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Monica Zidar – Director
BA(Music), GDipMusThy, Registered Music Therapist, Neurologic Music Therapist, HCWA Registered Provider & Service Provider to self and plan-managed NDIS participants
Australian early learning music teacher and Registered Music Therapist, Monica Zidar delivers powerful programs for young children using techniques informed by well-established neurological research. Passionate about supporting students’ development through music at a time when the forming of neural pathways is at its greatest, Monica began working with one small group in 2006 and now delivers 14 music programs to children 0-4 years old in eight locations, servicing up to 140 families per week.
With 17 years experience in early intervention for children with special needs, a BA (Music) and a Postgraduate Diploma of Music Therapy, Monica is a Registered Music Therapist, a Neurologic Music Therapist and the recipient of the 2014 Richard Thompson Award for Outstanding Service to the Music Therapy Profession.
Reinforcing current research that participating in music improves school-readiness, the Music With Monica program has proven to positively impact students’ essential abilities to self-regulate, communicate, socialise, play and improve gross and fine motor skills, all while developing an awareness of expression, sense of beat and an appreciation and love of music.
Through Monica’s nurturing, engaging and child-centred group learning environment, nonverbal students with special needs have made their first intentional sounds during music and previously disengaged children are paying attention for longer periods of time and showing an eagerness to further their musical study at school, including joining choirs and taking up instrumental lessons.
“I soon realised it was more than just singing and playing and dancing and bonding. She [Monica] was working on these kids, every single one of them. Her mind was working the whole lesson, she was working on every child no matter what age, no matter what developmental stage and there was always a huge range,” said a mother of two and practicing GP.
In 2012, six years after starting her important work, Monica saw a desperate need in the local community for truly inclusive programs where families of children with special needs could participate side-by-side with their neuro-typically developing peers. It became apparent too, that programs like Music With Monica had the profound opportunity to provide interactive, positive experiences for parents to enhance bonding with their young children.
“Monica’s ability to engage all learners and their parents through music is remarkable. She enabled me to learn to make connections with my daughter that had previously been challenging,” said a mother, who was unexpectedly thrust into the world of disability when her baby was diagnosed with Cri Du Chat Syndrome, a rare and significant condition that would affect all aspects of her development.
To further encourage musical engagement in the home, Monica recently partnered with an early intervention teacher and developed freely accessible videos of familiar nursery rhymes accompanied by Auslan Key Word signs, under the banner Sign-A-Song 4 Kids.
The Music With Monica programs have since expanded across the region on the request of local Councils due to the overwhelming response and results for program participants, including the improvement in confidence and self-esteem of the children’s parents.
“Monica’s music sessions broke down barriers in our local community. We felt accepted and supported, and ALL the children were on a level playing field when it came to participation in music, including my little girl who was by this time showing significant developmental delays compared to her peers. This was a space where we were all made to feel equal and valued,” said Hannah, also a primary school teacher.
Monica Zidar is committed and passionate about promoting the importance of music education and music therapy in the wider community, regularly speaking at conferences, providing in-services to a range of allied health providers, discussing the importance of music education and music therapy in the media and mentoring and training work experience students, university students and practicing professionals.
As a founding director of the charity Everyone Deserves Music, over the past 3 years Monica has helped hundreds of children with special needs access professional music therapy services within their school settings.
Since being recognised for outstanding contribution to music therapy in Queensland, Monica Zidar continues to develop and grow her powerful programs to make a significant and long-lasting difference to the lives of Australian families and the communities that surround them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]