Personal Reflection

[Julie Palmieri]

Post to the board a personal reflection of what you personally will bring to early childhood music therapy based programs?

Be sure to come back and respond to others as well.

[Kayla Stubblefield]

In addition to fresh energy, I bring diversity to early childhood music therapy based programs. Approximately 13% of music therapists in the US are Black, and very few of which reside in Southeast Ohio. I believe that children seeing and interacting with people from various cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities is essential to growing into well-rounded adults.

[Ceara Chiapparelli]

So, we are friends and we chatted on the phone about this. But I also feel like you bring this really wonderful level of being inquisitive to the table.

What I mean is you have so much enthusiasm for entering a child’s world and want to know what they see or what they think and experience it with them. I feel like it must be so incredibly validating for them.

Like, the time I told you my son got a new train video and you were like, “ooo! That sounds fun! I would really like to see that.”

Although you said it to me, the fact that you were validating him – as a parent – that was even special for me. You have such sincere genuine enthusiasm and I think it makes you such an asset to any person or place you are working with.

[Kayla Stubblefield]

Ceara,
Thank you so much for your kind words! Genuine enthusiasm is what I believe to be one of the most important things to bring to early childhood music therapy. We can bring motivating music and instruments, but genuine energy has the power to shift the atmosphere in the room.

[Erika Svolos]

@ Kayla
Thank you for sharing that information, the important perspectives you are bringing to your work, and to our field.

@ Ceara
Thank you for telling us more about the qualities Kayla bring to early childhood music therapy.

[Jorden Liteplo]

Agreed! What humans view as ‘ other’ or Strange they are less accepting of. Exposure, especially when little is huge! I hope these stats begin to shift in music therapy and other professions!

[Ceara Chiapparelli]

So, this is hard. I would rather tell everyone else what they are amazing at, clearly.

I have worked a lot with kids, as a teacher and as a music therapist and now as a parent of two kiddos with special needs as well. I think I really enjoy kids. I appreciate them and I love showing them things.

I used to get in a bit of trouble as an educator because I gravitated toward the kids who didn’t fit elsewhere and I never wanted to teach them a strict curriculum. I really wanted to enter their world and use it to teach them how cool the curriculum could be when it paired with their interests. So I was probably always actually meant to be a music therapist anyway.

I think that sometimes early childhood programming can get really stringent – we do this then this and you do this… and I think I bring flexibility and adaptability to the table. Structure and a plan that understands development are so important at this age, but so is freedom, independence and joy. I think I do my best work when focusing on really strong understanding of development with the ability to adapt and live in the moment with children and I am excited to feel like this programming seems to be structured in that same way.

[Erika Svolos]

@ Ceara Thank you for taking the time to look at all the knowledge and perspectives you are brining to the field.

[Jorden Liteplo]

Ohhh! I loved working with the different ones too! Traditional education leaves a lot to be desired, do t you think?

[Jorden Liteplo]

I think I bring the perspective of someone who has just recently lived many of these milestones and hasn’t yet had enough time to put my rose coloured glasses on them. I vividly remember the sleepLessness and pain of teething and sleep regressions and first bumps.

So much of how I run my early music classes has been influenced by my experience As a parent! For example I teach a lot of ASL with an a music context because ASL was such a huge help for me when I was parenting my own child who could not speak yet. I remember one time she was having a meltdown in a store and nothing I could do would soothe her until she looked at me and signed ‘hungry’. A simple Hand gesture and a granola bar saved my sanity. The way I watched her engage with the world influenced many of the songs that I wrote when she was little and change the way I looked at things like lullabies. I didn’t really understand before that the power of skin to skin contact and holding your child and singing to them and what that does for their neural development.

I have also been Collaborating with a paediatric physiotherapist running tummy time classes out of my studio and integrating music therapy to teach the parents how to use music and musical engagement to help their children better tolerate tummy time as many of them have had birth injuries and are having tummy time to strengthen the muscles they will need later to sit up and stand and walk. I love to collaborate and I also love integrate new knowledge into my classes as it helps me not feel stagnant!

[Leah Strand]

I think you have some great tools that you use yourself and that you share with others from your own personal experiences. The best experiences I get to share with others are also things I have learned from first-hand experience.

[Sean FitzGerald]

For me, I have no kids and not any extended family members who are much younger than I am so my experiences with young children are limited to my experiences in my young career as a music therapist and my practicum placements at school. Not having a lot of experience, I do my best to bring as much positive energy as I can to create a safe space for the kiddos I am working with. One of my strengths as a therapist so far has also been my flexibility in adapting interventions as I have worked with many of different populations and adapted interventions to fit from session to session. Flexibility is something I have brought to sessions in my work with kiddos so far and it has been beneficial in meeting them where they are at! I am really excited to deepen my knowledge of early childhood and add more tools to my toolbox!

[Leah Strand]

I think what I would personally bring to early childhood-based programs would be my knowledge and dedication to making experiences and environments more multi-sensory-friendly. I am a new professional with my intern experience the most recent I’ve had with children in a therapeutic setting. The biggest thing I learned was how to meet someone who was disregulated and help give them more tools to encourage self-regulation to achieve their goals. If you think about a child and the different milestones they encounter, they add new experiences and feelings into the mix and are constantly trying to figure the world out. This can cause too much stimulation or not enough. If you think about it, it can be challenging at times to do music therapy when something just doesn’t feel right within your own self. So For my perspective to look at how we can address sensory regulation first, I think this is a valuable tool for working with children to address their main goals.

[Kayla Stubblefield]

@Leah<br />
Leah, I love your perspective on sensory regulation.

[Jorden Liteplo]

SO true! My intern has been learning a LOT about how to help non verbal clients with this. It’s not a skill you can learn in a lecture hall!

[Angie Snell]

I bring an ever-present curiosity for learning from the children and the ability to shape the music so each child feels musically, emotionally, and physically embraced and celebrated. It is a confidence builder to have had the privilege to work with hundreds of young children each year for more than 3 decades, along with their parents, and their caregivers. Over the years, that works out to be thousands of children! Little ones always humble us and teach us new perspectives. And their parents desperately want to know they are being good parents. Parents and caregivers can benefit as much as their children from sharing music therapy time with their children. It is such a privilege to get to provide those opportunities. I guess I bring openness and energy with a genuine love of getting to share music and all the positive associations that can happen within that music. Those positive associations can last well beyond the confines of music therapy sessions.

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