Abstract/Notes: This article introduces some of the theoretical principles that inform the use of play in the treatment of children with disabilities. A number of competing definitions of play and its functions are briefly discussed. Both educationalists and child psychotherapists make claims for the value of play but tend to offer quite different explanations of why it helps vulnerable children, whilst animal ethologists stress the role of play in promoting survival and adaptation. Some of the key ideas of historically important play theorists, including Freud, Klein, Winnicott, Froebel, Montessori and Piaget, are mentioned.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/030802269205500309

ISSN: 0308-0226, 1477-6006

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Abstract/Notes: Music is an integral part of every person’s life. Scientific research has shown the effectiveness of music in medical-rehabilitation contexts to the extent that it is considered, for some categories of people (disabled, socio-cultural, elderly), for the exclusive use of the psychotherapeutic field.The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the importance that music has also in the educational and didactic field to “exploit” its peculiarities, “beyond” the therapeutic component to include the many different contexts of life. Among these, the “digital environments” make music the protagonist of a “world 2.0”, within which, starting from the strengths of the differentiated Method of Maria Montessori, it is possible to create a union between pedagogy and musical education. The last section deals with deafness and music as a specimen, highlighting how theoretical and empirical research on this topic has dealt with it from a threefold perspective: on the one hand, music as rehabilitation therapy for deaf people; on the other, music’s contribution in the overall education of the deaf; finally, music as entertainment and its enjoyment as an expression of quality free time for deaf people.

Language: English

DOI: 10.7346/sipes-01-2020-16

ISSN: 2282-5061, 2282-6041

Abstract/Notes: The following article looks at the role movement and sensorial stimuli do play in the educational approaches of Dr. Maria Montessori and Dr. Emmi Pikler as well as the Sensorial Integration and Psychomotor Therapy. The author of this paper has been studying, applying, and teaching all four approaches for many years and used her expertise in all four approaches to look at whether independent scientific research proves the effectiveness of movement and sensorial stimuli for reaching therapeutical as well as educational goals and to also provide scientific evidence for the fact that all four approaches focus on the role of these two factors, which means that this is a comparative study utilizing existing research papers. The methods of applying movement and sensorial stimuli in the four approaches mentioned above are being compared and linked to recent scientific findings concerning the role of movement and sensorial stimuli for the efficacy of education and therapy. This article compares the four approaches based on scientific research on the various methods as well as independent research which looks and the impact of movement and sensorial stimuli as well as a method of application and its effectiveness. It has been found that sensorial stimulation and movement are closely connected and that these play a major role in all four approaches although the methods of application are quite different. One example might be that the Montessori method purposefully teaches specific movements in specific ways while only Sensory integration therapy also utilizes passive movement as a sensorial stimulation. All four approaches rely on the self-motivation of the child and do not apply any kind of pressure.

Language: English

DOI: 10.35923/JES.2021.2.02

ISSN: 2457-8673

Language: English

Published: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1983

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The child psychiatric ward at Aurora Hospital, Helsinki, has since 1977 experimentally used the Montessori method in therapy groups of 5–13 year old children. Those who have benefited most are children with neurological „soft signs”: insufficient visual, auditive or spatial perceptual ability, clumsiness, hyperactivity, emotionally impulsive or immature or speech retarded children. A surprise for the Montessori therapists was that even children with borderline type contact and reality disturbances were able to benefit—however, the treatment in these cases required more time.

Language: Swedish

DOI: 10.1080/00291463.1982.10636808

ISSN: 0029-1463

Abstract/Notes: The Montessori Method for dementia is a specific approach to dementia care that can be implemented as an alternative to pharmaceutical intervention with its focus on purposeful and meaningful doing. Montessori-based interventions that were found effective in increasing self-feeding for people with dementia included activities requiring hand-eye coordination, scooping, pouring and squeezing. For this project, there were five participants from a residential care facility. This study consisted of doing activities or exercises to simulate eating right before mealtime. This occurred three times per week for eight weeks. The broad long-term purpose of this project was to increase participation in the daily occupation of self-feeding for people with dementia in residential care facilities. Montessori-based occupational therapy interventions could provide caregivers with an evidence-based strategy to deal with eating difficulties of people with dementia.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2015