Disorders/Disabilities
Intellectual Disability
● Characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning (under IQ of 70)
and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills
● 3 major types:
○ Down Syndrome
○ Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
○ Fragile X Syndrome
● Music therapy treatment goals:
○ Developing social and emotional behavior
○ Developing motor skills
○ Developing communication abilities
○ Aid in developing pre-academic/academic skills
○ Developing leisure skills
Autism
● Music therapy treatment goals:
○ Communication skills
○ Social/emotional skills
○ Behavior skills
○ Academic skills
○ Physical skills (fine/gross motor)
○ Leisure skills
Physical Disabilities
● Cerebral palsy: Non-progressive disorder of movement and posture that is caused by
damage to the motor area of the brain
● Other orthopedic disorders:
○ Muscular dystrophy
○ Spina bidifa
○ Clubfoot
○ Arthogryposis—congenital disease in which children are born with rigidly fixed
and stiff joints and weak muscles
○ Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
○ Dwarfism
○ Osteogenesis Imperfecta
, ○ Thermal Injuries
○ Spinal Cord Injuries
● Related Terms:
○ Spasticity—tightness
○ Athetosis—Involuntary, purposeless movements of the limbs
○ Ataxia—lack of balance/sense of position in space, uncoordinated movement
○ Monoplegia—paralysis of one limb, usually an arm
○ Hemiplegia—paralysis of upper and lower limb on one side of the body
○ Paraplegia—paralysis of only lower limbs
○ Diplegia—major paralysis of lower limbs and minor paralysis of upper limbs
○ Triplegia—paralysis of 3 limbs, usually both lower and one upper
○ Quadriplegia—major paralysis of all 4 limbs
● Music therapy goal areas:
○ Rehabilitative
○ Developmental
○ Educational
● Neurological music therapy techniques:
○ Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS)—a technique sued to facilitate rhythmic
movement, especially gait
○ Patterned Sensory Enhancement (PSE)—uses rhythmic, melodic, harmonic and
dynamic acoustical elements of music to provide temporal, spatial and force cues
for movements that reflect functional exercises and activities of daily living
○ Therapeutic Instrumental Music Playing (TIMP)—Playing of musical instruments
in order to exercise and stimulate functional movement patterns
○ Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)—used primarily with expressive aphasia
patients; simple phrases and sentences are sung and chanted to melodies that
resemble natural speech intonation patterns
○ Rhythmic Speech Cueing (RSC)—used with dysarthric patients; the use of
rhythmic cueing to control the initiation and rate of speech through cueing and
pacing
○ Vocal Intonation Therapy (VIT)—use of vocal exercises (ex: 5 note scale) to
stimulate prosody, inflection and pacing of normal speech
○ Therapeutic Singing (TS)—involves the unspecified use of singing activities to
facilitate initiation, development and articulation in speech and language as well
as to increase functions of the respiratory apparatus
○ Oral Motor and Respiratory Exercises (OMREX)—the use of musical materials
and exercises, mainly through vocalizations and wind instrument playing, to
enhance articulatory control and respiratory strength
○ Speech Stimulation (STIM)—using familiar lyrics to stimulate speech production
(ex: Happy Birthday to _____ )
○ Developmental Speech and Language Training Through Music (DSLM)—the
specific use of developmentally appropriate musical materials and experiences to
enhance speech and language development through singing, chanting, playing
musical instruments, and combining music, speech, and movement; used with
Intellectual Disability
● Characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning (under IQ of 70)
and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills
● 3 major types:
○ Down Syndrome
○ Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
○ Fragile X Syndrome
● Music therapy treatment goals:
○ Developing social and emotional behavior
○ Developing motor skills
○ Developing communication abilities
○ Aid in developing pre-academic/academic skills
○ Developing leisure skills
Autism
● Music therapy treatment goals:
○ Communication skills
○ Social/emotional skills
○ Behavior skills
○ Academic skills
○ Physical skills (fine/gross motor)
○ Leisure skills
Physical Disabilities
● Cerebral palsy: Non-progressive disorder of movement and posture that is caused by
damage to the motor area of the brain
● Other orthopedic disorders:
○ Muscular dystrophy
○ Spina bidifa
○ Clubfoot
○ Arthogryposis—congenital disease in which children are born with rigidly fixed
and stiff joints and weak muscles
○ Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
○ Dwarfism
○ Osteogenesis Imperfecta
, ○ Thermal Injuries
○ Spinal Cord Injuries
● Related Terms:
○ Spasticity—tightness
○ Athetosis—Involuntary, purposeless movements of the limbs
○ Ataxia—lack of balance/sense of position in space, uncoordinated movement
○ Monoplegia—paralysis of one limb, usually an arm
○ Hemiplegia—paralysis of upper and lower limb on one side of the body
○ Paraplegia—paralysis of only lower limbs
○ Diplegia—major paralysis of lower limbs and minor paralysis of upper limbs
○ Triplegia—paralysis of 3 limbs, usually both lower and one upper
○ Quadriplegia—major paralysis of all 4 limbs
● Music therapy goal areas:
○ Rehabilitative
○ Developmental
○ Educational
● Neurological music therapy techniques:
○ Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS)—a technique sued to facilitate rhythmic
movement, especially gait
○ Patterned Sensory Enhancement (PSE)—uses rhythmic, melodic, harmonic and
dynamic acoustical elements of music to provide temporal, spatial and force cues
for movements that reflect functional exercises and activities of daily living
○ Therapeutic Instrumental Music Playing (TIMP)—Playing of musical instruments
in order to exercise and stimulate functional movement patterns
○ Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)—used primarily with expressive aphasia
patients; simple phrases and sentences are sung and chanted to melodies that
resemble natural speech intonation patterns
○ Rhythmic Speech Cueing (RSC)—used with dysarthric patients; the use of
rhythmic cueing to control the initiation and rate of speech through cueing and
pacing
○ Vocal Intonation Therapy (VIT)—use of vocal exercises (ex: 5 note scale) to
stimulate prosody, inflection and pacing of normal speech
○ Therapeutic Singing (TS)—involves the unspecified use of singing activities to
facilitate initiation, development and articulation in speech and language as well
as to increase functions of the respiratory apparatus
○ Oral Motor and Respiratory Exercises (OMREX)—the use of musical materials
and exercises, mainly through vocalizations and wind instrument playing, to
enhance articulatory control and respiratory strength
○ Speech Stimulation (STIM)—using familiar lyrics to stimulate speech production
(ex: Happy Birthday to _____ )
○ Developmental Speech and Language Training Through Music (DSLM)—the
specific use of developmentally appropriate musical materials and experiences to
enhance speech and language development through singing, chanting, playing
musical instruments, and combining music, speech, and movement; used with
