Electronic teaching aids for disabled children

Balajothi Centre for the Disabled

Project # 21529

    Electronic Teaching Aids for disabled children

Report due date : Jan 28, 2018 – Report sent on Jan 11, 2018

5 Reasons Why Music Helps Children with Special Needs

We all know how powerful music can be in our own lives and in the lives of our children, but why is music so compelling and captivating?  What exactly is it about music that makes it a great way to connect with and help children with special needs? Let’s take a look.

 1. Music Motivates

Finding ways to motivate children to work on challenging tasks or skills can be difficult. Music tends to be one of the top motivators for children with special needs so you can use this to your advantage by doing the following:

• Use captivating instruments to prompt a child to make requests, i.e. holding out a drum and waiting for them to communicate, “I want the drum”
• Use different instruments to encourage the development of motor skills
• Sing a song during a challenging activity so a child is more willing to work through it

This list could go on and on, just remember that whether you use recorded music or make your own music, there are so many musical ways to motivate a child!

 2. Music is a Multi-Sensory experience

Picture a child hitting a drum with a mallet. On the surface level most people would just see a kid playing a drum but hold on, there is so much more going on. Let’s break it down.

• Their tactile system is engaged because they are feeling the mallet in their hand
• Their kinesthetic system in engaged as they move their wrist and arm to strike the drum
• Their auditory system is engaged as they listen to the sound of the drum
• Their visual system is engaged as their eyes track the motion of their arm and the mallet in their hand

About the only thing missing is their sense of smell and taste, but hey, I’ve seen that happen too! All kidding aside, music making is a perfect fit for kids with special needs because it engages and appeals to many of their sensory strengths and needs.

We at Balajothi are mindful of this all important role music plays in the development and progress of special children.  And we are thankful to you, individually, and collectively to GlobalGiving, for your very generous and sustained contributions of $234 raised to date in support of this worthy cause.  We are proud to say that all our special children have learnt or in the process of learning making music using their key boards and other instruments.

…. We shall continue this conversation in our next project report. Till then..

God bless and keep you !!

J M Balaraj

Project leader