A guide for parents, The Music Initiative for Children with Special Needs provides simple music-therapy Based activities for children diagnosed with mild to moderate intellectual and developmental disabilities. All the activities presented in this book are also appropriate for children without special needs. This guide is designed to present a basic experience with music and music therapy-based activities. The benefits of music therapy are vast. Using the tools provided here your child will begin to work on increasing and/or improving communication and motor skills, learning appropriate social skills, creating bonds, and developing creativity and musical skills. They may be utilized as an outlet for emotional expression and to build self-esteem.