Music Therapy

Music, as a therapeutic agent has been recognized in the western world and is very much in vogue. In our country, though, music is recognized for its soothing value, its usefulness is not fully accepted as a therapeutic mechanism. While some claims have been made of the usefulness of music therapy and it is being used even in eminent hospitals, equally competent circles feel that the results are yet not scientifically proved. Therefore, some scientific studies based on “brain mapping ” are also tried. A good number of our children have shown interest in music and in learning it. A music teacher, qualified in South Indian classical music has been teaching these children for over two years. Recently, we have segregated the children into two groups- those who have to be given group training and those who need individual training. The former are mostly children with Cerebral Palsy whereas individual training is expected to benefit Autistic children. The intention is study scientifically what changes take place in the brain when the music I splayed-in other words, some kind of brain mapping.