Speech production, music therapy and celebral palsy

Abstract

This paper deals with the analysis of music therapy interventions focused on the development of speech production in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). The paper summarizes the results of theoretical analysis of the development of communication for persons with CP from the perspective of special education, speech therapy and music therapy intervention. The research methodology was based on qualitative design with a combination of content analysis and interpretive approach to case studies. The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between the level of speech production of people with CP and goals of music therapy intervention, its methods and procedures and musical materials used in music therapy practice. The research sample consisted of 10 individuals with CP and different levels of speech production. Data collection was based on an in-depth case analysis of available data from documents, video and audio recordings, music therapy products and interviews with music therapists. The research results have identified four stages of music therapy intervention (pre-verbal, semantic, phonological and stadium of complex linguistic phenomena). In each stage typical goals, methods and tools were described.