Amelia Clapham: Ace Music Therapy

For today’s meeting we were joined online by Michael and Janet Littlewood from the Rotary Club of Chelmsford Phoenix. Janet will be their President in 2020-21.

Our speaker was Amelia Clapham from Ace Music Therapy CIC. She told us that as a teenager she found herself sitting next to a nonverbal autistic boy. She started stroking his hand; his parents were amazed to see that she seemed to be communicating with him. This got her interested in helping nonverbal children to communicate and, since she had always been interested in music, she felt called to pursue a career in music therapy. She studied at Anglia Ruskin University and qualified as a music therapist in 2015. She set up Ace Music Therapy in 2017.

Initially she was Ace Music Therapy’s only music therapist but the demand for help was such that she got others to join her. The company now has three directors and four music therapists.

The therapists work with each child to allow the child to decide how it wishes to make music. In most cases the therapist will determine which instrument(s) are most suitable, depending on the nature and extent of the disability. For example, those who can only use a single limb may be able to play some sort of percussion instrument with it. Even those with no movement in their bodies may still be able to make music by using eye movements to play some sort of instrument controlled by a computer.

The aim is to help children with disabilities develop their motor and communication skills. Amelia mentioned one boy who was completely nonverbal. She found a very simple instrument he could use with his mouth. From this simple beginning over time she enabled him to start speaking and he is now completely articulate.

Individual sessions are structured around the child’s own needs and preferences. None is pressed to do anything they don’t want to. Sessions normally last 45 minutes. Some children can only take five minutes to begin with but then build up. Each session starts with a “Hello song’ and ends with a “Goodbye Song”. These are chosen by the child or, if they are unable to express a choice, by the therapist. The child learns that these two songs mark the beginning and end of each session; when the therapist starts the “Goodbye Song” it is time to get ready to go.

Ace Music Therapy also runs group sessions, which additionally help children with their social skills. After the birth of Amelia’s first child last year, they started “Cradle Rock Sessions” to develop the bonds between new mothers and their babies.