Reviewing what you heard today, describe a moment in your practice when you saw a child in one of the developmental stages. Post your story to the board.

Just this afternoon I had a great experience observing two dancing children in my class, and realizing one was in the stage of independence and the other the stage of control. The 3-year-old boy was dancing very freely, matching the intensity of his movements with the intensity of the music. He went “gaga” when the music was very soft and dramatically increased in volume and intensity. All of this freedom and independence was beautiful and lacked any consistent rhythmic center. His parallel dancing partner was a 3-year-old girl moving toward the stage of control. She was practicing plies and the delicate arm shapes often found in ballet while she moved about the room. What I found interesting about her movements was that while she was not matching the rhythm of the song, she was consistent in her own, self-created tempo. After class, the father of the boy asked me if it was okay that his son was dancing instead of playing an instrument. It felt fantastic to encourage him by saying “of course! We are here to create and engage in a positive musical environment, and he is showing he is comfortable expressing himself in the environment we created! He is making a strong choice to express his music by dancing and that is beautiful.”

One of my clients has recently entered Responsibility and is now so invested in group music making! I see her 1:1, but she loves pretending her friends are with her to add a social component to our time together. She loves rhythmic games where we go back and forth with the various “group members” and copy their rhythms. She also loves listening to her friends solo (aka me) and supports them by clapping or dancing to their music. Every session is bound to be different as she always starts by saying “I have a new song” and invites me to sing a social story with her. It is fascinating to see her switch in focus to the world/people around her!

This prompt made me think of an entire family that I worked with, so I apologize if this is too long!

I worked with a child for two years in a music school setting. She was on the autism spectrum and started with me at the age of three. In her initial assessment, her mother expressed an interest in involving the client’s sisters in our weekly sessions. The client was the middle child in a very close spaced trio of sisters, with just over a year age difference in both directions. We decided to have 30 minute sessions with the middle sister (MS) alone, and then bring in the older sister (OS) and younger sister (YS) for fifteen minutes. Goals to be addressed for the MS involved communication (particularly asserting herself as a leader in the trio, rather than to be “lost in the shuffle”) and motor skills (an area in need of improvement for the MS that could be modeled beautifully by the OS). Also, because the YS and OS were frequently brought along to therapies and appointments just to wait, it provided them with something to look forward to and benefit from themselves even though it was primarily for their sister.

It was fascinating to not only watch the primary client’s progress in music therapy, but also to see all three sisters develop and change as individuals and in the group dynamic. From the beginning, the OS was planted firmly in the responsibility stage. She could have been a textbook “oldest child.” The MS appeared to be in the control phase in the beginning, except her pitch and singing skills were advanced for this stage. I was surprised when early on, we sang a song in a key that I found uncomfortable for my vocal range. So I played a “V-I” progression in a new key, and the MS starts singing in the new key, without me! I tested this again, and sure enough she found any key I played. In two years I observed as other areas moved from “control” to “responsibility,” although music movement area was still developing toward the “responsibility” criteria. She became more cooperative with her sisters, and became more flexible and creative in her music making, including writing her own songs.

The YS was perhaps the most interesting to watch in the group dynamic. I would not say she ever was firm in the “control” phase. She had the least interest in singing. She would have the most difficulty taking turns or waiting for a preferred instrument while we were doing another song. She was prone to tantrums and not very invested in the group process. I first figured it’s developmental: she’s two afterall! As time went on, I though maybe it’s just difficult being the youngest child in this dynamic: so close in age, all female, one sister with special needs. But as similar behavior continued, sure enough one day the nanny informed me that there has been some question of YS’s development, and parents were beginning to examine if she may on the autism spectrum as well.

I used to work with a young boy diagnosed with autism who was 3 years old. When I met him he was beginning to move from trust to independence. There was always music in the house and Dad was a phenomenal pianist. This boy would look at sheet music and sing (musical babble). It was always joyous to see this happen. It was always fascinating to see him develop a sense of trust with the instruments each week, and watch that process become faster and faster. When I first got out my guitar, he was fascinated by it but was afraid to touch it without Mom or Dad touching it first. He did not yet trust that sound of the guitar and the sounds he could make with it. Over a few weeks he became more comfortable with the guitar and would play it by himself and even start exploring different parts of the guitar. I enjoyed watching him learn to trust the guitar and then explore the guitar on his own.

In December, an 18-month old and her 3 year old sister were in one of my music groups. We were singing Jingle Bells, a song we had sung a lot and that the 3 year old had clearly mastered. I had only heard the younger sister say a few words, always just single word responses, but never vocalize much during music. All of the sudden, the younger sister started singing all of Jingle Bells with her sister. When her sister dropped out, she continued, imitating the basic vocalizations in terms of rhythm and basic vowel shape. It was an incredible moment of independence for her. She got the basic melodic intonation and speech inflection, learned from her sister and from hearing the song repeatedly in music groups. I love when children who don’t speak much completely take me by surprise and sing entire phrases or even songs unexpectedly!

I began another section of my community-based early childhood class today. This topic was well-timed for me, because I was very aware of observing the children in the room with the music stages in mind. I had one little boy in one of my classes since he was an infant. He is now two. His mom was telling a new mom in the group how it has been fun watching her child in music class and how he continues to gain more skills during the process. I remember when he was in the stage of awareness and spent a large amount of time looking at his mother, or me or one of the instruments. As he grew, so did his music self. Now, he is clearly in the stage of independence as he easily moves away from his mother and independently plays his instruments with purpose. I observed him attempting to start and stop playing his maracas to a “freeze” song I was playing and singing the repeated sounds that I was using during a singing experience. I love when families start a music class with an infant. Like the mother that was describing her experience to another mom, it’s rewarding for me to see that growth as the child ages as well.

Over the summer, I had groups of three, four, and five-year-olds come to my summer camp music groups every week day, some children coming for several weeks in a row and others just for one week. It was incredibly interesting for me to experience group bonding, song preferences, levels of engagement, and social/emotional needs with what was often a fairly consistent composition of children but also had weekly additions and subtractions. As I think about the musical developmental levels, one child from my 3-year-old group particularly stands out to me as being in the Control stage. He was a quiet child who liked to experience his world extensively through observation from a safe distance before taking most risks. In my music groups, we had a ritual of singing “hello” and then passing around a special instrument to help us each say our names and greet each person individually. Many children in this group were curious and a little uncertain about touching/playing the special instrument at first and especially saying their names, but most members really grew to enjoy the experience and couldn’t wait for their turn to come. This little boy, however, exercised his ability to make choices by refraining from both playing and saying his name for days and even weeks. I did my best to create a safe environment for him, hopefully free from pressure to get involved before he was ready. He typically engaged discretely in other aspects of our music making, until one day he came alive! We were singing a play song about animals for the first time and it unlocked the most wonderful laughter and silliness that I’ve ever seen! Much of his former reserve melted away, not only for the rest of that day but also in days to come. He started choosing to play certain instruments that appealed to him and participate more physically and vocally in our groups. He created rhythms on a drum and seemed really pleased with himself for doing it. I think that this little boy is a great example for me of the Control stage because of his journey from making choices about whether or not to sing/play, to making choices about how loud/which instrument/how fast to sing/play. I would love to see how this child’s musical development has progressed these past several months and hope that he has continued to enjoy his journey of musical, emotional, and physical development.

I spend all day Monday in an integrated preschool setting. It is such a wonderful program to be a part of and it is amazing to see the way the students help one another and work together. There is one little girl who comes to mind who is firmly in the control stage! She picks and chooses the activities she would like to participate in with strength (while still maintaining her pleases and thank you’s). For example, if she is offered two instruments, she will pick one and say thank you, then she will leave the instrument on the floor in front of her for the whole activity. Even when given encouragement or direction, she simply chooses not to play. If she is given the opportunity to choose a song, she will always select one of her two favorite music therapy activities, both are movement activities! She loves to dance! Her defiance and ability to make choices and differentiate between what she wants to do and does not want to do in music puts her firmly in the control stage!

I think back to a little girl I worked with 1:1 in a hospice capacity. She was chronologically 4 years old, but developmentally under a year old. My goal on her “good days” was to create a fun, musical environment where she could explore and interact. When I started working with her she responded by looking toward the music, maybe reaching for me or the guitar. I know realize those are musical choices from the Awareness stage. As we continued to work together, and build report, I witnessed her growing within the Awareness stage and into the Trust stage. She began to respond differently to favorite songs, and began exploring instruments. Although she had physical and cognitive delays (unable to sit up on own, no expressive language skills), she was still able to meet me in the music and benefit from the interaction. At the end of our time together, she was playing instruments, especially the drum, and using some vocalizations. Her interaction may have seemed minimal, but I saw such great change and celebrated it as such with her family.

Sorry that my response is late…. things are busy, as I’m sure they are for all of you!

This request makes me wonder…. when children (not just toddlers) develop into these musical stages of development is their only a certain window for this? I wonder this because I work with students who are emotionally/behaviorally challenged usually due to trauma. In these cases many students are ‘stuck’ in some developmental stages and can not progress until they have moved through that stage. Is this true with music? I have seen students, with disabilities, be able to master steady beat eventually — however I have had some for whom that has taken 5 years of weekly intervention.

In addition, once the window for learning a musical task ‘closes’ or once the child moves to the next developmental stage is there an ability to go back or is that skill lost ‘forever?’ I often wonder this particularly for students who can not develop steady beat consistently no matter how much practice or what tempo etc.

Belinda, great questions! I am going to pass them on to Meredith and Beth and give a little bit of my own insight. With regard to the question is their a developmental stage and the skill is lost forever. Neuroplasticity is an area in neuroscience that is beginning to have a fair amount of body of research, and although it is still “new,” they are seeing that the term “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is not true. There are window’s of opportunity for ease of developing skills, but there are possibilities for skills even after this window has passed. And when that window passes, it may take longer and be more a challenge to develop. Meredith and Beth can speak more to how the stages develop and how disability effects this.

Thanks for sharing about neuroplasticity, Erika! It such a great hope (and comfort) for us all, as well as our clients, to be finding that the brain can still change and learn even beyond the “typical” parameters we have come to understand.

I have a little 4 year old boy with DD that was referred for music therapy services in a public school setting. Today was his first 1:1 session, and I recognized a lot of signs that he is still exploring the developmental phase of control, but also showed signs of the responsibility phase. He loved sudden dynamic changes (especially playing loud and fast) and enjoys being the one to make choices and be in control. Due to his challenges, he is academically behind and was not able to distinguish colors of instruments, but was able to recognize there were different instruments available and loved exploring their sounds. What seemed to be his favorite intervention today was matching his actions to the dynamics of instrument playing. When I would play loud and fast, he loved to run. When I’d play slow and quiet, he loved to walk slowly around the room. His favorite was when I suddenly said “stop.” He did not sing when prompted, but he did repeat at one point through speaking “yayayaya” during a song in response to me singing the line! It was a great moment!

I currently work with a little girl that is 5, but her speech is very delayed and our sessions are centered around vocal production. After listening to the information on the developmental stages, I realized that she is firmly in the independence stage. She uses lots of repeated sounds when I am singing and her repertoire of vowel and consonant sounds is increasing. She babels with inflection but still lacks the tonal center. She is starting to play instruments on her own and exploring how to make them work. While I knew that her musical skills were slowly developing, it is good to see the stages broken into specifics. Understanding them in detail will make it easier to articulate specifically to her Mom where she is making progress and identify specific areas to target to encourage growth. I can’t wait to watch her develop musically in the future!

I found myself assessing an adult I see with Rett Syndrome. Her developmental age fits in the early childhood range. I assessed her to be in the independence stage rhythmically as she has significant physical limitations so grasping and striking take a great deal of effort and motivation. Our interventions are typically giving her the opportunity to respond by reaching and striking a drum within musical structure and increasing how long she will tolerate grasping and how many time she strikes a drum. Her vocalizations were mostly in the control stage. I provide her with choices between songs and if she can’t verbally repeat part of the title, then I try to have her visually or physically show me. If she is still unable to choose then I read her body language when telling her the choices. The vocalizations are often in call and response and completing the word(s) at the end of a phrase.

It felt affirming to assess what stages she fell in and see that I am utilizing a lot of the musical choices and interventions noted in this training.

I currently work with a 5 year old boy with CP and a variety of other diagnoses. I have seen him a few times since starting this class and I have been really focusing on where he is developmentally. His case manager wrote that he functions as a 10 month old, which I completely disagree with and also don’t understand why she would make a comment like that! However, I will admit that he has developed immensely in music therapy, in just a few short months! I was reminded of that yesterday when I participated in his team meeting. So anyways, about the client! In October/November when I started with him I would say he was more in the trust stage. He was reluctant to participate and trying to figure things out. He would vocalize occasionally and sometimes even match pitch. When he was given an instrument, he did not always appear to want to play them. However, now I would say he is in the control stage. His vocabulary and verbal skills have EXPLODED! His mom told me yesterday that he is even independently requesting songs at home. She asked me specifically about “Row Row Row Your Boat” which he asks for almost every session. He also is able to answer simple questions, make choices, and engage in song lyric completion. He matches pitch much more. So yesterday at the meeting, after discussing this. The case manager stated that she believes he is developmentally functioning as a toddler! We all think a lot of it has to do with his participation in 1:1 and also group music therapy! HURRAY!

I see a 5 yr old boy who recently got diagnosed with autism. He is inbetween trust and independence. It takes him a few minutes to make it back to the office and he constantly looks back at mom while making his way down the hall. He displays short response levels and usually needs a small break between songs. If he does not remain seated, I will meet him where he is and support what he is doing at the moment. He is usually better with rederection if he has those small breaks. He has reciprocal communication and will match infection. A look forward to taking this new information on developmental stages while assessing my clients.