The Beat Goes On

Recently, I sat on an airplane next to an occupational therapist who does a great deal of work with autistic children. Naturally my music therapy background came up in the conversation, and we began talking about the treatment of autistic children and the importance of rhythm in that treatment.

My new acquaintance told me that in her experience children who don't respond to much of anything, who have little language, and who are not in touch with their bodies or with the world around them, very often are responsive to rhythm. When they have a chance to hear or beat on a drum, or become involved in simple rhythmic games, they seem somehow more open to other learning, even language learning and the learning of appropriate social behavior.

This came as no surprise to me, but it did remind me of my early music therapy training, in which one of the first things I was to discover was that rhythm is an organizer. It helps us structure our behavior and our thinking processes.

My mind raced as we talked: raced back to the many autistic children with whom I had the pleasure of working as a music therapist. I remembered Gerald, who came into a music group mute and almost completely devoid of any kind of social behavior or interaction. I remembered how, on one spring day, when the whole group was dancing, Gerald and I wheeled around the room in a crazy, wonderful dance. And then took ourselves out into the hallway, beyond the doors of the music room, out onto the lawn, skipping, dancing the whole time. And I remembered when Gerald whooped with pleasure. I wanted to cry. In fact, I think I did. It was the first sound I had heard from this boy since I had been working with him.

I don't dance, but I wish I did. I wish I had learned how to dance as a kid. There is something wonderful about watching a group dance together. There is something communal, something interactive and holistic about a Conga line or a line dance or a square dance.

I thought, too, about the summer of 2000, when I heard a drumming group perform at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's Youth Gathering. I think I mentioned this in a previous article on the website. These were inner-city kids, many of whom had come from troubled homes, many of whom had lives with little structure, who seemed galvanized by the organizing principle of rhythm. Not only was their drumming terrific, but all of the social behavior in the group seemed focused and organized and goal-directed.

I have witnessed drumming groups where people who are strangers to one another seem, in the process of playing drums together, to come to know each other in ways that don't require words.

I'd like to recommend a CD to you; maybe you know it, maybe you don't. Mickey Hart, who was the drummer for The Grateful Dead for many years, has become consumed with drumming around the world. One of the most interesting CDs he produced was a collection called Planet Drum. Percussionists from all around the world were invited to come together to produce music that is a hybrid of many kinds of rhythmic expression from all over the planet. The CD is several years old now, but I still find it one of the best in my collection.

Clap your hands, stomp your feet,
Beat on the drum, dance in the street.
Sing out a song, make rhythm and rhyme,
We need some hope in these troubled times.

KPM/ 2001