Children aged 8 to 12 who live with intellectual disability and enjoy music will love Melbourne Youth Chorale’s new ‘Flying Free’ Therapy Choir.
Flying Free draws on the emotional and wellbeing benefits of music and singing while exploring communication and socialisation skills.
Choristers learn through games, songs and other interactive activities.
Director Monika Harris, a registered speech pathologist, believes that “if kids enjoy singing it’s a really good way to enhance their music ability and speech therapy goals – it’s fun for them and they don’t even know they’re in therapy”.
The choir is open to children who are both verbal and non-verbal and no music or singing background is required.
The underpinning value of Melbourne Youth Chorale is that everyone deserves the gift of music.
Providing a specific choir with a therapy focus enables children to learn music skills at their own pace, thoroughly and without overwhelm, as well as work towards specific learning goals in other areas.
Nicole, a parent of a Flying Free chorister, says “singing isn’t just a tune…it’s also the friendships, learning new skills, and most importantly, being yourself”.
The Flying Free choir is on Wednesday afternoons at Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre. There are no set fees – Melbourne Youth Chorale operates on a ‘donate what you can afford’ basis.
In some circumstances, NDIS funding can be allocated to the Flying Free choir.
