LIFESTYLE AUTHOR
Caroline Betik
PHOTOGRAPHY
Courtesy of Julie Westerman
ASD AND MUSIC THERAPY n How rhythm and music can help children with autism spectrum disorder.
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ive-year-old Emma Westerman loves sound. She is more intrigued by the noises her toys make when she clashes them together than by the function they were designed to perform. She is easily amused listening to a squeaky door rock back and forth on its hinges for hours, and the guitar solo at the beginning of “Thunderstruck” by ACDC always makes her freeze, while a smile spreads across her face as she recognizes her favorite song. “It’s pretty cute,” Emma’s mom, Julie Westerman says with a chuckle. “She is a dainty, petite, little thing, but she loves to play rough, and she likes heavy metal.” Emma Westerman was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a toddler. When her mom discovered the Center for Music Therapy in a Facebook group for families with kids who have autism, she decided to give it a try with Emma. Over a year later,
OCTOBER 2020
Julie says the way Emma responds to music — music therapy in particular — shows how much power is behind music. Throughout history, music therapy has enabled people with ASD to learn to relate to others, communicate feelings and establish rhythms and relationships in their daily lives. Emma is one of many patients who has seen dramatic lifestyle improvements once she turned to music for treatment. Hope Young, board-certified music therapist and president/owner of Center for Music Therapy, says the method of teaching through song and rhythm is a neurological phenomenon in which the whole brain activates at the same time. “You can speak a rhythmic pattern like ‘good morning’ three times, and this will activate one side of your brain,” Young says. “But, you sing that, and all of a
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