Jamming for education with Sasha Brathwaite
Discovering how music thearpy can help families engage and connect in a fun and stress free way
By Brittany Rogers
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 7, 2014
For a moment, despite the presence of six children on six drums, the room was silent, in a pause.
One of the drummers, 12-year-old Christopher (not his real name), seemed lost in his own world. Then his hands likely beat the drum, repeating the rhythmic pattern of his instructor, Sasha Brathwaite. And Christopher smiled briefly at the group before carrying on.
“It’s moments like (these) that feed my soul and validate what I do,” Brathwaite said.
Brathwaite, the creator of the therapeutic based musical program, Let’s Jam: Percussive & Creative Movement is running one of her many special need sessions and after many weeks of segregation, Christopher has finally engaged with the group.
Having run the program now for around four years, she says that she’s experienced small victories likes these a hundred times over.
Brathwaite herself was thrust in to the special needs
community at a young age when her younger sister Camille was diagnosed with autism. Sasha’s found that music connected her with her sister in a way nothing else could.
“Camille was more focused, she would follow directions, was attentive and overall just more calm,” Brathwaite remembers. “I saw how much music benefited my sister and I thought I could share this with other families.”
Brathwaite’s classes are designed to enhance relaxation and create the ultimate sensory experience. The focus is to regulate positive behaviours, active listening, turn taking and social interaction.
While some may not think much of music therapy, there is proof that with every musical note, every beat of a drum, every pluck of a guitar string, a complex neurological process occurs before we can even hear sound.
Melissa Ngo, the founder of Hand Over Hand, a Markham based special needs social group also understands the far reaching benefits of music. She recently employed Brathwaite’s for her organization’s first ever special needs family music festival.
“Looking around the circle, every person was provided with something that they were able to use as an instrument, creating a completely accessible, musical, sensory and movement experience. The great thing about Let’s Jam is that it can be taken anywhere, which allows for Sasha to create a totally inclusive environment anywhere she goes. Her experience and work in the field show that she is committed, creative and enthusiastic about her program and the people it benefits.”
And Let’s Jam is only Brathwaite’s weekend job. When it comes to her professions credentials, she has over 15 years of experience working with children and adults with developmental disabilities. She has an extensive background in social work and is currently working for the York Region Catholic District School Board in the Special Education and Functional Life Skills Department.
For now Brathwaite company is mobile. Her goal is to eventually find a space that her clients can come to and partake in group or individual sessions. With the growing interest and awareness in the benefits of musical therapy she hopes to reach her goal someday soon.