Jacqueline Birnbaum, administrative coordinator and a senior therapist at Steinhardt's Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy, recently joined representatives from over 40 nations at the Third Annual Shafallah Center Forum on Children with Special Needs in Doha, Qatar. The Shafallah Center, established under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Missned, provides comprehensive services to children with disabilities and is the first in the region.
Birnbaum was asked to contribute to a symposium on music and art as a "Social Bridge to Inclusion," and was the only music therapist asked to present. People with disabilities are often isolated from the social fabric of their communities. Birnbaum's presentation, Social and Cultural Inclusion through Music, used clinical examples from work done at the Nordoff-Robbins Center to illustrate the ways in which music can bridge this gap.
Birnbaum also spoke about how the Nordoff-Robbins Center is contributing to the worldwide research effort for children with autism by developing and testing a research tool that measures the behavioral changes that occur in music therapy in children with autism spectrum disorders. The instrument focuses on two crucial areas, communication and social interaction.
Birnbaum was asked to contribute to a symposium on music and art as a "Social Bridge to Inclusion," and was the only music therapist asked to present. People with disabilities are often isolated from the social fabric of their communities. Birnbaum's presentation, Social and Cultural Inclusion through Music, used clinical examples from work done at the Nordoff-Robbins Center to illustrate the ways in which music can bridge this gap.
Birnbaum also spoke about how the Nordoff-Robbins Center is contributing to the worldwide research effort for children with autism by developing and testing a research tool that measures the behavioral changes that occur in music therapy in children with autism spectrum disorders. The instrument focuses on two crucial areas, communication and social interaction.