What are the needs of the families you work with?

[Meredith Pizzi]

What are the needs of the families you work with? What are the needs of your community? Share with the board how your families and communities might be unique.

[Corie Barkey]

Every family I work with has unique needs. For some families they have multiple children with various disabilities and they need to experience their children having successful experiences. They need to be told that their child is awesome at something because they are constantly hearing about what they should be doing or are not doing correctly yet. I have families who need an emotional break and need the time with their child to just experience something joyous together instead of the intensity of home/school life. The community also has unique needs from school to school or town to town. The communities need education, music availability and support.

[Mary Carter]

I think the needs of the families in my community is to have the time to connect with their children and the ability to play and enjoy their child at the child’s developmental level. I live in a very affluent area of New Jersey where in many of the families both parents work high stress, long hour jobs where the children are often in childcare or under the supervision of nannies. The parents in my community are all very dedicated to getting the best education, experiences and advancements for their children and are willing to pay for it. I think the parents in my area endure a great level of stress at their jobs and may have a hard time leaving that stress, or their iphones with the constant messaging and the emails at the door. I am hoping that my courses will provide the parents with a safe haven where they can become so involved that they can ignore the stresses of their career and be truly present for their child and enjoy the playfulness.

[Mary Kerrigan]

I work primarily with adults with developmental disabilities and when I do work with children they too are developmentally delayed. I think in regards to the special needs population I have to agree with Corie that much of the needs of the families, both parents and child are to see them in a more positive light and allow them to be successful because unfortunately what tends to happen sometimes with this population is that their delays are highlighted more than their successes. Also sometimes the parents don’t know how to positively interact or interact at all with their children and I think the music is such an easy commonality to bond together with and have fun playing with and interacting with each other. Sometimes with children with special needs there are so many services and “therapies” to have to make it to such as SLP, PT, OT, etc. that their schedules can becomes so hectic. Having SM and this unique music therapy experience can be a fun and relaxed break from the monotony of what life can become to promote healthy bonds and interactions between families.

[Anonymous]

What a great support you will each be for your families. You truly see their unique needs and need for support. All parents truly need a lot of support and validation. The world, and the internet, is filled with what children “should” be doing and what parents “should” be doing better for their children. As many of you also pointed out, many families are exhausted from busy work schedules to caring for a child that has many needs. Music therapists have a great opportunity to utilize their backgrounds and specialization to support their families and communities.

[Cynthia Cross]

I am not yet working within the community but I have lived here since my children were little. I think this is a community that wants to be as involved as possible with their children. I probably have a mix of families where both parents work and then those with a stay-at-home parent. I have also seen a couple programs pop up for the unwed mother type of population – even one for mothers and children fighting addiction. I think using music therapy in these contexts would be very beneficial. In my immediate area I think I would more likely see the young mother scenario. I absolutely love the idea of learning to play with children. My kids are young adults now but I remember feeling like I had to provide everything for them and seldom did anyone say I needed to just stop and play with them. As a SM provider I can definitely see that being a big bonus for families.

[Emily Baroody]

I have found so far that a lot of the parents in my communities are looking for opportunities to bond and play with their children, and also for their children to have the opportunity to play with children. Some of my early childhood groups are held on a weekday morning and most of those parents are home with their children all day and are so excited to have an opportunity to socialize with their children. To meet other families with children the same age, and see their kids running and playing and sharing instruments with other children. My groups also contain families with children who for whatever reason are not considered to be “developing typically.” Some maybe have confirmed diagnosis some not yet. And for those families the social interaction of the group seems to be their first need as they verbally state. But I have also noticed that for those families coming to groups and having moments to bond together is a need they didn’t realize they had or if they did realize it didn’t verbally state that it was something they were hoping to get out of music. I also feel that there are families whose needs I have yet to see or try to address. And these would be the working parents. Last week I had a summer camp group that consisted of preschool aged children and their parents coming to the music school and getting a worth of introduction to different musical instruments and musical concepts, such as rhythm, melody, volume etc. These families actually took a week off from work to be able to experience two hours of music a day with their. They were telling me that there were not a lot of programs to the working parent who wanted to spend time with their child doing something fun and creative. They felt that those opportunities were for stay at home parent only. And that seemed really sad to me. I want to be able to offer more to my community.

[Molly Moses]

While working in a hospital, a lot of the families were looking for ways to bond and feel connected to their child while physical proximity was difficult. Music therapy was a great tool for helping them stay connected and share a joyful experience. A lot of the families in my community currently are looking for ways to bond with their children, and to help their children bond with each other, particularly older siblings with new babies.

[Kristina Rio]

It sounds like many of you have some great ideas already about how Sprouting Melodies can meet the needs of your community!

[Mary Jane Dibble]

A lot of my families are in music therapy because their children are having developmental delays. They are trying to help their children progress in development in several areas including speech, movement, socialization, emotion, sensory, etc. Many of the families need support and encouragement in their efforts to help their children. The community I live in has a lot of families with young children and it also has a high rate of autism so there are a lot of families who can really benefit from music therapy.

[Laura Silvestain]

I am not yet working with this population, but my current summer job is working with young adults with developmental disabilities. In this community, I believe the needs of the families is mostly reassurance and support. In Colorado, there are some programs for adults with developmental disabilities, but not many. The fear that their child will not be taken care of in their later years is therefore instilled early on. The opportunity to connect with other families in similar situations through a program that is beneficial for their child seems to be to be the best support parents and families could get. There is an immediate connection between families and the support system grows. They are reassured that they are not alone in their situation and that there are professionals and other parents who can and will guide them to a comfortable place. Unfortunately, in my area of Colorado, there are minimal music therapy services as well, and I hope to spread awareness of music therapy and involve more of the organizations that are currently supporting people with developmental disabilities.

[Melaine Pohlman]

I completely agree with many of the needs mentioned above! Parents have the desire to engage, bond and be involved. They are looking for knowledge and guidance as their children go through varying levels of development. In my EI work, sessions take place at home (a natural environment) and the families I work with have many needs. They often have multiple modalities of therapy coming into their environment on a regular basis and this can be stressful and/or overwhelming. I find that they are looking for a forum and a setting in which they can naturally and intentionally engage/play/interact with their kids while working on developmental goals. They seek a non-threatening, supportive and nurturing environment where their children will enjoy what is happening and not just see it as “work.” As well, I think that families seek out a chance to develop and nurture a life leisure skill.

[Brianna McCulloch]

I practice at an amazing nonprofit music conservatory for children. The quality of music instruction and education there is amazing. I have only been doing mommy and me groups for about 6 months, and I already see so many needs. Some parents just need an opportunity to connect with their children, uninterrupted by siblings and housework and phone calls. Other parents need to know that it’s okay that their child isn’t speaking in full sentences at two years old (I had a parent really very concerned about this!). Some parents need to learn to play with their kids–it just doesn’t come naturally to them to be silly. I think working with parents who are (or were formerly) professionals presents a unique set of challenges. They walk in THINKING they want a class with a whole lot of structure that is going to teach their child something. Often, they walk away having improved and adapted to their child’s whims, having been silly, and having watched their child explore and discover and they are just so HAPPY. I think that’s what a lot of families need–just opportunities to connect, explore, bond, and enjoy each other’s company.

[Kristina Rio]

Brianna, I think a lot of times those parents who are professionals are looking for that structure and outcome of classes, and want to know more. One thing that is great about Sprouting Melodies is that there is structure in repetition, and that’s why we repeat a song so many times before moving on to something different. It’s a different kind of structure than having a curriculum with specific themes or concepts, but there is still so much value in what we can offer parents. I send out weekly emails to my classes to continue the education outside of class for those looking for more! It has been very successful, and helps to engage those parents who want more, and to stress the value of their participation in just being in the moment!

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