Karen O’Connor, a Speech and Language Therapist in Dublin, has set up a clinic in the city to provide music therapy to people with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) along with other learning disabilities.
She believes learning in these groups of people can be progressed by therapeutic music, and may accelerate progress in language abilities by up to three years in one month.
She comments that “the neuroplasticity of the brain is increased, allowing us to take in more information and express ourselves confidently. It also eases any doubts or a feeling of being overwhelmed which is often experienced by this age group during the learning process.”
Music therapy has been shown to help calm people with learning disabilities and thus enable them to learn more effectively. Recent studies using brain scanning technology, has provided evidence that music does help reduce some of the symptoms of autism.
Jane Gregory
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
March 2009
