THE ROLE OF MELOTHERAPY IN THE RECOVERY OF CHILDREN

WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

PROF. INV. PRIMAR. TRĂNECI DANIELA

HIGH SCHOOL UDREȘTI, DĂNICEI, VÂLCEA

Music has value that results from the multiple influences it has on the human psyche
due to the complexity of the musical phenomenon. Through its possibility of healing, music is
considered under the name of melotherapy. Melotherapy involves a set of psychotherapeutic
methods, in which the subject participates
it is active, relying on the inner world of his sounds in order to diagnose and treat. In
melotherapy, the educator must be interested in the effect of music in recovery
the personality of the normal individual or with special educational requirements. For children
with mental deficiency or for those with autism, melotherapy is used, in particular, to establish
another type of communication, different from the verbal one. When working with these
subjects, it matters less the level of development of the musical skills they possess, because in
this situation, music is not used in therapy due to its aesthetic qualities. The main objective of
melotherapy is to establish contact with these children and to facilitate communication between
them and the educator transformed into a therapist. So, music is used in order to recover as much
as possible the decompensated personality of this category of subjects. Research has shown that
percussion instruments, such as bells, tambourines, cymbals, xylophones facilitate
communication, especially in the case of children with more severe mental disabilities or those
who are shy and anxious.
For mentally deficient and hyperactive children, melotherapy is used to improve the voluntary
inhibition of motor acts and to achieve psychomotor performances.

In the case of anxious and hyperkinetic subjects, an instrument is used an instrument that emits
particularly harmonious long bell sounds to calm them down.
In subjects with emotional instability, the use of melotherapy determines the reduction of mental
tensions, the reduction of aggression, favors cooperation within the group and team activities.
Melotherapy activities can be carried out in groups or individually and can be divided into two
forms: the active form, which consists of various musical activities carried out, individually or in
groups, by the subjects themselves (instrumental or vocal music;
the receptive form, in which the subjects listen to the music.

In the melotherapy activities carried out in education by educators and speech therapists, the
following objectives must be pursued: the development of interest in musical activities;
formation and development of musical hearing; voice education, as the main means of playing
music; formation of practical musical skills; educating the skills of listening to music; the
integration of educational units in the artistic life; cultivating imagination and creativity;
balancing the child's entire personality by cultivating positive character traits; the development of
the child's sociability by participating in the activities organized by children's groups.
The main forms of organization of educational-therapeutic activities in the field of music therapy
are: song - has the strongest impact on the development of the child's mental processes; due to its
accessibility and varied content, through song the voice and musical hearing are developed, the
ability to sing individually or in a group is formed, the sense of rhythm and interest in the
activity is developed; musical games - they are mainly used for young children, for the
development of the sense of rhythm; musical games - exercise - aim to form elementary skills of
perception, recognition and reproduction of musical sound qualities;

The games with text and song combine in a unitary structure both the melody with the text and
the movement corresponding to the literary content, the latter being subordinated exclusively to
the text;

Musical audition contributes to the formation of artistic taste, the strengthening of auditory
concentration capacity, but also the installation of a state of relaxation and mental comfort.

In the framework of musical educational-therapeutic activities, the basic methods are:

demonstration, exercise, storytelling, conversation, explanation. They are shaped by the level of
mental development, the ability to learn and social adaptation, as well as by personal experience
in the field of music.
The demonstration appeals to auditory intuition, visual intuition and motor intuition. This
method is used continuously, both in the teaching and in the fixation activities, and requires the
execution of the educator's interpretation model.

The method of explanation is most often accompanied by demonstration and exercise. The
explanation is dosed and includes, on the one hand, the ideational content of the songs and, on
the other hand, breathing, emission, diction, nuances, vocal and rhythmic synchronizations.

Problematization is the method by which the educator verbally involves the children in
unfamiliar situations, situations that are often in disagreement with their experience. In order for
learning to become conscious and active, the novelty must first be understood, then fixed in
memory, which requires an effort of will.

Methodical preparation, experience and didactic mastery represent only a few elements through
which the educator positively influences the awareness and solving of musical problems by
children. He must prove a good understanding of them and a solution of them in a successive and
gradual way, in order to achieve an active musical education, through the assimilation of musical
skills and knowledge corresponding to the age, to master the most appropriate working methods
and procedures, able to solve rhythm, hearing, memory, voice problems. The educator's
contribution to the use of methods and procedures in music therapy is so important that it can be
said that their value depends on the one who applies them.
An adequate and systematic educational therapy promotes skill, recognition and easy
reproduction of musical games and songs. Music awakens children's attention for a longer period
of time, causing deep emotions, strong inner feelings or spontaneously created. Memory
develops by reflecting previous experience, by fixing, preserving, recognizing and reproducing
sound material, text, ideas, affective states or assimilated movements. Also, music causes
children to participate in activities, it corresponds to their spontaneous need for play, movement
and relaxation. In order for educational therapy to be as effective as possible, the educator must
have a very good professional training, know the particularities of each child and intervene with
great tact whenever needed.

Bibliography:

Gherguţ A., "Synthesis of special psychopedagogy", Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2005;
Gherguţ A., "Psychopedagogy of people with special needs. Integrated education strategies,
Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2005;
Muşu I., Taflan A., "Integrated educational therapy", Pro Humanitate Publishing House,
Bucharest, 1997