Music Therapy for the Young Child with Cerebral Palsy Who Uses Blissymbols

This paper explores the use of music with cerebral palsied children who are non-speaking and who use Blissymbols as their means of communication. Music therapy is used as a tool to increase the communication skills of these children through a combination of improvised music and mime. These expressive modalities enable the children to use aesthetic experiences to find pleasure, emotional release, mental stimulation, and personal satisfaction---all of which take them beyond the confines of their disabilities.