The foundation has provided Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) in special needs classrooms at John Street Elementary School, Franklin Square, NY, for approximately 10+ years.  This program is unique in that it is one of the few DMT programs funded by the foundation that offers a dance therapist program in a public school system. Read below about what dance therapy looks like in this setting and why it continues to be important in the John Street Elementary School special needs program.

What I do each week in special needs classrooms at John Street Elementary School is beyond rewarding.  As I enter each classroom, I am greeted with warm smiles and "Hello's" from almost every child and if they are non-verbal, I see their eyes dancing with excitement to begin our session.  I am elated and honored to be present with these children's exuberance and wish that I could share each classrooms' experience with you so that you too could feel the joy and delight these children feel from being able to be seen and heard each week.  The teachers are a gift to these students and my heart is filled with beautiful moments throughout the school year.  I hope you take a moment to read below why dance/movement therapy is so powerful and important for children diagnosed with special needs in the school setting. 

 Jennifer Whitley, MS, R-DMT, LCAT

The dance movement therapy (DMT) process has allowed students with special needs at John Street Elementary School to enjoy spontaneous and structured dancing throughout the past several years through in-class dance therapy groups, spanning 30 minutes in length. Students, who range in diagnoses from autism to cerebral palsy, respond positively to DMT sessions, as the dance therapist provides a safe "holding"environment for them to have spontaneous responses to activities while increasing socialization among peers and teachers.  Having spontaneous interactions and being social are both difficult tasks for children in these special needs classrooms.  Students are able to sustain 30 minutes session with some support from teachers and their aids.  In a typical DMT session at John Street Elementary School, goals can include:

-Increase body awareness in relationship to others and self

-Increase appropriate socialization/interpersonal relationship skills with peers and teachers

-Integrate gross motor developmental movements

-Expanding range of movement

-Provide coping skills for self-regulation

-Explore individuation and unique self-expression

By using movement to facilitate and engage students, the mind and body become integrated, both entities feeding information to the other.  Body speaking to the brain, providing feedback and opening up pathways for more learning, while the brain regenerates new information into the body.  In a school setting, this is essential for optimal learning, especially for those diagnosed with special needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy.   By rhythmically swaying with students inside a colorful cloth band, a child can begin to integrate past & present.  They are also feeling "held," symbolically, while experiencing a soothing experience in the middle of a taxing day.  This kind of interaction and experience can be reparative and healing for a population who experiences dysfunction and difficulties with their external world because they are not in control of their inner experience most of the time.  They are different and have to cope with being different every second of the day.  The group dynamic of classroom participation is focused on supporting each other and being empathic, creating a social dialogue within the classroom among students, but also teachers.  This most often happens just by having the classroom join each other through rhythm and music.  When this occurs, everyone is invested in the activity and joint attention is occurring.  The class is having a shared experience and can relate to one another.  When the opportunity arises, the dance therapist asks each child to share a movement then has the whole class join the child doing their movement, letting that child know that everyone in the room is with them.  Even with their disabilities, these children understand and realize that they are being joined in their movement. 

Jennifer Whitley, MS, R-DMT, LCAT