Blog post 8: Patients that mostly caters music therapy

Music is amazing in a way that it is universal. Anyone can use it either for personal and medical purposes. Music therapy is used in a variety of populations including children and adults with developmental disabilities (autism, mental retardation, stroke, etc.)

We take advantage of our youth times. We do things without sometimes thinking twice. During old-school times, a person’s life expectancy would go around 80 – 90 years of age. Since most of the food they consume before are all organic. Engaging to sports and educational stuff would be the thing that they consider as technology whereas being witty is what they consider a trend. Nowadays, we would consume any living thing and since there’s a mass production of food and resources, fast foods pops up like mushrooms where literally “fast foods” are served with some are highly intoxicated for our body which shortens the life expectancy of a person from 45 – 80 years of age. Technology would be the one considered as a trend since we have to go with the flow of a lifestyle we look up to. These two (2) are the most that uses music as a part of medical field which is clinically proven since during therapies; brain stimulation and studies are proven.

I read an article about “Stroke Rehabilitation and Music Therapy” by one of the contributors and editor from www.medicalnewstoday.com Wiley Blackwell. He researched and introduced how music therapy helps a patient suffering from stroke.

According to Blackwell, “Music therapy techniques, including listening to live and recorded music were employed to try to improve speech, behavior and pain in patients with brain injuries, and although outcomes in some cases were positive, evidence was limited. It is expected that larger samples sizes will be used in future studies to enable sound recommendations for clinical practice.”

Now, having said the difference of our lives from past to present, there’s one thing that we all trying to avoid, stroke. It is an unavoidable brain injury that either a healthy or unhealthy person can have. Imagine no one can escape this kind of brain injury. Since we are on the hype of high end technology, doctors studies all possible ways to somewhat cure a person with a stroke. More than a million people suffer from stroke each year. They would even produce a medicine to somehow lessen the brain injury but now, music therapy came into the picture. It is now practiced and used all over the world to help a person suffering from stroke.

During pregnancy, a series of tests is performed to check if there are some impurities, if in case there are, it can be somewhat cured on the early stage of pregnancy. Unfortunately, ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder cannot be detected unless a child is born. It can only be detected if a child had grown to a toddler. There are indications that a child is a victim of ASD. Nowadays, people on medical field are striving to know, detect, and of course prevent autism. There are therapies that cater a child with ASD. Since music is universal, music therapy is also part of their medical tool to help a patient recover or do better.

I was lucky to find an article that shares insights about music therapy, an article about “Music and Autism Research” by a medical group of San Diego Music Therapists from www.coastmusictherapy.com  They shared their experiences and ideas on how it works especially for a patient with complex disability.  

According to the writers of San Diego Music Therapy, "Music and autism research support the benefits of music as a processing strength and the positive effects music therapy has in the treatment of individuals with autism.  Coast Music Therapy has compiled the latest studies with the most persuasive results and regularly updates this list to reflect the most current research. Individuals with autism show equal or superior abilities in pitch processing, labeling of emotions in music, and musical preference when compared to typically developing peers. The most compelling evidence supporting the clinical benefits of music therapy lies in the areas of social-emotional responsiveness and communication, including increased compliance, reduced anxiety, increased speech output, decreased vocal stereotypy, receptive labeling, and increased interaction with peers. Preliminary findings also support the potential for music to assist in the learning of daily routines”.

Since communication is also a hindrance for a victim of ASD, music is used for them to feel involved. For example, a child with ASD is introduced to a music instrument; it engages the emotional part of their brain that reacts every time they play an instrument. They use it as a communication to us and it makes them express themselves.

I've learned that during this research about MT, it plays a major role to the medical field. Since at first I thought that music only caters the fulfillment of our emotion, it also caters people in need to communicate and be able to express.