cripes.

okay, when will i learn not to watch pieces on autism on the news? today is doing a weeklong series on it this week in the 8 am hour, and i watched the first installment.

they did a lovely job identifying the early symptoms, the need for early intervention, and all in all the televised parts did well. there's a photo slide show and article on communicating through music, which is nice.

then i went to the website, and read about established and experimental therapies, and clicked on music therapy. and it said this:

"Many people with autism respond favorably to music as a form of therapy. For example, in the Tomatis method, which is named for the French doctor who developed it, a loop of music is played for several hours a day with the goal of improving a child’s attention and concentration."

and that's all. well, dang, didn't I just waste the last 7 years of my life on doing music therapy and floortime, music therapy and discrete trial, music therapy and social interaction, and pure music therapy to help achieve goals ranging from gross and fine motor development, human interaction, communication, social communication, sensory integration, imanginary play development, and helping families interact with their children, sometimes for the first time through music therapy.

don't get me wrong, tomatis is an established form of intervention for autism. many people have done it and had wonderful results.

but it ain't music therapy if it doesn't focus on a therapist-client interaction.