Oxford Mail News: Red Noses boost music therapy

Oxford Mail News: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8842415.Red_Noses_boost_music_therapy/

Red Noses boost music therapy

7:10am Thursday 10th February 2011

By Rhianne Pope

PEOPLE with severe learning disabilities are using sound and music to develop communication skills, thanks to Comic Relief cash.
The charity Soundabout, which received £1,800 in March, helps people in Oxfordshire with severe learning difficulties improve their interaction with others.
Sue Simmonds has been a trainer at the charity, based in Thomley Hall near Wheatley, since it started 14 years ago.
She said: “We run sessions designed to engage young people and adults in communicative interaction using music.
“People come along to our centre in Worminghall, or we go out to schools and centres, helping disabled people to develop.”
For the first time, the Oxford Mail and Comic Relief are offering £50,000 of Red Nose Day Community Cash for communities across the county.
Twelve organisations in Oxfordshire have already come forward to apply for grants.
Now others are being urged to compete for their slice of the money.
Comic Relief cash was used by Soundabout to run a series of sensory festivals for Oxfordshire special schools, including Mabel Prichard School in Oxford and Kingfisher School in Abingdon.
Mrs Simmonds said: “Every term, we transform our hall into a sensory festival. We black it out and have sound and light equipment to create a themed environment.”
Mrs Simmonds said she wasn’t sure why music worked, but that it made an emotional connection with people.
She said: “The 80 families that use our centre say they really appreciate what we do.”
Vanessa Grimwade, from Bicester, has been visiting the centre on Saturday mornings with her 12-year-old son Ben for five years.Ben, a pupil at Bardwell School, in Bicester, has severe learning difficulties.
Mrs Grimwade added: “It is spot-on for Ben, because he is quite musical and it’s something that is just for him.
“But it’s not just about the music, the charity focuses on the whole child. They play music to each other and it’s almost like they are acknowledging each other as human beings.”

• To apply to the Red Nose Day Community Cash fund, click on the link or call 01865 798666. The closing date for applications is Thursday, March 10.

Yahoo News: Gabrielle Giffords Undergoes Music Therapy, Continues to Progress

From Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110216/tr_ac/7865816_gabrielle_giffords_undergoes_music_therapy_continues_to_progress

Mark Whittington Mark Whittington – Tue Feb 15, 8:15 pm ET

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues to progress in her rehab, now having regained the ability to talk, to a certain extent. She is also able to mouth or lip sync the words to rudimentary songs, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
Music therapy has a long tradition, stretching back to the ancient Greeks, as a means to alleviate pain, treat mental illness, and promote well being in patients with a variety of ills. Giffords is apparently undergoing a form of music therapy that causes her to practice singing skills to promote her rehabilitation. In conjunction with her speech, physical, and occupational therapy, it is hoped that Giffords' singing practice will help her to regain cognitive function. The singing helps Giffords to put several words together, something that she at the moment has trouble doing.
Other songs Giffords is said to have lip synced include "Happy Birthday to You", for her husband astronaut Mark Kelly and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" with friends and family accompanying with keyboard and chorus.
Doctors caution that Giffords still has some "significant deficits" that will take considerable time to overcome. Rehab from such a traumatic injury as a bullet wound to the brain often takes months or even years.
Giffords can walk, pushing a cart, and is also doing exercises to regain muscle tone and function. Her cognitive abilities appear to be substantial. She has demonstrated the ability to answer questions even before the questions are finished. She is able to recognize pictures of historical figures, such as Presidents Obama, Bush, and Washington. Doctors have noted that she has shown such enthusiasm for these exercises that she has been asked to slow down.
Giffords has started to get briefings from members of her staff on subjects ranging from the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt to the retirement of Jon Kyl, Senator from her home state of Arizona. Some fellow members of Congress have paid visits. It is expected that former President George H. W. Bush may stop by eventually. The visits are being rationed to keep from overtiring Giffords.
In the meantime, Gabrielle Giffords is due to undergo another surgical procedure to replace a portion of her skull that was removed to alleviate brain swelling, now that the swelling has subsided.
Gifford's husband, Mark Kelly, is currently training to command the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, slated for launch on April 19.

2010 Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy

Here are 2 new video from Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. Please feel free to leave comment and tell us how you feel the power of music.

Ending life with music and massage

Article collections from SunSentinel.com

Bernard Michels, 98, likes to hear the songs of his youth as he gets his weekly therapeutic massage.
"It brings back memories of when I was a younger guy," said Michels, who lives with his wife, Jean, 95, at the Prosperity Oaks assisted living facility in Palm Beach Gardens.

Ending life with music and massage