Musical Bridges Music Therapy

★★★★★Kayla Ratliff

When Evelyn began at Musical Bridges at 3 years old, something shifted immediately — she found her voice during her very first session. Now at 4, the growth we’ve witnessed feels nothing short of remarkable. Before starting with Musical Bridges, we participated in nearly every therapy imaginable, every day of the week. In many settings, progress felt open-ended — goals would be reached “when they happen.” But what I can confidently say about Musical Bridges is this: what they say they will do, they meet — and often exceed — every single quarter. As the parent of an autistic 4-year-old gestalt language processor, I have seen approaches that didn’t align with my child. I have experienced traumatic “hand-over-hand” methods that left both of us overwhelmed. Musical Bridges was different. They knew exactly how to reach Evelyn in a way that respected who she is. While therapy is parent-driven, I urge families to trust the therapists here fully and not limit the magic they are capable of creating. Where other therapies had our once nonverbal child producing two-word phrases, Melissa helped her reach five-word phrases — ahead of schedule. A child who once guarded herself during clean-up time is now often one of the first to help in class. And truthfully — so am I. I came in as a scattered tornado of an overwhelmed caregiver, and they gently guided me toward cleanup of trying everything with sliw results. Toward rhythm. Toward steadiness. A little girl who once had strong sensitivities to sound beyond “Baby Shark” is now part of what feels like a modern-day Von Trapp family at home — singing “Wheels on the Bus” with a little rock and roll mixed in. Evelyn has the time of her life in sessions. The classrooms are her safe space to be herself. The academic growth and fine motor development she has made have her on track with peers her age — something we once only hoped for. When we started Musical Bridges, I was stretching myself thin, trying to pull out what I knew was already inside my daughter. Something felt disconnected and missing. Musical Bridges didn’t just bridge neurological pathways for Evelyn — they gave me a kind of peace I hadn’t felt in a long time. The kind of peace that usually only comes with caffeine and a full night’s sleep (ohhh I kid — there are none of those). For us, Musical Bridges was the missing piece — unlocking her voice, building confidence, and restoring calm in our home in a way I didn’t know was possible. No matter the disability or emotional disconnect you are navigating with someone you love, add Musical Bridges to your team. They are thorough. They follow through. They exceed expectations. And every instructor carries a rare kind of light. We are forever grateful. Lots of Love, -The Ratliffs

★★★★★Isis Flores

My daughter is non-speaking and has been attending Musical Bridges since 2022. Lydia has been her main therapist. Lydia has been a huge part of growing my daughter's development skills. Through music she has learned how to cope and regulate her emotions, fine motor skills working with instruments or ACA device, and academic skills (colors, animals, etc). They always assume competence which is important to us and powerful mindset to teach individuals with disabilities. All of the staff is wonderful and friendly. They collect data every week and during reassessments evaluations they provide a visual data tracking chart. It truly puts in perspective all the challenges and improvements of all the accomplishments.

★★★★★Clare Il'Giovine

I cannot say enough great things about Musical Bridges! Everyone that works there is so lovely and caring. They have worked with kids of all abilities and truly get to know them and their interests. My son was 4 when he started music therapy there. He is on the autism spectrum, is limited verbally, and craves sensory input. He loved his weekly sessions with Miss Proctor and through music was able make progress is areas like speech, turn taking, attention, following directions, etc. I love their mission and cannot recommend them enough!

★★★★★Christine Beasley

Musical Bridges has been a wonderful experience for our son with ASD. He has always been interested in music and by providing him with this outlet his overall awareness to spoken language has increased. He has even more attention and engagement if we sing our requests or directions. Having this music experience is helping our child in other areas such as preschool, other therapies, and with social engagement with peers. We are very pleased and look forward to his progress as we continue our weekly music therapy sessions.

★★★★★Cristina Villarreal Smith

Our elementary age daughter has taken piano lessons with Musical Bridges for the last two and a half years, and has loved it! Erin is a very kind, encouraging teacher, and makes music fun. Our daughter has grown tremendously in both her skill and love of music, and this has been an excellent first exposure for piano lessons for her.