Music Therapy: The Effect That Underfunding Of Special Education

While Music Therapy has gained wide-spread acclaim for its effectiveness and garnered increasing attention in the fields of Medicine and Psychology, it has not quite effervesced into the level of popularity proportional to how effective it has actually proven to be. For the purposes of this paper, the focus will be restricted to Special Education. Specifically, what will be examined is the effect that underfunding of Special Education has on the children themselves and their ability to socialize and assimilate into society as functional members. Due to the nature of Special Education, the challenges it poses to teachers, parents, other students, and society at large are significant. This population represents neurological, physiological, and

Music therapy can be combined with occupational to increase the benefits of the special education services. A significant challenge people on the autism spectrum face is effectively communicating their thoughts, desires, and emotions in a socially acceptable way. Using improvisation in music therapy can help students on the spectrum express what they are feeling. Learning to use musical elements such as dynamics, tempo, timbre, and form, can help this population demonstrate musically what they need to communicate. For example, if they are feeling sad, they might improvise with a slow tempo. If they are angry, their improvisation might be loud and fast.

Unfortunately, there are people who disagree with funding special education, much less the use of music therapy as a supplemental service.

Funding music therapy in public school special education will benefit more people than just the students receiving the service. Music therapy can be used in conjunction with other special education services and therapies to create the most effective treatment for maintaining or improving the lives of the children in special