Music therapy has the power to help and heal people in all walks of life. Sometimes you need to give someone a mental, physical, or emotional boost. For one young man living in Austin, music has helped him learn to communicate and find his voice like never before. Nicole Bowen has lived in Austin for over 25 years. She realized that after living in Central Texas for a while, she wanted to add someone to her family. "I wanted a child, but I wasn't married," Bowen said. "And there are a lot of children out there who need a home." Coincidentally, Bowen's mother, Cynthia Bowen, had also moved to Austin around the same time and was raising a child when Nicole Bowen was moved to adopt. That young man was Briston Bowen, someone who showed an interest in music early on in life. "He's always had an affinity for music and his love for music," Cynthia Bowen said. So, it was an easy decision for Nicole Bowen to bring Briston Bowen into her family forever. “My mom said, ‘You’re taking Briston,’ and I quickly said, ‘OK, sounds good,’” Nicole Bowen said with a smile. While Briston Bowen has a keen interest in music, he also has something else: autism. “He didn’t do a lot of things socially,” Nicole Bowen said. “He wasn’t really talking and expressing his feelings.” Wanting to help him overcome this communication obstacle, Nicole Bowen began researching and trying to figure out what programs or therapies might help. Since he had already connected with music naturally, music therapy became an option she began looking into.
“There was a time when I didn’t even want to go out,” Nicole Bowen said. “I knew we had to try something.” That’s when music therapist Meredith Hamons came into the picture and helped Briston open up. Hamons is the founder and clinical director of North Austin Music Therapy, a treatment center that offers music therapy for seniors, people with autism, and other developmental and early childhood disorders.
“Music therapists can work with all types of people,” Hamons said. “Music is the only sensory input that is processed in all areas of your brain, at the same time.” Hamons and his organization offer individual and group sessions, depending on what the client needs most. “Everything we do is music, but the end goal is not for the client to be good at playing the drums or any other instrument,” he said. “Ultimately, music therapy is the use of music to achieve non-musical goals.”
When Hamons began working with Briston Bowen, even when he was still hesitant to speak or even talk to her, Hamons said she could tell he was a natural. “When we first started, it was really apparent that he had incredible musical talent,” Hamons said. “He started being able to complete more and more thoughts and ideas as we worked together.” Through some of Hamons’ work, she had created songs that encouraged Briston Bowen to fill in certain parts and to speak by singing or speaking. What this is doing is giving Briston Bowen a unique way to figure out how to speak. “One way to describe music therapy is like you’re trying to drive to the grocery store, and if you’re driving to the grocery store, you don’t really care how you get there. You’re going to drive there. If a road is closed or a path is clogged with traffic, he’ll just take an alternate route and continue on with his day. With music therapy, neurologically, we’re giving someone like Briston a different way to accomplish the same task.” Dr. Bob Duke is the director of Music and Human Learning at the University of Texas Butler School of Music. He said the way music is structured and memorized can help initiate communication. "The idea that you can do some of this with music now creates a different dimension of expression," Duke said.
“Music involves so much of the brain. It has a perceptual component. It has a motor component, it has an emotional component—it seems a little bit magical when you think about the way that music actually affects human beings.” Magic or not, Briston Bowen’s family can now see and hear the difference from when he was much younger. “Now, he’s talking a lot,” Nicole Bowen said. “Music therapy has been a blessing for him.” Briston Bowen also expanded the instruments he can play, which include piano, marimba, drums, quads, tambourine, and cymbals. “We have no idea what Briston’s potential is,” Cynthia Bowen said. “Watching him, along with music, progress and being able to control his emotions has been wonderful.” Not only has music therapy helped Briston Bowen communicate through his words and instruments, Nicole Bowen said he’s interacting much more with people outside of his home and making lots of band friends, too.
Translated by Cristina Oroz Under: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/music-and-the-mind-part-3-music-therapy-helps-an-austin-boy-with-autism-speak/269-575071875