Music Therapy Today - World Federation of Music Therapy

Pecoraro Esperson, P. (2006) The pleasure of being “differently able”: Integration through music therapy in primary
schools. Music Therapy Today (Online) Vol.VII (2) 413-429. available at http://musictherapyworld.net
Introduction
This presentation is a review of how group music therapy can help with
the integration as well as the development of “Differently Able” children
in regular schools.
In Italy since 1977, children with special needs, regardless of the sever-
ity, have been allowed to attend regular schools on the basis that they
hold the same rights to education as “normal” children.
Experimentation and research on handicapped children in regular
schools, began in the seventies (Falcucci Commission): The outcome of
these studies was that the progress and development of these children is
significantly higher when they attend classes formed by “normal” chil-
dren.
With the law no. 517 of 1977 and subsequent explanatory circulars, hav-
ing children with disabilities, attend compulsory schools takes on a more
profound meaning: there is the need to integrate these children and not
just make do with their presence. The school is at the service of the for-
mative needs of every child-individual, to promote the development of
his/her personality (new programs of the primary schools of 1985). Each
child-individual is the center of interest of the educator who operates to
promote the harmonic development of their personality, placing particu-
lar attention on emphasizing the individual potentials. The philosophical
and pedagogic orientation defined by the new programs of the primary
schools (1985) and subsequent orientations of maternal schools (1991),
stress the importance of diversity as the source of motivation for acquir-
ing knowledge.
In Italy, where special needs schools and institutes for rehabilitation are
practically non-existent, regular schools are responsible for providing
Introduction 414