Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Children’s Music Fund provides Music Therapy that helps the entire family.

Nolan Coats, age 4, and his mom Jennifer

Children’s Music Fund provides Music Therapy that helps the entire family.

Encino, CA - January 20, 2014

Music Therapy is a type of healing art whose therapeutic benefits reach far beyond the individual patient. Not only does music therapy benefit the patient, but family members consistently report its many positive outcomes as well.

Music is one of the oldest, significant healing tools in medicine. In the area of pain management, music provides distraction and cognitive imagery to aid in relaxation. Therapeutic music can also help to restore lost abilities such as speech, and expression

Just before his 2nd birthday, Nolan was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. “In addition, when he was young, he had fluid in both of his middle ears and we decided not to get them drained because the doctor said his muscles would be strong enough to push the fluid by the time he was two.”

Nolan was very antisocial, wouldn't respond to his name, was overwhelmed by too many people and would play by himself.  His parents didn't know if Nolan couldn’t hear because of the fluid, “but when we had his ears checked and they were clear, his behaviors stayed the same.”

Nolan’s dad, Scotty Coats, produces music, when Scotty would work on a remix, from the very start of the song, Nolan would stop what he was doing and run to whatever source it was playing out of.  He only responded to music.  

Nolan was non-verbal until about 3 1/2 years old. Scotty and Nolan’s Mom, Jen started using the PECS system (Picture Exchange Communication System) as well as teaching Nolan sign language and it was working. They knew Nolan had the cognitive to communicate.

Jen and Scotty then reached out to Children’s Music Fund (CMF) after hearing about the program from Miller’s Children’s and Women’s Hospital where CMF provides music therapy 4 hours a week to inpatient children. CMF matched Nolan to one of their Board Certified Music Therapist, Stacie. And from there, the work began.

Like any other form of therapy, music therapy is an active and creative partnership between a skilled musician/clinician who can facilitate responsive therapy to meet certain goals, whether they are physiological, emotional or psychological.  

Since the brain is very complex, the verbal centers are located in different part of the brain from the singing centers, when music is performed and listen to, such as in music therapy, and not just in music listening, almost all of the brain regions are lit up or active.

Stacie worked with Nolan on using his voice as an instrument and making sounds, which eventually turned into words.  Scotty says, “I really feel she had a HUGE impact on his speech because of the repetition and melody.  Now when he speaks, his sentences are like little songs with melody and dynamics.”

Because of his music therapy work over the year, Nolan is able to verbalize his wants and needs, and actually communicate with his family.

“I truly feel that Stacie helped with Nolan’s anxiety of wanting to communicate but not being able to get the words out.  Music is the universal language and we are truly thankful for all CMF has done for our family.  I will never forget the first time I came home from work and he looked at me and said, DADA!!”

This winter, at the CMF’s biggest fundraising gala, Nolan and his music therapist, performed two of Nolan’s favorite songs, “The Car Song” and “Rockin’ Robin”, in front of over 200 supporters. This sold-out event gala was held at the Pacific Palisades home on Don and Sarah Griffin, long-time CMF supporters. Mr. Griffin is the founder of West LA Music, and former president of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM).

The Children’s Music Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide musical instruments and music therapy to children, adolescents, and young adults with chronic conditions and life-altering illnesses, and to support research on the effects of music therapy.

For more information please visit: www.thecmf.org



Photo Credit: Cynthia Lum

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