Music Therapy Respecting Autism

This morning at the Mid-Atlantic Region Music Therapy Conference, we had yet another cerebral nudge and confirmation toward the direction that The Musical Autist is going.

Even during the years I was simply a “classically trained pianist, teaching music to kids on the spectrum” (different from a credentialed music therapist!) and a fledgling  autism ally, I was already philosophically geared toward the work of Dr. Stanley Greenspan‘s Floortime approach.

This approach is practically the antithesis of Applied Behavior Analysis.

[Wha? Did we just get your attention? Well, no time for spoon-feeding you on this controversial topic right now. Respecting Autism is a great resource, if you want to learn more.]

After listening to the presentation this morning, in my humble opinion,  DIR®/Floortime Approach in Music Therapy aligns beautifully with the Neurodiversity Movement as well as the mission/vision of The Musical Autist.

The session this morning was about the music therapy work that is being done at Rebecca School in NYC, and was for me, personally, quite enlightening and empowering.  Here are some plugs, and I truly hope that every Autistic, Music Therapist, and Neurodiversity friend we have will take a chance to click on all hyperlinks within this blog post.  I think you will appreciate Dr. Gil Tippy‘s perspective on the proposed DSM5.

I am very much inspired by the musicianship and respectful sensitivity of Music Therapists such as Stacey Hensel, Kenji Takeda and Zachary Kandler, after watching video recordings in the presentation this morning, of the ingenius musicking that is happening with students at Rebecca School.  Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Clive Robbins were most definitely there in full spirit.

The Musical Autist (encompassing both Sensory-Friendly Concerts and Musical Autist Academy) has most assuredly benefited from such beautiful comrades today.

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