Music Therapy As a Part of Rehabilitation of People with Physical Handicap

Summary of the Presentation

My disertation concentrates on several basic problems dealing with therapeutic application of music at physically handicaped people. Music and art therapy is a special service that helps to achieve important goals of rehabilitation process and reduce some consequences of physical handicap.

Music therapy is a well establihed therapy for people with specific needs in many foreign countries. Therapeutic intervention using arts is highly aprecciated in special education in Czech. It slowly forms a new paradigm of this discipline. However because of short history of music therapy in Czech Republic there is a lack of scientific research. There many important questions unsufficiently answered.

In the context of music therapy intervention there are several significant issues coming out if realizing therapy for physically disabled people:

• pasivity of people with severe physical handicap and limitation of their active including into the therapeutic process
• helplessness of therapists due to communication barrier if providing music therapy services for persons with severe multihandicap (both physical and mental)
• etical issues concerning the individual reactions of people on etnical elements in music therapy and the technologically adapted sound - these methods are often used for reduction of spasms and self-body control at cerebral palsy and other physical imparments.

These issues belongs to research topics in my disertation. I assume outputs of my research will have a great impact on my music therapy practise as well as on pregraduate courses of music therapy available in studying programs at pedagogical faculty.

My presentation will be opened by a brief introduction to the area of music therapy, possiblities of therapeutic intervention at physically disabled people and issue of etnical elements in music therapy. Short introductory speech will reflect some theoretical and practical points targeting my therapeutic method and particular areas of my research. Its metodology and application of quantitative and qualitative methods will be discussed. You will be also able to see and hear short practical exhibition lively demonstrating music therapy techniques.

Mgr. Kantor Jiří