Quiet, Please! (or: Hurry Up and Wait!)

Shhhhhhhh.
Silence is golden.
You could hear a pin drop.
Quiet as a mouse.
Whatever cliche you use, never underestimate the power of silence. Yes...even in music therapy. No, I'm not contradicting myself (the woman who often explains that music therapy can be loud and chaotic). There is a place for silence in music therapy. Or at least, relative quiet.

In my work with children with auditory processing issues,and/or apraxia (the neurological disorder that shows itself as an inability to perform speech or motor tasks despite having the cognitive awareness to do so), I have learned to "hurry up and wait" while they process a directive. Something that we find simple, such as striking a drum, is a real challenge to children with apraxia. I like to explain it this way: Remember learning how to drive a car with a manual transmission? You needed to really think about how much gas to give with your right foot, and how to let up JUST the right amount on the clutch...aaaaannnnd...STALL!!! Oops, gotta start all over again! It's much the same with these children. I've learned to give a directive ONCE--either spoken or sung, and WAIT for the response. If you prompt too quickly after the first directive, the child has to process the whole thing all over again. In a sense, she stalls, then she must start the engine again, find that balance between gas and clutch, if you will, and hopefully, finally perform the task at hand.

In group music therapy, when I have parents or other therapists or assistants present, I ask them to please refrain from prompting after I have given the initial directive. Am I a control freak? Actually, no. It's to give the child time for the message to get from the brain to the muscles...and if that takes up to a full minute, so be it. I realize how difficult it is to not try to hurry the process up...we all love instant gratification. I promise, though...give it time, and the rewards will be even greater than you can imagine. Not the least of these gifts is the thrill of accomplishment, the "I DID IT!" feeling that every child needs, and those children with significant challenges, even moreso. As time passes, and the child is consistently given adequate processing time, there may be a quickening of response time. Yes, there will be good days and bad days, but always, the point of therapy is to build skill over time. It's never a steady upward climb. There will be ups and downs in the therapeutic process. So remember, when working with a child who has apraxia, or an auditory processing disorder, silence is golden, and less (talking) is more!

Stay tuned!