No matter what age or gender a person is, chances are there is some form of music that they enjoy. The power of music is often overlooked, as it comes with many benefits. One area where music has proven to be most valuable is with special needs children.

Music Combined with Visualization

Special needs children often need extra support when it comes to learning. Specialists in this form of teaching have come to realize that when they combine music with visual aids, it enhances comprehension in the youngster. It seems that the music that is used acts as a memory jogger for the visual piece. Some teachers are using music in combination with reading a storybook to the kids. If there are lyrics to the music, then physical gestures can be implemented to help increase the memory retention.

Better Engagement

One of the challenges that may arise with special needs kids is being able to engage them. One way around this is to determine what their favourite song is. This is usually not too difficult to do. Most children in this category will show strong responses to music that they like. This music can then be utilized as a form of engagement. Words from the lyrics can be emphasized to help the child learn to read and speak. For the little one, pictures can be married up with the lyrics that are comprised of animals, people or other objects. The child can then learn to identify the pictures and place them in sequences.

The Rhythm of Music

There are many different types of special needs children and within this category are those who have autism. For some of these kids, they respond well to the rhythm. Finding music that contains different forms of rhythm is an easy task. In some cases, autistic children will have different responses to the variation in the rhythm. This can be a great tool for helping them with their auditory needs and getting them to learn to identify different sounds.

Promotes Audible Functions

Using music as a special needs tool can also be valuable for getting children to perhaps speak. Instead of speaking, they may gravitate to singing.

Teachers of special needs kids are often coming up with new ideas of how they can put music to good use for the kids they are teaching. If nothing else, it can serve the purpose of calming a youngster who is experiencing anxiety.