Kardon

It’s a New World Through the Family Music and Movement Circles Program

My name is Carolyn Hearn.  My son, Kevin is 7 years old and we have been attending the Family Music and Movement Circles Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families for the last two seasons.  This fall’s season is sure to bring more joy to our family.  Kevin absolutely loves the program.  Overall, his peer interaction is very limited.  The FMMC program creates the ability for him to play with other children his age.  To my surprise, at one of the sessions, he actually initiated the start of the game “duck, duck, goose”.  Everyone played along. This has NEVER happened before. He was so happy.  That makes it all worth it.   Also, my older son, Joey, 10 has come to a few of the sessions.  It puts everything into perspective for him.  Joey can see Kevin’s limitations at home, but when we are at the FMMC program, he gets to see Kevin open up and have some fun with others his age.  It has truly been a wonderful experience for all of us. 

One of the program’s therapists, Scott agrees…

As a full time music therapist at Kardon Institute, I have had the wonderful opportunity to be involved with one of our new and exciting programs over the past two years, the Family Music and Movement Circles program.  This is a weekly group, broken down into 8-week sessions, for children with autism and their families which incorporates both music and movement therapy.  The families are encouraged to come with their child and participants have included mothers, fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.  Each group is co-led by a music therapist and movement therapist who work to combine the two modalities through various interactive activities.  For me, it has been a great experience because it is not often that I have the opportunity to work both with entire families and with a co-therapist combining modalities.  Each group is structured in a way that allows everyone involved to feel comfortable and to participate in their own way.

There has been a rotation of music and movement therapists, including myself, who have led the groups throughout the past two years.  Across the board in my discussions with parents and colleagues this program seems to be a great success.  One of the primary goals is to provide an opportunity for the families to interact and have shared experiences through music and movement, and hopefully to be able to transfer some of the skills and activities used in the session into the home environment.  The group also offers a great opportunity for socialization with peers and other families.  This has been beneficial for the children with autism who often have difficulty in social situations, but also for the parents and families who have been able to share their experiences and resources with each other. 

As a therapist, one of the most rewarding experiences for me has been to observe how the children light up and become engaged in the music and the movement, but also seeing the parents free themselves of inhibition and engage with their children, at times becoming even more silly and creative than their child.  It is incredible to see the families having a positive shared experience, which is something that can be difficult to find for families with children with autism.  These family interactions and the combination of the music and movement together have created a dynamic and unique experience for all families and therapists that have been involved with the FMMC, and I look forward to continuing to grow this program in the future.

2 Responses to “It’s a New World Through the Family Music and Movement Circles Program”

1. Maria Bottiglieri says:

   October 27, 2010 at 5:44 am

   Carolyn and Scott: What a great story!

   Reply
2. Beth Ounsworth says:

   October 27, 2010 at 6:55 am

   How great is that! Music soothes the soul.

   Reply