0sse

PS: It’s been one year since I started sharing everything Music Therapy and it’s been a rewarding and stretching journey. If you’ve learnt something from this blog, please share in the comment section. It would mean a lot.


Such a joy reading from you.💚

C O N C E N T R A T I O N

Posted on by Escape Global

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

You mean a lot to me and I love reading from you!

M U S I C A L D E C L A R A T I O N

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You know when they say your words are weapon and you can either use it to your favour or use it to the detriment of yourself.
I was yet again in the company of parents who we normally care givers at the Emergency Paediatric Ward of the hospital.
They were a mix of tribe, largely Igbo and few northerners. I wasn’t nervous per say doing this with them even though I didn’t envision it while leaving for the hospital.
I think one of the things this journey is teaching me is to expect the unexpected and be prepared to deliver value at anytime.

I sat in the middle of the ward, strumming my guitar so the lyrics could pour forth, gradually the lyrics were on my lips and I had their attention.
If you’ve been following me, you’d know that I love short spontaneous music and I use it a lot in the hospital because I know it’s easy to remember few lines than lengthy lines and since one of my target is memory, having them remember the music when they hit despair then I know doing spontaneous music will work.

So the first song I did was on Peace and Health because lately I’ve been so endeared to the importance of always being at peace, I decided to gift them with a spontaneous music on Peace. These were the lyrics;
Peace to your body
Peace to your soul
Peace to your mind.

It initially took a while for them to learn this because they didn’t feel good enough to sing so I encouraged them by singing one line then patiently wait for them to sing the next. They were doing so well and at each point they did, I made statements like Fantastic! Awesome! Just so they’d be encouraged. I made sure they declared these lyrics over their kids.

They finally perfected this and then I thought to do another spontaneous that had the fusion of Nigerian Pidgin, Igbo and Hausa language so I asked for the meaning of peace in both languages and I got them.
Here is the Lyrics;
You no go beg!
You no go borrow
Zaman Lafia, Udo!

This was really the most interesting for them because they felt like someone could do a song in their language, there was this sense of belonging.
I made them declare this over themselves and family, making them realize that there’s life in the words they speak and situations should not determine what they speak, little did I know that there was a mother among them who had been declaring very negative words. One of the mothers pointed to her saying ‘You see what we were saying! Just try not to speak negative when things go bad’.

We sang these words again deliberately and the joy! So pure. I feel this moment with these parents changed me more than it changed them because I have become so conscious of what proceeds from my mouth.


I’m thankful that I do this, I leave wards feeling very fulfilled each week and the fact that I bring light, hope, joy, peace to lives humbles me.


This is #TheDiaryofAnAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 7

I’m sure you know by now that reading from you gives me much joy and I always look forward to it!

T R A N S I T I O N

Posted on by Escape Global

Transitions are beautiful yet they come with new challenges that are surmountable.
Last week when I wrote about sharing music with caregivers, I sort of knew deep within me that it was going to be my last time in the Paediatric ward of the hospital but didn’t know how it was going to happen.


The next time following the period that I did my last post on Caregivers (by the way if you’ve not read it, it’d be good to ‘cos it’s an enriching read).
To my story, the matron on duty gave me a warm welcome and took me to this new ward which was also Paediatric but this time for Emergency cases, there were a number of babies and as she introduced me to the nurse on duty, I was all there smiling and thinking of how to engage babies in Music but nothing was coming. In that moment, the only thing I knew to do was to jump into the waves.

I walked up to the bedside of this baby boy who was 4 months old, his mum was obviously perturbed and worse of all you could tell that having her baby in the hospital was not just her only problem, she seemed to shoulder a lot yet trying to be sane through it.
For some minutes I engaged her in a discussion, she told me of how her baby started teething, had been coughing, running temperature and hasn’t been eating. I was really emotional in this moment, I was on my feet still thinking of what to do when the nurse on duty came to tell the mother that she should get her baby milk so he could eat that was when I knew that her breasts hadn’t been bringing forth milk. I felt for her deeply, she was up and about leaving the baby and his sister with me, so I was left alone to share music with them.


Hmmmm I began singing because of course I couldn’t engage the baby, I just sang while he cried and was yet in pain.
I sang these words I shared today in my video, you can watch the video on Instagram: @escape_global.
These were the lyrics;
Peace through it all
Joy through it all
Hope through it all
You are never alone.
Peace through it all.

I sang this song repetitively for about 30 minutes or more and I couldn’t see visible improvement, maybe only the fact that it lessened his tears. I yet continued singing it over him.

I’m not one to easily give up when it comes to this but I came to a conclusion that the music I did lightened the burden that was in the atmosphere and it also made me accept the challenge of thinking unique approach to be used in administering music to babies in the hospital.

Over the next few weeks, I’d be in this ward so I’d unearth golden lessons that would be useful in Music Therapy administration with babies.

This is the #DiaryofanAspiringMusicTherapist Episode 6

I never get bored reading your feedbacks ❤️