Music is rhythm, rhythm is structure, and structure is soothing to an ADHD brain struggling to regulate itself to stay on a linear path.
brain struggling to regulate itself to stay on a linear path. “Music exists in time, with a clear beginning, middle, and end,” says Kirsten Hutchison, a music therapist at Music Works Northwest, a nonprofit community music school near Seattle. “That structure helps a child with ADHD plan, anticipate, and react”.Research shows that pleasurable music increases dopamine levels in the brain.
“Rhythm, melody, and tempo are tools used to target non-musical behaviors, to catapult change throughout the body,” says Rebecca West, with the Music Institute of Chicago. “A change in rhythm can trigger a reaction in the brain: ‘Oooh, something’s changed; I need to pay attention!’ You can bring down the tempo to spur slower movements, or bring up the melody to trigger pleasure.”“Wash face. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Eat breakfast.
Parents need little more than an overturned pot, a wooden spoon, and a sense of humor to try this at home. Or use a hairbrush-microphone if you’d rather take turns singing Katy Perry. If nothing else, making music together will show your child that you enjoy harmony, too. And that can’t hurt.Your child may insist that Metallica helps him study. You may prefer Bach, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.
“I’m more likely to concentrate in a buzzing coffee shop with headphones on than I am in a library,” says
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