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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

Is £30 per 30 mins reasonable for...

34 replies

StarlightMcKenzie · 02/05/2011 23:44

music therapy from the Local Authority?

After banging on about it forever, and the SENCO saying that she has some children doing it but that there is no space for ds, the Head of Service suddenly phoned and offered some to ds (ASD) but wants £30.

Do you think the other children are being charged?

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Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 02/05/2011 23:51

anyone?

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zzzzz · 02/05/2011 23:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Marne · 03/05/2011 07:18

Is it 1:1 or in a croup? if 1:1 then it seems a fair price. Dd2 had music therapy from the age of 3, after a few sesions she started talking (was non-verbal) and now loves playing music on drums and whatever else she can lay her hands on, we were lucky to get it for free at her sn nursery, when her music therapist changed his days (to a day dd2 was not at nursery) they managed to find a music student to work with her which was just as good.

TotalChaos · 03/05/2011 08:14

I think that's dodgy her offering private sessions full stop in her position. If she was advertising it separately that would be different, but it's like she's using her job to find clients for it iyswim.

Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 03/05/2011 08:48

Well she says that she can deliver it in school. I think she is liking it to musical instrument lessons.

I suppose what I am feeling is a bit dodgy is that it is unlikely where I live that the other students that she works with in ds' school would attend if there was a £30 charge so I'm wondering quite seriously if she's got one rule for them and another for us.

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TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission · 03/05/2011 09:20

presumably as she's doing this as private work you could ask for her to provide references and the number for a couple of other parents to talk to, might give you more of an idea? Nothing offered in any of my kids schools costs that much so I'd want to be sure it was all above board before I forked out.

lisad123isasnuttyasaboxoffrogs · 03/05/2011 09:20

can I have details please

tryingtokeepintune · 03/05/2011 10:47

Yes, if she is comparing it to private 1:1 music lessons/music therapy it is quite a fair price.

I would be tempted to take that as I have been trying to get music therapy (privately or otherwise) for ds for over a year. Have tried everyone, the therapists at ss schools, the local group of music therapists, the national group etc - still cannot find one.

In the meantime, can you ask to get on the waiting list for music therapy with the group? Can you ask the other parents how much they pay?

Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 03/05/2011 15:55

I don't think it 'is' private, any more than school trips are organised by a private company and then charged for. That is why I don't geddit.

£30 is out of our reach at the moment though so I've had to turn it down which I am really sad about as I know ds would love and benefit from it.

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Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 03/05/2011 15:57

Lisad You need to phone up the Herts music service and ask for the no. of the head of music therapy. She seems to be a really nice lady. I think it might be that the school are just not prepared to pay for ds.

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TotalChaos · 03/05/2011 16:02

ok looks like I am doing this professional an injustice, I assumed it would be an arrnagement outside school with money going in her pocket iyswim (in another context once had this scenario offered by counsellor at my GP practice )

signandsmile · 03/05/2011 20:00

I think this is gonna be really irritating, but ds gets one to one music session for £9 for 45 mins to an hour... (I take him to the centre where it happens and stay with him.) (I know this doesn't help star, sorry but if anyone else is within driving distance of swindon, please come and use this organisation as it is in danger of losing its base and the service being cut...)

We have only just started and I have to say he loves it! (have dropped riding for the disabled to have this instead, as it really seems to reach him, and I am hoping with help with the sound sensitivity too.)

tryingtokeepintune · 03/05/2011 22:24

Yes, I thought it was like the piano/ violin/ drum teacher going into school via county music service.

supermum98 · 03/05/2011 23:00

For what it's worth, I think £30 for 30 mins is on the high end, although I think if you compare it to physio/SALT privately, they can charge around £60/hour. I would shop around though, I thought piano lessons for my daughter would be unaffordable and have found someone charging £8/30 mins and she is good, just doesn't want to price people out or rip people off.
I did get some private dyslexic help 1:1 with literacy, have been charged £25/hour and £50/hour although latter dropped to £25/hour when realised it was a struggle for us. Hope this helps.

stickyj · 04/05/2011 17:06

Where are you based?

specialmusic · 04/05/2011 17:09

£30 for 30 minutes of music therapy is towards the lower end. I charge more than that in the North East and in London you may get charged over three times that.

>signandsmile: ds gets one to one music session for £9
Is that music therapy though?
Music therapists train 4-6 years plus, they have to have regular supervision and have to be registered with the HPC just like dentists or S

specialmusic · 04/05/2011 17:14

supermum: I thought piano lessons for my daughter would be unaffordable
and have found someone charging £8/30 mins and she is good,
Yes. And do you know what qualifications are needed to be a piano teacher? Grade 8 piano (I know several 14-year-olds who have it) and a top-up ABRSM course about teaching lasting 1 year part-time. Far cry from the masters degree, the therapy requirements and the HPC requirements a music therapist has to do before qualifying.

supermum: I did get some private dyslexic help 1:1 with literacy,
have been charged £25/hour
Again: this can be done by a TA or a university student. Music therapy can't.

Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 04/05/2011 17:19

special I'm not suggesting that the specialists don't deserve their money. My dispute is to do with other children in the school getting it for free, but them charging me £30 per session for whatever reason.

I don't know that this is true of course, but I am pretty certain that no other parent at this council estate school will be paying.

(although I can't really understand how it could possibly be worth £90 per session, - surely that is more a postcode tax than London Therapists being especially fantastic compared to other parts of the country)

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specialmusic · 04/05/2011 17:42

Starlight: My dispute is to do with other children in the school getting it
for free, but them charging me £30 per session
I agree with you on this, Starlight.

Starlight: although I can't really understand how it could possibly be
worth £90 per session
OK, let's see. To enter training in the UK you have to have grade 8 piano (for which you had to learn the piano for years privately and then attend exams). While you do your masters you have to be in therapy yourself, which you pay for privately. This on top of uni fees and other expenses. In the model I am trained in (called the Benenzon Model of Music Therapy) all training is in Spanish in Spain or Latin America - you have to go there. All this costs a lot of money, which means music therapy in itself is an expensive service. In London being in therapy will cost more and renting a studio with disabled parking will cost more, too.

A little boy of 6 with ASD I am working with at the moment said his first word after the 3rd session. Music therapy when done by a professional can be amazing and well worth £90+ :)

(www.specialmusic.co.uk)

blueShark · 04/05/2011 17:49

Star - in Ealing, West London we paid £10 per 30 mins session privately and its a qualified pianist and a mum of a special needs child who is an adult now so she understands lots about ASD, still attends seminars etc.

Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 04/05/2011 18:10

You don't have to had years of privately funded music lessons to get to grade 8. I didn't.

I quite believe that it takes years of training to qualify, as do a good many professions. I still don't see the justification of a salary of £900 per day charged to vulnerable and 'usually' financially strapped families.

I'm sorry, but I just don't geddit, however good it is or how hard the therapists work.

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TotalChaos · 04/05/2011 18:25

star - just googled your county's music therapy service. (can pm you the link if you want). the £30 for 1-1 session is their standard charge, they have some form of fees remission for what they term "eligible" families and children in care.

zzzzz · 04/05/2011 18:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

specialmusic · 04/05/2011 19:57

Starlight: You don't have to had years of privately funded music lessons
to get to grade 8. I didn't.
I assume you must be referring to the funding (because obviously no one would get from zero to grade 8 in a year). I know that some schools used to fund music lessons which children could attend for free, but I doubt that many children got to grade 8 this way. (We are talking about ABRSM grade 8, obviously.)

Starlight: I still don't see the justification of a salary of £900 per day
There is no £900 per day. For a 30-minute session a therapist will prepare for about an hour and then spend another hour making notes (including notating the music played in the session), etc. That without the usual multidisciplinary meetings, new referrals, supervision, etc. You would do about 4 sessions a day, the rest is the background work which clients have no idea about. The £90 is nothing compared to the £350 per 45 mins you would play for top end private psychoanalysis (which lasts 4-6 years as a minimum).

Original poster

StarlightMcKenzie · 04/05/2011 21:14

Specialmusic, I got my grade 7 (distinction) at age 13 with RSM with the school. It took me 4 years. If I had not discovered boys and pubs etc etc I would have got my grade 8 long before leaving school. I wasn't exceptional. There were many children way ahead of me. I don't know what AB is, sorry but it is a long time since I have looked at my certificate so perhaps that is on their too. I can't see how anyone would have needed to pay for private lessons then and it certainly doesn't mean that you put more work into getting your grades.

I do take your point about admin and planning though, but don't think it takes longer to plan in London than Grimsby.

I do wonder though why people go into professions for highly disadvanted children and then charge a bomb for services. Doesn't that detract from the job satisfaction? That your potentially beneficial service is not accessible to most?

I'm being a bit unfair singling out music therapy though, there are many other 'provisions' for disabled children that charge massive amounts to people who can ill-afford it. In fact there seems to be a whole industry based on it, and I can't help wondering whether there is some element of preying on the desperation of parents to help their child against all odds of the disability coupled with dismal LA services.

The is certainly quite prevelant in the ABA world.

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