NORTH VYANCOUVER music therapist Johanne Brodeur shares a musical moment with Doug
McEwen. Her adult client is autistic and deaf. Music therapy has been proven to increase social

skiils and aitention span.

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Wednesday, February 26, 1992 —- North Shore News - 41

Johanne Brodeur uses music as
part of her therapeutic sessions

A LOCAL music therapist
is using music as a_ thera-
peutic tool to help people
improve their social and
physical skills.

8y Michael Becker
News Reporter

Johanne Brodeur holds a doc-
toral degree in music therapy.

A concert pianist by training,
Brodeur went on to study music
therapy in the United States.

For the past eight years she has
specialized in children’s therapy
through her North, Vancouver-
based private practice. The range
of clients she sees includes
children with behavioral or learn-
ing difficulties and emotionally
disturbed, physically or mentally
handicapped children.

She has a few adult clients.
Most of the people she helps
Tange in age from birth to 12.

Regardless of the age or
challenge, music becomes an ef-
fective communications bridge to
aricher, more confident life.

Brodeur, for example, works to
develop motor and language skills
for a young girl with Down’s syn-
drome.

“So you design the musical ac-
tivities to improve speech, vocabu-

a cik‘s

lary, fine motor and gross motor
skills,"’ she said.

An adult client, Doug McEwen,
is autistic and deaf. For him, the
therapeutic approach changes.

“tes totally improvisational,
and we try to connect socially
through music; it’s an in-
ter-musical relationship. With
Doug | use melodic percussion in-
struments, and then | change to
drums and the piano with all the
percussion instruments,’’ Brodeur
said.

Melodic and rhythmic percus-
sion instruments are favored for
music therapy. They serve to si-
multaneously connect and main-
tain a comfort zone between ther-
apist and child.

Meanwhile Brodeur is pursuing
an interest in the benefit of music
therapy for hyperactive children.

Said Brodeur, ‘‘The big prob-
lem right now that’s being
recognized is Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder. It is really
being recognized as a syndrome in
itself.

“*Music is wonderful for atten-
tion span and hyperactivity. It
helps the child to organize
thoughts and the patterns of the
exercises require more and more
attention as they get more dif-
ficult.’”

—

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