Honeylands Childrens Charity was set up by a small group of parents, friends and staff in 1974 to support the work of the Honeylands Specialist Child Assessment Centre and provide additional resources.
Members of this group, who contribute their time voluntarily, are committed to raising funds to deliver additional activities, services and resources to support the work carried out at Honeylands which has such an enormous impact on the future development of children with complex additional needs.
Conor’s Story …..
Conor has an autistic spectrum disorder, and found it extremely difficult to participate in group activities. He was referred for music therapy in the hope that it would provide him with a non-verbal expressive outlet for his emotions. This would lessen his anxieties and encourage him to tolerate the presence of another person alongside him in a shared activity.
In the early sessions he often arrived distressed, and would hide under his blanket. Gradually he calmed and ventured out to explore the music therapy room. Slowly he became more active in the sessions, and moved from intolerance of sound to allowing the therapist to accompany his playing with her singing. Then he began to strum the autoharp with her, giving good eye contact, for the first time. He would put her hands back on the strings if he wanted her to play again. Conor did not play the instruments conventionally. He liked to pluck them using his thumb and middle finger and could then join in a musical dialogue.
Conor did not usually use language to communicate but a huge moment was at the end of the ‘Hello’ song, when he looked directly at the music therapist and sang ‘Hello Sue’.
The Centre provides therapy intervention groups to meet specific needs which include difficulties with speech and language and/or communication; learning disability; physical disability; complex health needs; sensory disability and autistic spectrum conditions.
Find out more about Honeylands by clicking here...
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