Drum therapy has been used for thousands of years to help maintain physical, spiritual, and mental health in the Shamans of Mongolia to the Miniaka healers of West Africa. Recent research indicates that drumming accelerates physical healing, boosts the immune system and produces feelings of well-being, a release of emotional trauma, and reintegration of self.
How Drumming Helps Children with Special Needs
1. Support Emotional Needs/Impulse Control
Drumming can help a child learn to regulate their emotions. It can be very useful for expressing emotions and to "get it out." Drumming can release aggression, and invite in a calmer state of mind, particularly improve impulse control.
2. Increase Communication and Speech
Drums can reinforce vocalizations, speech, sounds and even help with sentence building. Drumming can be used to reinforce word syllables and then expand to full sentences. An effective strategy is to have the child sound out each syllable or word as they simultaneously play it on the drum.
3. Develop Social Skills
Groups drumming, with the proper facilitation, is a powerful exercise for people of all ages to strengthen social skills. Group drumming teaches children to listen, pay attention, turn-taking, sharing, and taking cues from one another.
4. Support Eye-Hand Coordination/Motor Skills
Drumming can help improve upper body control, arm movement and increase eye-hand coordination, particularly if you use more than one drum. Drumming with mallets helps with reaching, grasping, the fluidity of movement and fine motor skills.
5. Improve Self-Esteem and Fun!
Drumming can be a lot of fun. Drumming is a great way for children with special needs to play and to get physical exercise.
Drumming combines motor movement with auditory and visual feedback, which makes it a great tool for strengthening a variety of skills for children with special needs. Since drumming is multi-sensory, it facilitates greater engagement, encourages learning, brain function, and skill building all while having fun!
