Music therapy and children with a language impairment: Some examples of musical communication in action

Children with a Language Impairment frequently experience additional difficulties with social interaction, emotional regulation and self-esteem. This article illustrates some ways in which music therapy addresses these secondary effects of language impairment, using examples from small group music therapy with two boys aged 5 years with Mixed Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder. Improvised drum games (non-verbal interaction), kazoo-vocalization (quasi-verbal interaction) and the therapist’s musical/verbal narration of the children’s play were used to offer musical alternatives to normal verbal interaction with the aim of increasing fluency, decreasing aggressive/frustrated behaviours and raising self-esteem. Video analysis of sessions indicates that competitive/aggressive play decreased during the course of music therapy, as did episodes of high-pitched screaming (indication of frustration). Cooperative play increased as did the frequency of attempts at verbal interaction. This suggests that in terms of social communication, positive changes in relationship patterns and increased spontaneous speech and cooperative play occurred during music therapy for these children with a language impairment.