Music Based Autism Therapy

Who Is A Music Therapist?

A music therapist is an individual who:
  • Has a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalency in music therapy
  • Has demonstrated clinical proficiency on guitar, voice, and piano (minimum)
  • Has knowledge about developmental milestones, developmental disabilities, and the applications of music within therapy
  • Is skilled at creating treatment plans, analyzing data, and designing therapeutic interventions
  • Has completed a minimum of 1200 clinical training hours as a music therapist
  • Has passed the national board certification exam through the Certification Board for Music Therapists earning them the credentials MT-BC (music therapist-board certified)
Friends of Autistic People has proudly partnered with Infinity Music Therapy Services to offer financially struggling families subsidized music therapy for their child or adult child with Autism.

What is The FAP Music Therapy?

Music therapy is a data-based allied health profession that uses music and music-based interventions to address non-music goals and objectives. For individuals diagnosed with Autism, music therapy can focus on improving speech and language, social skills, sensory integration, attention to task, self-regulation, and cognition, just to name a few.

What Happens During A Music Therapy Session?​

Each session is customized to the individual receiving services to target each client’s individual needs while incorporating their preferred music, instruments, and materials, while accommodating for the person’s learning style. Music therapy sessions are highly interactive and involve live music. In a session, you may see:
  • Therapeutic instrument play: the music therapist specifically chooses instruments down to the size and type of material they are made of based upon sensory processing skills and needs for self-regulation
  • Collaborative singing: the music therapist uses researched based methods to target speech production, the use of adaptive communication devices, picture exchange communication systems and more
  • Sensory integration within song: instruments such as the ocean drum and cabasa are used to assist with attention to task and social-communication needs while addressing the needs of sensory seekers
  • Play-based techniques: the music therapist may write songs in the moment to reflect and encourage play while providing guidance in social-communication skills
For more information about FAP's Assisted Music Therapy Program, please contact Tibor Darany at 203-661-8510 or Email Tibor.

The Program

FAP has established a Music therapy Clinic Program. It is a movable program, a Music Therapy "Truck" so to speak - not unlike the now very popular movable restaurants on wheels, the food trucks: the therapist comes to your home or wherever is most suitable to work with your child. She then uses all musical tools such as rhythm, instruments, song, sound, word, pitch, color etc., in a person centered treatment program to help your child reach the milestones that the parent and the therapist determine the child or adult with autism needs to reach. Music based activity and therapy is one of the most successful tools in working with people who have autism. AT ANY AGE! It has been very successful for children and adults. As we do not have the Independent Homesteads Community yet we started this program in the meantime. FAP's Music Therapy Program is subsidized to the recipient and the parent pays very little compared to the value the child receives in stimulating the brain, learning opportunity for goals selected by the parent with the therapist and potential for improvement as well as an hour of respite for the caregiver. We pursue grants to fund our program. If the mother is single and unemployed, we absorb almost all the cost. Please help us continue this program by donating NOW.