We’ve long known the tune: music soothes the soul. It boosts mood, tempers emotions and fosters creativity. But in recent years, neuroscience has been singing its praises too, in the treatment of DYS disorders. Music therapy seems to have more than one string to its bow! Which musical practices are involved? What benefits are we talking about?<\/strong><\/p>\n Music has made a striking entrance into the care pathway for many cognitive disorders in children and young adults. Talking about “music” is still quite broad! DYS disorders, autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) all show considerable improvement thanks to listening to and practising music.<\/p>\n In 2015, an INSERM study highlighted the positive effect of music on children, particularly those with dyslexia. Children aged 8 to 11 took part in music sessions alongside their speech therapy, twice a week for two months. The results speak for themselves. At the end of the sessions:<\/p>\n 60% of the children in the “music” group saw their reading level move out of the dyslexia range, compared with only 28% of those in the “visual arts” group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To make the most of its benefits, it helps to understand the different approaches.<\/p>\n Passive music therapy.<\/strong><\/p>\n When the child listens live to music chosen for them, they are in a passive position. The value here lies in the interaction between the child and the musician playing an instrument or singing in front of them. Forget the complete collection of great classical works or the Baby Einstein app! As with any learning, the child is far more receptive to a human presence. Listening to a recorded soundtrack simply won’t have the same impact. Through this passive practice, the child, whether DYS or not, learns to listen. They come to distinguish, among other things, rhythms, instruments and voices. In a move from imitation to creation, the child gradually shifts from a passive to an active position.<\/p>\n Active music therapy.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is when the child plays an instrument of their choice, learns to master it, practises and produces music. Keyboards, percussion, strings, voice\u2026 every instrument is beneficial. The whole body is engaged. A child with DYS will need to work at mastering rhythm and syncing it with the music. It’s a real challenge, but one that stands every chance of being mastered if the child is motivated by music.<\/p>\n “The child needs to have fun and want to keep coming back. And the cost can be quite moderate. But these sessions must complement speech therapy, which was never dropped during our study and remains central to the care provided.”<\/p>\n Daniele Sch\u00f6n, researcher and co-author of the INSERM study on music and dyslexia (Unit 1106 INSERM\/Aix-Marseille University, Institute of Systems Neuroscience)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Music and speech therapy work in harmony.<\/strong><\/p>\n Combined with regular speech therapy, music is a valuable aid in the overall management of DYS disorders and ADHD. Speech therapists use music to support the development of phonological awareness, but also to improve language and help with attention control. Studies also highlight its contribution to writing and calculation skills!<\/p>\n Each at their own tempo, dyslexia, dysphasia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autism all see some of their symptoms turned down thanks to music therapy.<\/p>\n Music, dyslexia<\/u> <\/a>and dysphasia<\/u><\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n Musical activity acts deeply on the brain, to the point of reshaping it. Playing music is a highly complex brain activity. A child with dyslexia or dysphasia who undergoes musical training becomes sharper at recognising sounds. Because they are exposed to sound processing, they become aware of variations in rhythm and volume that they also encounter every day in speech. Reproducing rhythms, melodies and songs improves their often weaker working memory.<\/p>\n Music and dyspraxia<\/u><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rhythm games set the tone for tackling coordination difficulties. By playing an instrument, a child with dyspraxia learns to tell left from right. The benefits of music are also felt in terms of manual dexterity.<\/p>\n Music and ADHD<\/u><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n For children who struggle with attention difficulties, music is a welcome remedy that lets them do several things at once (such as singing while keeping a rhythm) and combine different types of activity (listening, playing\u2026). Music helps reduce aggression, improve self-control, boost sociability, and increase curiosity, perseverance and motivation. These are considerable gains that feed into better self-esteem and greater self-confidence.<\/p>\n Music and autism.<\/strong><\/p>\n Children with autism spectrum disorder are also excellent candidates for musical activity. Significant behavioural improvements have been observed, particularly in concentration, socialisation, adaptability and stress management.<\/p>\n Music and dyscalculia<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Music can also, in some cases, help children with dyscalculia make peace with mathematics. C\u00e9dric Villani, mathematician and Fields Medal laureate, put it this way:<\/p>\n “Music is a hidden arithmetic exercise, one in which the mind doesn’t realise it’s counting.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Learning music therefore has a positive effect on calculation skills, as well as on spatio-temporal reasoning.<\/p>\n It eases many symptoms in children with DYS disorders, ADHD and autism, but it must remain a complement to speech therapy, not a replacement for it. Music has immense power over cognitive disorders, provided the child keeps up their speech therapy consistently. To make that easier, ORA offers online speech therapy sessions<\/u><\/a>. With flexible scheduling and availability from home, in France or abroad, at the same quality as an in-person speech therapy consultation, online sessions let you fit therapy around everyday life!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DYS Disorders: What If Music Were the Key? We’ve long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":345737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[339,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-345751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speech-therapy","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Speech therapy for children with DYS: let the music play!<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Music therapy: benefits across the whole scale!<\/h2>\n