Voices with tracheotomy: Music therapy with multiple disabilities in an Educational-Therapeutic Center

Abstract

Children and adolescents with multiple disabilities attend Educational-Therapeutic Centers instead of special schools due to medical indication owing to the complexity of their conditions. Many have Complex Communication Needs and tracheotomies. The music spaces are in charge of music therapists both in group and individual meetings. This experience happens in a CET Institution 1. Since the tracheotomy affects the ability to phonate, vocal work is transformed according to the possibilities of each child or adolescent. Methods: Voice is aimed at optimizing communication. Playful exploration and sound improvisation were generated during which children and adolescents were able to discover oral sounds that they could produce. Results: Oral sounds that were able to produce even if they were not phonated were recovered. The laughter generated a stimulating effect, motivating them to generate responses with their voice. The sounds they produced became more significant over the weeks. Discussion: The resulting communication has non-verbal characteristics and the non-phonated sounds produced can be incorporated into the communicative repertoire. The possibility is raised that music therapists and other professionals can initiate treatments without using their own verbal language when the population they work with cannot decode it.