Deborah Layman, a neurologic music therapist in private practice in Cleveland, says it's sometimes hard  to get insurance companies, school districts and others to recognize her field as a legitimate therapeutic method.
Instead they see it as an add on, something fun.
Ellen Scholl, of Bowling Green, knows that's not the case. She has seen the difference Layman has made in the life of her son Stephen.
Scholl along with Elaine Colprit, of the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts, co-hosted a day-long seminar, "Neurologic Music Therapy Seminar: Techniques and Strategies for Learning & Rehabilitation," Friday on campus. The seminar was sponsored the College of Musical Arts, the Bowling Green School District and Wood County Hospital.
Scholl's son Stephen was an honor student, an accomplished cellist and soccer player when in spring of his junior year he suffered cardiac and pulmonary arrest, cutting off oxygen to his brain and causing a host of debilitating effects.
Colprit, who was Stephen's cello teacher, and his parents Christopher and Ellen, both opera singers, felt that music therapy would assist him in his recovery.
Layman's approach seemed well suited to Stephen's needs.
 

In re-learning to tie his shoes, for example, he had a difficult time remember the order in which to do the steps, Scholl said. But he learned four musical phrases that help him keep the order of steps straight. He also employs musical cues to help him learn how to lower his 6-foot, 5-inch frame into a chair "without breaking our furniture," Scholl said.
And singing has aided in his speech therapy.
Speaking to about 100 educators assembled Friday, Layman said: "Music is the one thing we're hard wired to respond to and enjoy.
"Everything we do is rhythmic on a subconscious level."
Even those students with limited capabilities can understand and respond to the basics of harmonies, melody and rhythms. It activates many areas of the brain, she said.
"With all these areas of the brain acting together, there's a fantastic opportunity for change."
Layman said music is useful in addressing clients' motor skill, communication, behavioral and basic academic needs. "And music therapy has no side effects and is relatively inexpensive."
It works with all ages from premature babies to the aged.
The benefits are all well documented, she pointed out. That documentation is important in increasing the recognition of the field's benefit. "Everything we do should be researched-based, evidence-based."
Not being able to explain how music therapy works not only endangers the funding of a particular therapist, but also endangers the field as a whole.
Her particular specialty, neurologic music therapy, is a relatively recent development. Dating from the 1990s, the field pulls together research into how the brain works and how it processes music; therapeutic techniques are developed from research findings.