Grant Funds Music Therapy for Children on Autism Spectrum

BUFFALO, N.Y., August 29, 2013 – Families affected by autism spectrum disorders will benefit from music therapy thanks to a $7,990 grant from the J. Warren Perry and Charles Donald Perry Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. The grant will fund a collaborative effort involving Community Music School, the Autism Center at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, and the Exceptional Education Department at SUNY Buffalo State.

The pilot program, called MusiConnect, will provide eight weeks of music therapy sessions for children with autism spectrum disorders, along with their siblings. While the children bond through music, parents will participate in a support group in a nearby room. The series will launch at Community Music School’s Elmwood Avenue location in the fall, and will be repeated for another group of families in the Amherst area in early 2014.

The program is the first collaboration of its kind in the Buffalo area, pulling together the tools of music therapy, research and evaluation, education theory and parent engagement.

The music therapy sessions will be led by Jamie Rowitsch and Elyse Kochmanski, both board-certified music therapists. Graduate Exceptional Education students from SUNY Buffalo State will collect data and help to supervise the music therapy sessions. The parent support groups will be facilitated by Jana Mertz, program coordinator in the Autism Center at Women & Children’s Hospital, and Kathy Ralabate Doody, PhD, assistant professor in SUNY Buffalo State’s Exceptional Education Department.

Families interested in learning more should contact Community Music School at (716) 884-4887, info@cms-buffalo.org orwww.communitymusicbuffalo.org.