Music in speech therapy is a valuable tool, offering a fun and engaging way to boost language development in children. Whether singing, clapping, or dancing, music helps children improve their speech, language, and communication skills by targeting rhythm, repetition, and melody—elements that naturally support speech patterns.
Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) in Speech Therapy
One highly effective music-based approach used in speech therapy is Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT). Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) uses musical elements like rhythm and melody to help children with communication difficulties produce words. By pairing simple tunes with speech, MIT encourages children to “sing” their words, aiding their transition to regular speech. This technique benefits children with apraxia of speech who have motor planning challenges that hinder word formation. The rhythmic cues in MIT provide a structured practice environment, making it easier for children to imitate and produce speech.
MIT is also effective for children with expressive language delays and various neurological speech disorders. It engages the brain’s musical regions to stimulate language areas. By involving both hemispheres, MIT builds new neural pathways for speech production. This enhances overall communication abilities in children. This innovative approach shows the powerful role music plays in speech therapy. It supports children with diverse needs in their language development.
How Singing Helps Children Who Stutter
Singing and Stuttering
Singing also has a profound effect on children who stutter. When a child sings, they use the right hemisphere of the brain for rhythm, melody, and creativity. In contrast, regular speech primarily involves the left hemisphere, which controls linguistic and motor aspects of talking. The rhythmic and melodic elements of singing promote smoother speech flow. This helps bypass disruptions that lead to stuttering. Singing encourages a slower, more controlled pace of speech, reducing tension in the vocal cords and speech muscles. Moreover, because singing follows a predictable rhythm and pattern, it removes some of the cognitive load of formulating spontaneous speech, allowing children to focus on fluency without the fear of blocks or repetitions.
Research Supporting Music in Speech Therapy
Research shows that incorporating music into speech therapy can benefit children with speech delays, apraxia, stuttering, and other communication challenges. An ASHA article titled: Use of Music Activities in Speech-Language Therapy, highlights the significant impact that music has on school-based speech-language pathology (SLP) services. The findings indicate that preschoolers receiving SLP services incorporating music demonstrate functional gains across various communication domains, benefiting their overall development and educational outcomes.
Sample Songs to Target Speech and Language Development
Here’s a table of sample songs for different age groups, highlighting their speech and language targets:
| Age Group | Sample Songs | Targets Speech & Language Development |
|---|---|---|
| Babies | “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” | Vocabulary, sound imitation, joint attention |
| “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” | Vocabulary, hand-eye coordination, early problem-solving skills | |
| “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” | Rhythm, repetition, joint attention | |
| “Pat-a-Cake” | Vocabulary, motor skills, turn-taking | |
| Toddlers | “Wheels on the Bus” | Repetition, gestures, simple sentence structure |
| “Five Little Ducks” | Counting, vocabulary, rhyming | |
| “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” | Body awareness, following directions, action words | |
| “This Old Man” | Sequencing, repetition, rhyming | |
| Preschoolers | “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” | Animal sounds, sequencing, vocabulary expansion |
| “The Farmer in the Dell” | Vocabulary, sequencing, social interaction | |
| “Mary Had a Little Lamb” | Rhyming, repetition, story recall | |
| “Itsy Bitsy Spider” | Sequencing, vocabulary, and narrative skills | |
| Early Elementary | “If You’re Happy and You Know It” | Action words, following directions, articulation |
| “The Hokey Pokey” | Following directions, body awareness, action words | |
| “Let It Go” (from Frozen) | Emotional expression, vocabulary expansion, articulation | |
| “ABC Song” | Alphabet recognition, phonemic awareness, memory |
Conclusion: Music in Speech Therapy
Incorporating music in speech therapy is an innovative and effective approach that significantly enhances language development in children. Music engages multiple areas of the brain, making learning more enjoyable and accessible. Techniques like Melodic Intonation Therapy not only support children with apraxia and other communication disorders but also promote fluency in children who stutter by utilizing the rhythmic and melodic elements of singing. By integrating familiar songs into daily routines, caregivers can create enriching speech-building opportunities that encourage vocabulary expansion, comprehension, and social interaction. Ultimately, music serves as a powerful tool in fostering communication skills and supporting the overall growth of young children.
Nanette Cote is an ASHA certified speech pathologist, published author, and private practice business owner with 30 years experience.
