Music Therapy experiences with Forth Music Therapy
Many thanks to those who have shared their stories here.
Evie
"At Evie’s 6-month cochlear implant review, it was noted that Evie was not making the expected progress in her speech. Evie has quite a unique Deaf profile given her unilateral Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) alongside being bilaterally profoundly Deaf, so it’s a real challenge to know what the future of Evie’s communication will look like. Evie’s preference is British Sign Language (BSL) and has not shown much interest in noise so far. She never had access to sound prior to her cochlear implants, and, understandably, it’s a massive transition that’s taking her some extra time to adjust to.
Unfortunately, due to our location we are very limited in our access to support. Evie will not access speech and language therapy for at least another 18 months. We have not been able to find childcare that can accommodate Evie’s needs, and accessing the Deaf community involves lots of travelling.
I was feeling quite dejected and overwhelmed. It felt like I was the only person who saw positives in her journey or had astronomical expectations of her. No one could see the resilient, clever, resourceful, cheeky(!) little smiler I could see. I knew Evie’s needs were not being met, and I wanted to change that.
My son, who is autistic, has had Music Therapy for a number of years through a local charity. Their involvement with him has been, quite honestly, life changing, and I wondered if music therapy might be similarly beneficial for Evie. After some research, I was further driven to get Evie into music. I hoped Music Therapy would remove the pressure of producing words and help Evie learn the joy in noise and listening.
I contacted my friend who is a music teacher to ask for some advice. She put me in touch with Jenny at Forth Music Therapy, who were eager to support Evie. The music therapists were very accommodating of Evie’s needs. I had long conversations with the director to discuss what Evie’s needs are, what targets had been set by her rehabilitation adviser, and what my hopes were for Evie having the opportunity to engage in music. Evie’s Music Therapist, Angeliki, is absolutely incredible with her. There's been excellent communication between her and Evie's Teacher of the Deaf, and she even has basic BSL!
Evie immediately lit up as soon as we walked into Music Therapy. I could visibly see her processing the different tones, pitches and volume of the different instruments as she explored. Within 2 sessions, she was verbalising alongside the music, trying to copy the noises they made and engaging in beautiful back and forth. The focus, engagement and joy was something I had never seen in Evie before. She loves the drums, especially the high hat. We are now exploring string instruments. She loves to hold a guitar or violin like a cello so she can feel the vibrations through her whole body. She now identifies which instrument different noises come from, she can tell the difference between loud and quiet, she can keep a beat while listening to a song, and dances her little heart out to her favourite beats!
We're now almost 10 sessions in. Music Therapy continues to be her favourite hour of the week. We have managed to get funding from 3 different charities now which should take us to almost 6 months of sessions for Evie.
As a parent, I found it so healing to see Evie happily engage in sound on her terms. It reminded me that it’s not always about the 'tick boxes' we are frequently reminded about by professionals, but the real-world life experiences that engage our children. Evie may not be 'meeting her targets' from a professional viewpoint, but she wildly exceeds my expectations every single day. I could not be more proud to be her mum.
Keep playing, little one, and stay loud!"- By Evie’s Mum - Jenna
Susan
"Susan is flourishing in her music therapy sessions with Angeliki and it is so lovely to see,
I become very emotional. I would like you to know how much Susan gets out of her therapy and how much it means to us.
She recently had a great session just after her surgery: she was vocal and bright, moving her hands and arms to interact with Angeliki and the instruments they were playing together.
Susan's disabilities are profound and severe. There's a look of appalled pity some doctors will give us when they understand how limited Susan's abilities are, and it's hard to take. But what is so important for me is the contrast between that and what Susan chooses to do internally prompted by her own curiosity and enjoyment in a therapy space together with someone who has built a relationship with her, which enables her to communicate, choose, vocalise, act and react in her own time and on her own terms.
That's the power of music therapy: it helps Susan reveal her own personality and capabilities, for which I am so very grateful”
- By Susan’s mum, Carolynn