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Self-directed Study Sheet 3

Context: Usman, who has profound learning difficulties, is in a music therapy session

  1. Observation: Think about what you see and hear in the video.
  2. Interpretation: What can you reasonably infer about the person's musical engagement?
  3. Assessment: Suggest a Sounds of Intent Level and Domain.

The therapist plays one instrument briefly then the other, and asks Usman to choose which he would like to play. He could potentially reach out for either. She continues offer him the choice for around 30 seconds before he moves his right arm to grasp the shaker. It appears that Usman is aware of the two different sounds, can hold them in short-term memory, knows which instrument causes which sound, prefers one to the other, and can communicate this preference through a gesture. This engagement can be classified as Level 2, Reactive (R.2): ‘shows an emerging awareness of sound’.