Share your thoughts with the board on how much stimulation is enough? How much stimulation is too much?

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Megan Goddu]

The correct amount of stimulation really depends upon the child, I believe and can be every different for each child or not at all. Overall, I think there needs to be a flow of stimulation going from highly stimulating to low stimulation. In a way, it is connected to the energy flow created by the varying music and actions you as the music therapist provide for the child and the class. You don’t want your energy to be so high that you are overstimulating the child and you don’t want your energy to be so low that the child is bored and not even aware they are in music. Stimulation is how the child is interacting with their environment at this developmental level. If a child starts to really become upset than it is time to figure out if it’s too much for them or not enough or something else (i.e. hungry, wet diaper, etc)

[Emily Seymour]

I think the best rule of thumb when it comes to stimulation is to take cues from the energy level of the child.  Like Meredith said in the video, kids who are banging against the wall have high energy and need more stimulation.  If you used that energy in Sprouting Melodies 1 however, this stimulation would frighten the child.  As music therapists, we need to be watching for cues of stress and overstimulation.  The last thing we want to do is provide too much stimulation and cause the baby to associate Sprouting Melodies with a negative feeling.

[Kristen Macleod]

I would have to agree with Emily and Megan. We need to be careful to observe each child as every child is different. What could be over stimulating for one child may not be so for another.  You want to provide a good flow of energy but if a child is not responding well to this you need to make sure you are not causing them distress and balance this out with something that might be less or indeed more energetic/stimulating and meet them where they are.  I think as music therapists we are tuned in to watch for cues and triggers and monitor overall responses and we have the skills to musically address these within sessions. I think that if this is a population that you dont have a lot of experience with (like me) it might take a little getting used to to get a feel for how much stimulation is enough or too much.

[Anonymous]

Emily, Megan, and Kristen really said everything that I would say about level of stimulation.  Ongoing assessment of each individual child and the group to determine how much stimulation is needed with each experience one is presenting.

I also liked Elizabeth’s description of the flow of energy throughout the session and the idea of low then high and low again.  Some of this sounds like the Iso principle as well; that idea of meeting the client where they are and bringing them to

a new place.  In my past work one area of stimulation I always tried to achieve, at the end of sessions, was to bring the group back to a calm state so I would return them to their teacher calmer.  I felt it would be very difficult for the teacher if they were

too excited or highly stimulated to get back to their classroom routine.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Having done one of my library programs this morning, I was just talking with a parent about how we constantly monitor and change the music to be sure that it is meeting the needs of the kids and responding to them! Leading and following, using your skills to read them. I assure you, Kristen, that with your clinically trained eyes and ears, and now this training, you will quickly get a sense of what works and doesn’t work with this population! Have you watched the video on the SproutingMelodies.com site yet? There is a video from a Sprouting Melodies 2 class. Please feel free to check it out!

 

[Lauren Bevilacqua]

I like what Emily pointed out in her contribution. We have to constantly assess our clients. Are the kids 10 feet from the circle and getting antsy? or are you in the middle of a meltdown? The more I work with groups of children, the more I feel like I can tell when an experience crosses the edge of fun into stressful/too much. When I started the challenge, at least for me, became trying to find a way to bring the energy down to a satisfactory level without completely derailing everyone. As everyone has mentioned, its the ongoing assessment and flexibility of our structure that can help balance the group energy dynamics. I appreciated this question because energy level is so important and different for every group/individual. 

[Michelle Muth]

I think at this age-level/span the importance of expected or anticipated stimulation is important. Even more important is my demeanor as the music therapist.  Be happy, welcoming and open but not overly loud, overly big in my movements/behavior.  I can vary my timbre more but always being sensitive to the childrens’ reactions.  As the class progresses and the children build a firmer level of trust and explore independence than I can experiment with a more diverse palate of my own (facial expressions, movement, timbre).

[Michelle Muth]

I wrote my response before reading all of yours and it is very heartening that we are all thing about the child, how they are responding and modifying.  I keep forgetting that this outlook/approach is rather novel to music therapy as I feel like it what we each would do naturally.  Having done some teaching in the schools I always found it frustrating that I had to stick to the overall classroom and music education goals rather than moving with the flow.  Wonderful to see how we are all thinking in a similar fashion.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Yes, we are working to build a like minded community in early childhood music that works ‘by the child, not by the book’.

[Lisa Klostermann]

I think this is where our training as music therapists really comes into play.  We do not want to overstimulate the children and make them frightened or conversely, shut down.  Also we want to keep the music energetic enough so that we do not completely “lose our crowd”.  Finding that sweet spot in the middle is the key.

[Vanessa Talbott]

All the comments above are fantastic. I think it is important that we remember that the parent is the expert on their child and to empower the parents to notice certain cues of overstimulation in their own children. As a music therapist, to be able to look and feel the energy of the group as a whole is really helpful to manage the level of stimulation. I agree that flow is so important and bringing the group down at the end of the session is a vital part so children are able to transition to where they are going next.

[Jillian Brown]

Everyone else has hit the nail on the head. I think this varies child to child and situation to situation. We are trained to be able to be very sensitive to our clients and to learn what they need through assessment and some degree of trial and error. I think just by being fully present and watching how children are responding is the key to knowing how much is too much or how little is too little.

[Carla Carnegie]

seems everyone else has hit this nail on the head.  My thoughts are much the same as the rest of you—watching the cues of the children, watching our own level of  energy to match that of the children, but not over the top, frightening them.

We want to support their growing and moving forward, yet not over-stimulate with the level of energy and excitement in the music experiences and songs beyond what is appropriate.

I think of the arch of the session should be lower to higher and then bring them back down in activity and stimulation.

 

[Carla Carnegie]

just finished reading more comments—Meredith, I am glad there is a video to watch a SM 2! I am going to watch that one myself.  Kristen, I am like you, not having had the opportunity to work with very young ones since my very early practicum experiences while in school.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Don’t worry! We are here to support you.

[Courtney Fanello]

Yes, I definitely appreciate that video for SM2, and SM3. It was very helpful. And, like everyone said, there is always an ebb and flow, a give and take of the session, and every child is going to have their own thresholds. I also think that stimulation level can be a very important thing to share with parents, sometimes they may just think “Maybe they are teething, or didn’t nap well,” when actually the situation is just too much for them. This is where we can give parents examples of how to help their children cope, or understand their cues of when something is too much. I definitely am going to need to hone this skill as I begin my classes.

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