Music as a feedback mechanism for teaching head control to severely handicapped children: a pilot study

Five profoundly mentally retarded cerebral-palsied children were studied in order to determine the effectiveness of music as a biofeedback mechanism in the training of head control. The method used a Head Position Trainer and Time Event Counter, developed at the Ontario Crippled Children's Centre in Toronto. Improvement was obtained in three of the five children in their ability to control their head movements when music was used as the biofeedback stimulus. However, these results should be treated cautiously because the sample was small and the training period was brief.