Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 182, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1910 — MUSIC BRINGS CURE [ARTICLE]

MUSIC BRINGS CURE

Rhythm Charms Disease of Afflicted Little Children. Wonderful Results Obtained by Use of Melody In Treatment of Infantile Paralysis, Considered Incurable. London. The wonderful results which can be obtained from the scientific use of music and rhythm in infantile paralysis were the subject of an impromptu demonstration at the Tiny Tim guild, an institution in City road, London, for the treatment of paralyzed children who are considered incurable at the general hospitals. The first patient was a boy of 6, whose right arm had been totally paralyzed following an attack of acute Infantile paralysis. A drum and his zeal for beating it in time so as to beconje a professional drummer when fee grows up have been his salvation. What massage and electrical treatment alone eould not do, constant working at his drumming has accomplished, and now the paralyzed arm is almost as useful as the other. The second case was a child of 3, who six months ago was totally paralyzed in both legs. Her treatment consisted of “marching” to an inspiriting tune played on the piano, while seated on the edge of a low wooden chair.

“The secret of the treatment,” Miss Hawthorne, the founder of the guild, explained, “is to make them build up the strength of the paralyzed muscles and nerves by encouraging them to use their limbs in the way each individual likes best. The music keeps their interest up and prevents their becoming bored and tired.” The most interesting case was a girl of 10, who three years ago was refused admission at one of the great London hospitals as being hopelessly incurable. On being brought to the guild, so her mother explained, the right leg and arm were almost useless, while paralysis pf certain of the thioat and tongue muscles rendered the child’s speech almost incoherent. Dull and mentally deficient in many ways, her interest in musical sounds gave the clew to the treatment. Singing exercises were devised in which, 4o pronounce the vowels correctly, the aemi-paralyzed musicles had to be -used, while a wooden clapper and a bell to be sounded by the paralyzed foot and arm respectively completed the apparatus. The other day, after almost three years at the guild, this patient, now a normal looking little girl, sang a number of songs in a rich, full voice, pronouncing the words faultlessly, and then, as a grand finale, she skipped the rope to show the marvelous control the musical treatment has gained over the injured limb muscles.