A music game is a tool for children to relate to each other, especially with the autistic child. When I was teaching before surgery, I had a child in my class who had been diagnosed as autistic. He went to a child assist class in the afternoon. On two particular occasions I observed this class doing music games in the “big room”, this child was forced to sit on the floor by an assistant and not allowed to participate. I was disappointed that this child who needed so much was not allowed to be a part of the game. In my class, he was much calmer and more cooperative when music was being used. I observed in this classroom this child being left behind but yet in conference of thirteen consulters he was made to look like a child who was completely cooperative and allowed to do everything the rest of the class. As it turned out he was dismissed from my class and put in a private setting because of his behavior. I know that he was pretty much ignored in the afternoon class after this. I was disappointed with myself that I could not help him more than I did.
On a different note, I found a great website that has information about consent/assent for parents and children. I want to share with you:
Parental Consent Form Retrieved from
http://www.research.umn.edu/consent/mod2soc/parent_consent.html
Children’s Assent Form Retrieved from
http://www.research.umn.edu/consent/mod2soc/child_assent2.html
Interesting :) Music is so important in the early childhood field. Music helps children to develop their muscles, their coordination and of course they learn letters, numbers , rhymes, etc... Even as an adult everything is so much easier when listening to music, at least for me :). I wonder if there is any research that study the benefits of music in the early childhood years...
ReplyDeleteThat is the whole purpose of my research topic. Music therapy benefits to the early child, especially the autistic child. In my opinion music benefits everyone but more particularly the child.
DeleteBarbara,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! I am so eager to keep reading as I think this is such a great topic. Thanks for the helpful websites as well!
Still following your posts avidly. I feel for the ones who get left behind and don’t get included. I am interested to continue seeing how the music therapy plays out.
ReplyDeleteBarbara,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. It is sad that so many children get left behind because they are not considered to be the status quo child. I think that music should be a large part of the curriculum in early childhood because children can learn so much through it. Thank you for sharing the links as well.
Have a great week!
Jamie Reid