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.

[Camryn Gallagher]

I always appreciate refreshers on “typical” development and the age ranges at which we can expect certain milestones. I think these are highly important for a clinician and a family to be on the same page about, because it allows us to establish realistic, achievable goals. But I also loved the comments made throughout the videos that even the smallest, youngest baby is a human being, not simply a checklist of goals to be achieved. In EI I work with a lot of babies and toddlers with significant delays. It’s easy for parents to be discouraged by the resources they find online telling them where their child “should” be. This was one sentiment in the content this week that stood out to me – recognizing the human, no matter how small, and celebrating each and every milestone as a miracle. I try to bring this sense of empathy to every family I work with.

In my past work with older children and adults, I have always emphasized the humanity of music. I have challenged clients to reflect on their relationship with music and how it relates to their identity, just as I have reflected on my own. Now that I’m working strictly with children 0-3, I don’t often recognize that this age is where our sense identity first starts to develop, and how incredibly important and precious that is. So much of the work I do in my current program relies not only on my ability to connect with the child, but encouraging the adult caregiver to participate in their child’s journey as well. I am excited to continue exploring how music in particular helps us prioritize humanity and helps parents see not just where their child is struggling or “falling behind,” but also where their child is thriving – What is your child interested in? What brings them joy? What helps them connect to you and others in their environment? What is your child’s unique way of experiencing the world?

I hope my music therapy practice at this young age can help promote a sense of autonomy that both the child and the caregiver can carry with them for years beyond my time with them – that the child’s ideas matter, and their contributions in the world should be celebrated. An important aspect of this that I hadn’t really thought about before is setting up a therapy/music making space that allows for developmentally appropriate exploration. I like the idea of filling the room with things that ARE okay to throw, mouth, drop, climb on, etc. I want the music therapy space to show the caregiver that their child is safe and encouraged to be their most authentic self during our groups.

[Daniel DeLucia]

Hello!

I would also agree with what Camryn said. I resonate a lot with what she mentioned regarding the humanity of the child within music therapy and how she uses the lens of humanism to help provide autonomy and agency for the child. I felt a similar way when reading the chapters and watching the videos for this week. Something that I always try to bring to the session, especially for young children, is a sense of playful and wonder and pure joy. As alluded to within the previous chapters of Beth’s book, children take in so much of their environment and within music, something as simple as waving a scarf around and throwing it up in the air is so meaningful for them. That is something that I personally will continue to bring into music therapy with young children; help supporting and uplifting those moments in which the child feels totally free and autonomous. This could easily be applied to all individuals of different backgrounds, developmental levels and age.

[Courtney McDonald]

I bring a balance to my practice by using developmentally appropriate skills with chronologically age appropriate music. This has been a challenge in the past when working with professionals in other fields. Yes, this child enjoys listening/moving with wheels on the bus but they are chronologically 13 and are growing a mustache! I bring variety in subject matter and genres with focus on the appropriate developmental skills. There is a time and space for musical preferences but that should not define the totality of music for that individual.
I also bring joy and excitement along with my instruments!

I agree with the above comments about autonomy and agency for all beings. We can create safe spaces to be completely themselves and express their musicality.

[Erika (TeamRH)]

I’ve enjoyed reading your personal reflections. Thank you so much for sharing!

Please remember to come back to previous weeks to read and interact with your fellow participants. We find this deepens your experience with the training materials.

-Erika

[Lydia Westle]

Hello,

I’ve enjoyed reading all of the above reflections so far and very much agree with the sentiments shared. Courtney, I particularly agreed with what you shared regarding the importance of balancing working on skills within one’s developmental level with music that is appropriate for one’s chronological age. In my work in a children’s hospital, I come across this situation often and aim to help educate other staff (and caregivers) regarding these considerations.

Similar to what others shared, I found the review of the checklists / developmental milestones helpful as a foundational knowledge. In my current work, I have strived and will continue to strive to incorporate these considerations as I help young children and caregivers experience greater meaning with each other, and with the world, through music. In my work primarily on a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Cardiac Unit, I work with many infants and toddlers who are hospitalized for extensive periods of time – sometimes over a year or two, depending on the situation – and often times can not leave their room or can only leave for very minimal periods of time, if at all. Due to the nature of long-term hospitalizations and the fact that often times patients are understandably not always able to have a consistent caregiver presence at bedside, my patients are typically significantly behind in meeting their developmental milestones. Therefore, is not uncommon for me to co-treat with Physical Therapy / Occupational Therapy to help support these goals further. In particular, I found the review of these checklists very helpful, as sometimes it’s easy for me to forget exactly what is “typical,” as what I am seeing at work is so far from that.

Daniel, I really appreciate what you shared regarding the ways in which you strive to help the people you work with experience joy and meaning. I think about this often and especially when working with children facing potentially life-limiting illnesses, I think about ways in which I can help my patients / families experience moments of beauty together as often as possible. In the setting in which I work, there are often many barriers to bonding (extensive medical equipment, levels of sedation, lack of “normal” environment, caregivers navigating trauma / anxiety) and so much of my work often centers around quality of life and helping caregivers to feel empowered with what they CAN do for their baby – especially with music. When I was reading over the developmental considerations and thinking about my work with a diverse group of patients / families, I thought about the ways in which I often aim to help caregivers modify songs of personal significance or create an original song for their child – whether it’s a song listened to while baby was in utero, cultural/ religious/ spiritual song, song of kin, or an original lullaby that reflects a caregiver’s love and hopes for their child. The information from this week was so helpful, as it can continue to help inform my thought process with repertoire choices, as well as the ways in which I use music / design music experiences to not only foster connection, but also help with a child’s psychosocial development.

[MacKenzie Lyons]

Hi everyone!

I have loved reading everyone’s responses to this prompt and I agree with what everyone has had to say so far! After reviewing this week’s materials, it has emphasized the importance of discussing how each individual develops at their own pace. To echo what Camryn stated, I feel like many parents get frustrated from hearing “you baby should be doing this,” especially when their child may be developing at their own pace. As I move throughout the rest of my internship and the rest of my career, I want to emphasize that each child is on their own individual path through development. By doing this, I hope to provide parents with some peace of mind as well as knowledge about what they can expect as their child continues to develop.

[Elmira Abasova]

Hi! I want to bring some evidence-based knowledge through early childhood music therapy based programs to parents and authorities.

I grew up in a post-soviet country where people believed that only gifted children should try music/dance/art/etc. All arts were seen as something professional and highly selective. A child could be auditioned in their early years and rejected from participating in musical activities. Sometimes, when kids were 3-4 years old and marked as “gifted,” their parents had already chosen a profession for them, believing in the exceptionalism of a kid.

It’s much better now, but I feel like our people still have more biases than same-age adults from developed countries. I want more adults to understand that all children can and should participate in music, that music will support development, and that development happens through music. In general, I plan to improve music therapy in my country. It might be easier to start with early development programs. I believe parents of young kids are more accepting of new practices.

[Olivia Todd]

Hi everyone, I have enjoyed reading everyone’s responses to this week’s prompt! I resonated a lot with Camryn and Lydia’s hope of encouraging autonomy and empowerment for children and their parents. I have heard so many parents apologize for their child throwing something, or putting it in their mouth, or even just for squirming or babbling when it was quiet. It is exciting to be able to provide a safe space in music for children to be children as well as a nonjudgemental space for parents. I also really like what Daniel said about bringing a sense of joy and wonder to each session. By encouraging play and wonder and joy in our sessions we are helping the child develop and grow.

[Maura Nicholson]

Yes! It is so hard when parents are so apologetic for their children just being children!! I feel like music therapists have such a unique role and ability to show parents that it is okay to encourage that play and exploration in a safe, non-judgement zone.

[Kate Jihye Choi]

Hello,

As an EI worker, this chapter gave a lot of thought about ‘development.’ Yes, Development is musical, and music is developmental. I have tried to find out the musical factors working on children’s development while I saw them this week. I have a twin brother case. They are 4 months old, and the one is always behind the other. Mom expressed concern about the one, saying ‘He is always a week behind.’ However, For this week’s session, I found out he has a nice cooing harmonized by his twin brother. And he cooed back to me when I imitated his sound, adding rhythm and expression. Their mom seemed happy and satisfied when I brought up the discussion about his musicality. Finding music out of development as a music therapist/service coordinator is so meaningful to me.

[Amy Calderon]

I remember whenI was an EI and I also had twins. Mom was also always comparing the two of them. That is so beautiful that you were able to find a way to see something she had not noticed about the child she felt was behind.

[Maura Nicholson]

Nothing in music therapy energies me more than groupwork with babies and toddlers. I had the opportunity to lead a few groups while working for EI and started a group via Zoom for our agency during the pandemic. I love the challenge of navigating what draws each child in depending on where they are in their developmental journey. The EI groups I did in person did not involve caregivers as well, but they were more involved with the Zoom group. I am really excited to offer parent child groups to help facilitate connection between caregiver & child, child & child, and caregiver & caregiver. I know it can be stressful when parents are comparing their little ones to others and are worried that they are falling behind. I hope to bring a sense of comfort to those by meeting them where they are and using the knowledge from this course to help explain and show parents the incredible role of music in their child’s development.

[Amy Calderon]

I have been working in early childhood for a long time. I did group work for a year where I constantly worked with DAY-C2’s to look at development and worked as an early interventionist at the same company, but then transitioned to individual therapy using other assessments, so this has been such a great reminder of what are typical developmental milestones. I will bring all my years of experience and knowedge to help parents feel confident in their child’s development. I think parents constantly compare their children to other children, not realizing that all children have their own rate of development. I will give families tools they can use to help in their child’s development at home and remind them that in order for children to develop we need to give them the opportunities to try and fail, but then help them when they need it. I will bring my enthusiasm and help children have fun as they learn. It need to be fun and we have to teach parents how to play and make things fun!

[Mark Dunford]

I’ll bring a sense of playfulness and silliness to hopefully capture babies attentions and imaginations. I’ll meet them where they are in literal ways like matching their perspective by laying down as well as their general affects. I love how lots of responses are touching on providing nonjudgemental spaces where kids can act out any behaviors and it’s not going to be criticized. I’ve had many elementary school sessions where staff are apologizing to me for a child’s behavior with no real consequence stemming from that behavior. I’ll bring a fresh perspective where I don’t look at behaviors as problematic and help to reinforce to parents that you don’t have to apologize for said behaviors.

[Jessica Solimini]

Mark, I think fostering nonjudgmental spaces is so key for parents of young kids, especially first-timers. So often when a kid is acting out a behavior in public there’s definitely the pressure to get your child to “behave,” no matter how developmentally appropriate it may be. Creating a space where parents and caregivers don’t have to feel the need to apologize or quickly move to quiet their child would be a welcome respite.

[Reagan Rademacher]

This is all so important! I especially like what you’ve said about not looking at behaviors as problematic and reinforcing the lack of apologies from parents. It’s so important to advocate for the clients and their development!

[Jessica Solimini]

Week 2 and already a question I can’t really answer that well! Haha… well to make this question fit me and my work, what I will try to bring to the office is a sense of playfulness and joy, especially when the little ones are around. I was lucky enough to sit in on Sprouting Melodies with Billie and MacKenzie in my first few weeks at RMTS and it made a big impression on me. Even though my daughter is only 8, the baby years can feel far away sometimes and it was nice to be sitting on the floor watching the world through some very young eyes again. Taking that feeling back with me to my office was a nice reminder of what you are all doing while I’m crunching numbers and filling your schedules!

[Billie Junget]

Jes it’s great to hear that SM made a big impression on you! I like your idea of bringing the playfulness and joy to the workplace, it benefits us all! 🙂

[Billie Junget]

I have so much more information after this week and definitely have many pieces of education to bring to the SM caregivers during classes. I love the playfulness and silliness in this as well, that can translate to all areas, not just with kids! Creating a welcoming environment to support caregivers, the children, and development of the little ones.

[Jessica Solimini]

That’s true – it’s not just kids who need the release and space to be silly and playful! Being a grown up is such serious business sometimes, I would imagine attending the SM class with their little one is a bright spot in the adult’s week for that reason.

[Erika (TeamRH)]

What great conversation! Thank you all for your contributions!

[Reagan Rademacher]

I’m going to apply these developmental milestones to my programming by tweaking aspects of activities to make them appropriate for each group. I’m going to watch for the behaviors expected of each group and focus on the goal behind it for each specific age group. I’ll also try to avoid expecting non-developmentally appropriate behaviors from younger kids!

I’m also going to focus on trying to be more childlike in my practice! This will make rapport building much easier because I’ll join them where they are instead of forcing them to come to me.

[Erika (TeamRH)]

Hi Reagan,

I would encourage you to consider shift your lens from “non-developmentally appropriate behaviors,” as this would fall into possible challenges for neurodivergent and disabled children.

Neurotypical expectations of “appropriate and inappropriate” have roots in ableism (abled bodied dominance for societal behavioral norms).

I would suggest focusing more on looking at developmental scales as “skills” and follow individuals in their movement within those scales.

For neurodivergent and disabled children (and even some NT children) their skill development may not follow the “typical path” and it will be important to get to know each individual’s path and how we can use the music to follow their skill development and mastery of skill.

[Lincoln Bowen]

I hope that in my work, I can provide space and encouragement. It’s so wonderful reading everyone’s reflections- especially those mentioning apologetic caregivers. Nothing breaks my heart more! It’s almost like the caregivers are apologizing for themselves- that they don’t believe they’re doing a good job. In music, everyone is always, ALWAYS, doing a good job. If for just one session, caregivers and children can let go and explore without worrying about the “correct” way to do it, that is something special to be a part of. While learning of these typical milestones- it just makes me wonder what I can do as a therapist to welcome growth without expecting it. I hope to be silly and flexible, to see the world from a child’s lens as best I can. To enjoy the simple things. Even taking a moment to lie on the floor before sitting up was such an eye opener for how entirely full of ~Things~ the world is.

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