Music therapy is a type of therapy that uses activities like singing, playing instruments, and listening to music to help a child reach their specific goals. This therapy helps many children improve their communication skills and reduce their stress and anxiety.
To learn more about music therapy and how it might help your kiddo, check out our music therapy guide.
Studies have shown that autistic individuals respond positively to music and often show an increased interest in music making music therapy a great option for them.2 Many autistic and neurodivergent children are drawn to creative activities.
Music is a powerful tool and can have a major impact on brain function. Music therapy can help children with autism improve connections in their brain and it is a great complementary intervention that works well in conjunction with other therapies like occupational or physical.
Music therapy and learning to play an instrument are not the same things. And while they may have some overlapping benefits, the overall goals and techniques used are not the same.
If you are looking to build your child’s vocal skills or have them learn to play an instrument you would need to find a musical instructor, not a music therapist. However, with that being said, playing an instrument can be part of the therapy process, but learning to play the instrument is not the priority.
Our speech, occupational and physical therapists serve families across the U.S. in-home, in-clinic, and virtually. Top-rated care, covered by insurance.