Dance Therapy Documented Outcomes

 Dance Therapy Documented Outcomes Sept.-Dec. 08'

I facilitate a dance therapy program for the children at The Minnesota Autism Center.  The program started in Sept. 2008.  All the children are between 3-10 years of age.  They are imersed in intensive Applied Behavior Anaylsis (ABA Therapy).  The dance therapy program that I provide is an add-on therapy that is meant to be fun for the children and at the same time provide some new learning opportunities.  I'm going to document our outcomes with the hope that what I document will help others. 

I started the dance therapy program by getting to know the children and by creating a fun learning environment specific to this groups needs that would encourage participation and learning. 

I used music for everything, so no matter what we were working on the music was with us. I started each class with a warm-up called "Come and Make a Circle".  We didn't hold hands to make a circle like I would do in a regular class, because many Autistic children don't want to be touched, so instead we made a circle with our arms out in front, up high and we swayed our circle with our arms to the right and left showing our friends our circle.  Next we stood tall and reached up to the sky and then we'll made ourselves small by bending low to the floor.  Next we sat on the floor first with our legs crossed (I call this criss cross applesauce) and again we stretched up high and then bent over low (making ourselves big and then small), we always do a few more floor stretches and then we stand up and start to dance.  The class had a favorite dance called "My Pony Macaroni".  It is a perfect introduction dance, because it is fun, we utilized creative movement skills and it teaches listening skills too. We did several more dances at each session that were simple, had fun movements and all utilized listening skills. Our early lesson plans all focused on: Hearing the music.  We danced when the music played and we stopped when the music stopped.  We moved fast when the music was fast and we moved slow when the music was slow. 

The children in my dance therapy class fell into 1 of 3 categories when I started working with them in September 2008. 

Category 1 - These children wanted to participate and they were able to respond to a question with words, but they didn't want to be engaged directly.  If I physically approached them or even made direct eye contact with these children they would back away.  My initial goal with the children in category 1 is to gain their trust so, they can move forward, fully engage and  participate with joy.  I think that the children in this category will make great strides once I gain their trust. 

Category 2 - These children were eager to participate, they wanted to engage, they were affectionate (some were huggers that needed to work on when this is and/or isn't appropriate) and when excited they made high pitched sounds as a way of communicating excitement or joy.  They wanted to please, but don't always respond to questions.  I noted that they tried to respond, but weren't able to express with words. My initial goals with this group is to instill appropriate space boundaries plus, encourage them to respond to my questions with words initially with prompting and eventually with less prompting.

Category 3 - These children needed to be prompted always and they needed physical help to participate.  Trust isn't an issue they don't back away and I think they like participating, but they simply are unable to participate without a lot of help.  My initial goal with category 3 is to see if through music and dance I can get them to participate with some prompting, but with less physical help.

To summarize the early months of dance therapy:  I've enjoyed working with all the children and I believe that they all are receiving benefits from participating in dance therapy.  The director and therapists at The MN Autism Center are very happy with how the boys are responding.  They didn't know if the children that I categorized as being in the category 3 group would participate at all and they've all stuck with it and they're happy being in the class even though they've needed constant assistance. My greatest reward as a dance therapist was when one of these children spoke his very first words to me.  The children who I categorized as being in group 2 who initially had personal boundary issues now all understand where their space is and where my space is plus, they're responding directly to me using their words with a little prompting.  The children that I categorized as being in group 1 who initially backed away are now engaging directly with me and they're even joyfully making requests to do their favorite dances. The  program director and the center therapists have said that the creative movement we do has been excellent for the children, because these children haven't experienced creative play previously.  In addition to creative movement I have the children doing sequenced repetitive patterns and they've successfully been able to master the sequences using song and dance as a positive and fun motivator.  Also, when we first started we couldn't make a circle holding hands, but now we do this at every class.  We have become a team.  Music and dance is providing the children with a new vehicle to learn.  Dance and Music requires participants to use both the creative side of the brain and the logic side of the brain (the left and right side) and consequently it's helping autistic children build new learning pathways. 

Each week when I arrive to facilitate the dance therapy class the children are excited to see me, they're using words to greet me and they're making requests to do their favorite dances.  Dance Therapy has provided the children with a new learning opportunity to develop positive social skills, communication skills and learning skills.  In January I'll continue to work with the children who started in September plus, new children will be starting.  The program is growing and I'm excited to see what blessings the New Year will bring!