Alman’s story

At the time of  his music therapy sessions, Alman was 6 years old and attended a school for children with additional support needs. Alman had autism and an early level of communication skills, using no speech to express himself. Alman generally took time to settle in his class and found it difficult to adjust to routines during his school day.

Alman was referred to music therapy  by his class teacher, with a view to encouraging him to develop his communication skills as well as increasing his ability to focus on tasks and improve his attention span.

During the sessions with music therapist Janet, Alman was immediately keen to explore the instruments and the space around him, showing particular interest in the piano and the guitar.  Over the weeks, Alman demonstrated an ability to focus for longer periods of time on specific instruments, not only enjoying playing them on his own terms but also joining in actively with Janet and clearly recognising the shared nature of their music making.

After just a few sessions with Janet, Alman had clearly come on leaps and bounds, using his voice more expressively (both in and out of the music therapy sessions) and approaching tasks with confidence and control.  His teacher has said that Alman really enjoyed the music therapy sessions and that he eagerly anticipated going every week.  She also commented that the music therapy sessions helped Alman’s self-esteem.