A Music Therapy Treatment Protocol for Acquired Dysarthria Rehabilitation

Abstract

Dysarthria is a common form of speech impairment, affecting 20–50% of stroke patients and 10–60% of traumatic brain injury patients (Sellars, Hughes, & Langhorne, 2002). Very little research has been conducted on the effect of treatments for dysarthria and even less has been reported on rehabilitative music therapy interventions. In the current climate of evidence-based practice (Edwards, 2002) the music therapy profession needs to develop and rigorously test interventions designed to address specific disorders such as dysarthria. This paper discusses theoretical foundations for the use of singing interventions to treat dysarthria and presents a music therapy dysarthria treatment protocol in..