Music may also be used as an activity to fill leisure time and to improve quality of life and self-esteem through aesthetic enjoyment. Music, painting, drawing, photography, film, and television provide young people with a range of learning experiences that fit their individual needs. Children can achieve intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, physical and spiritual growth through the arts. Since arts activities are so varied, and the types of growth which result are so diverse, emotionally and physically handicapped children often excel when they work in an art medium which fits their personal capabilities. Artistic and aesthetic experiences such as these are essential to all age populations, and music can be made accessible to those even in later stages of muscle deterioration.
Music therapy is an extraordinarily versatile adjunct therapy.
The music itself is infinitely adaptable to any single client, group of clients, or therapeutic situation. Even within a given work, speed, loudness, and complexity can be varied to accommodate the needs of myriad physical, educational, vocational, emotional, or social interventions. The near limitless scope of musical composition ensures that a genre can be found for practically any client that is both familiar and preferred. Music is a pervasive medium in our culture and in others around the world. Because of the almost natural familiarity people have with music, it can be effectively used as a non-threatening therapeutic medium with innumerable client populations, including children and young adults with progressive neuromuscular disorders.