“My son loves music and a lot of people with Down syndrome do too, so we thought having a type of rock ‘n’ roll session for people with disabilities would be a good way for people in the community to come together and have a fun, unique experience,” Rahrig said.

Although MSU has put a moratorium on the music therapy program, the MSU Community Music School, or CMS, will continue to offer music therapy services to the community, Edgerton said.

Once a month, CMS offers Together … Let’s Jam!, a special event that began last October to bring together young adults with a variety of disabilities with music therapists and student volunteers to express themselves through creating music.

So far, the event has brought many interested participants and quickly has gained in popularity.

“It’s so successful because they don’t even realize they are working on their speech; they’re just singing and dancing so that’s one of the nice things,” Edgerton said. “We get music therapy college students and others to help us and these loud, crazy jamming sessions have had more and more people come with each time we host the event.”

Participants get to play different instruments, such as electric guitar, drums, piano, maracas and others in an effort to show them they are capable of enjoying musical activities and help them communicate and interact through music.

The event is sponsored by the Capital Area Down syndrome Association, or CADSA, which enables the event to be free to the community, Rahrig is CADSA’s vice president of activities and events.

CADSA teamed up with CMS for the joint mission of improving the quality of life for those with all types of disabilities, including Down Syndrome, and introducing music therapy and alternative forms of educational experiences to enrich the lives of people with disabilities.

Some of the musical activities the event leads include encouraging participants to play their own instruments, sing songs together using a microphone, create interactive rhythms with partners and inspire instrumental and vocal improvisations from every individual.

“It allows them to celebrate the abilities they do have and show them something they can be good at,” Edgerton said.

One of the most memorable experiences for Edgerton was when a new boy, who started off as a reserved person with negative responses to situations and people, came to the event.

“I would play the piano and invite people to come up to a keyboard that faces my piano to play their own tune and he came up there finally to try it,” Edgerton said.

“He was playing something and I imitated it on my piano and if you could have seen his face, he looked right at me with direct eye contact and smiled and it was like ‘Yes, I got him,’ and ‘Oh the music really got him.’”

Music allows those with disabilities an easier way to interact socially with others, music therapy senior and event volunteer Kate McAlpine said.

“It gives them the opportunity to know that someone else is paying attention to what they are doing; they get to be leaders and express themselves in a way they might not be able to verbally,” McAlpine said.

Rahrig and Edgerton are both passionate about empowering and encouraging those with disabilities musically and will tell you they know from firsthand experience it is a productive solution for anyone with a disability.

“I’ve just seen it happen, (and) it’s amazing because a lot of times they function at different levels,” Rahrig said. “You might see an autistic child who doesn’t verbalize well but as soon as he plays music for the first time it’s unbelievable to see their reaction and the excitement.”

You can learn more about the Capital Area Down Syndrome Association at lansingdownsyndrome.org.