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.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Coleen Shanagher]

The biggest contribution I give to families is either a plan- something they can look for or do at home- or confirmation that they’re already doing the right thing. I see so much head nodding and “oooohhh”s throughout the day because parents always want to know if they’re doing the right thing. They bring their children to activities and specialists because they want to feel like they’re doing whatever they can to help them develop. And by encourging them, and giving them a session’s worth of break time from being the leader, they are more ready to tackle the demands of the day.

[Petra Paukova]

HI. I totally agree with Coleen. To add my own stuff: I think music therapist is bringing fun, energy and quality time to these sessions. When parents feel that MT knows what she/he is doing and when MT is able to answer their questions professionally, it gives credit to this program. Good communication of MT with parents is essential in process of developing trust and feeling safety for their children. Also, we, music therapists, are trained to be empathetic. I think that is important (especially when there is an issue with child’s development) to be able to communicate with parents empathetically and help them emotionally.
As for needs for family, it is all about love, trust, bonding, communication, socializing, I think. And needs for community? I would say tolerance to different cultural backgrounds, gathering (I feel people live in kind of isolated words nowadays and personal contact with people in our community is very healthy). Sharing something special like watching and helping our kids grow can also help to learn parents from each other just by observing other families and their successes and struggles. Making friends, of course.:)

[Stacy Reno]

The families I work with have the common bond of a child with disabilities. They are all at different stages in understanding and dealing with this information. They need to know that they are not alone in the struggles of coping with everyday life. The parents/caregivers often make first connections in the music therapy group and many continue friendships/suppport outside of the group. Many of the kids have not been around other children except siblings due to the nature of the disability or because the parents may feel uncomfortable taking their child to “social groups”. My schools 0-3 population follows the “natural environment” theory so all the services the students recieve (speech, OT, PT) are done in the home. The parents and children both need the experience of meeting others in a safe and fun music therapy environment! Coleen and Petra made great points that I support!

[Erin Spring]

About a year ago, a mom came to me requesting an assessment for her toddler son. When I asked her what prompted her to seek a music therapy assessment, she told me a story I had never considered. She said she had signed herself and her son up for an early childhood music class (kindermusic I think) because her son loved music. However, her son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum and she quickly found herself feeling out of place in the class. Not just because she was the only parent there with a child with special needs, but her son responded so very differently than all the other children. She told me the teacher did not know how to handle her son in the class, and she often felt disapproving eyes from other parents as her son “disrupted” the class. How awful! When I heard about Sprouting Melodies, this mom’s story immediately came to mind. There are so many children with special needs, learning disabilities, speech delays, and parents need a competent and understanding leader and teacher to engage themselves and their children in an environment where they feel safe, comfortable and respected. They need an early childhood program that does more than simply teach songs and play instruments, but truly teaches them what’s behind the music, moving and playing and gives them applicable daily strategies and concepts to support their child’s growth and their relationships.

[Kehlen Bushatz]

Most of the families I work with are wanting to learn how to help their child learn various skills. A lot of time traditional methods or therapies haven’t worked and they are trying something different. They often notice that their child really likes music and want to see if using music will help. They want to learn how they can use music to help their child improve the skills that they are delayed in. I also agree with Coleen and the others about giving families a plan and strategies on how to help their child. As an itinerant preschool teacher, a teaching method that’s been presented to us is collaborating more with both parents and other professionals who work with our students. We are often expected to model for others how to teach skills to the child so that the classroom teacher/parent can reinforce those skills at school/home when we’re not there. Before, many itinerant teachers were just going in working with the child for a half hour or an hour, and then leaving. There was no carry-over because they weren’t working with the parents or other teachers, and the progress was not as great. I think that my community needs more individuals that are trained and experienced working with families with children with special needs. I think these families often feel like they don’t have enough support and wish that they had more.

[Keeley St Clair]

The needs of the families I work with vary. Some need support with increasing tolerance and attention span, some need help in developing social skills and some just simply need a viable way to creatively express in a safe environment.
I think my community has a niche to be filled by the Sprouting Melodies program. There are many young progressive families here who are looking for ways to best support the development of their children. I think families of special needs children could always use more support from specialists and professionals such as ourselves.

[Andrea U]

I am currently working with adults but would love to get around to doing more music therapy with children. I live in Toronto, the biggest city in Toronto. Unfortunately, music therapy is still a relatively unknown profession, and those that do know of it think we only work with autistic kids and seniors. It does not help that music therapy programs in this city only pop up in long-term care! I believe there is room here through a program like Sprouting Melodies that expands the stereotypical population to support the development of children into well-rounded adults and from somebody who understands the developmental stages of children like a music therapist. Kindermusik and other early childhood music classes are very popular, but Sprouting Melodies is not only child-centered, but also family-centered which is something my community desperately needs.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Here is a take home you can share with your families now. I just posted a very short video on http://www.SproutinMelodies.com sharing some thoughts and songs about very young children and the Halloween holiday. Check it out and then share with your families.

[Lauren Stoner]

I agree with the comments above. I would also like to add that the time, money, and struggle it can take to get to sessions/ groups can be worth it to families, because the program provides an opportunity for the parent/ guardian to learn about themselves and learn about their child. This time is precious and special to families and they search out ways to improve their interaction and relationship. Music experiences provided by a music therapist who has the ability to communicate knowledge of developmental levels is also a significant benefit to parents/ guardians. Music is a natural way to engage and interact. Songs that are applied in SM groups can be used at home to help parents connect with their children outside of the group session and continue to promote development throughout the week.

[Toni]

There are many early intervention programs offered by the federal and tribal governments in the area in which I live. (Head Start, Family and Child Education, Walking in Beauty, Child Find, to name a few) However, they do not offer an immersive family/community based model of services. The families and communities here would benefit greatly from the supportive, holistic approach of Sprouting Melodies to help caretakers learn to interact with the children, encouraging and enhancing their development and growth.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Toni, I think you are so right that there are lots of programs targeted at young children and families, but very few of them give parents a place to really ‘be’ with their child and to feel welcome in a nonjudgemental community.

[Siobhan Rooney]

The families that I work with all have a child or children with special needs. I think it is important for a lot of my parents to be able to see their child succeed and have a positive, even joyful experience. So many everyday routines are challenging for my families (going to the grocery store, going to a community playground, etc.) causing many of our families to shy away from other early childhood music programs. Sprouting Melodies could really offer a program where everyone could feel valued and accepted. I think Family Sprouts is also a wonderful place for a typically developing sibling to connect with their brother or sister who may not always be easy to communicate with and for the parents as well. I work at an open school, each door has viewing windows and an intercom system so the families can watch their child in the classroom as well as therapy sessions. Parents love to watch their children in music therapy because they see them having fun, which for some of our little guys isn’t always easy. I’m often asked for lyrics or sheet music or a recording of a song because the children come home singing them. In Family Sprouts they could really join in the fun, play the instruments and learn the songs.

[Sarah Tree]

The families I will be working with need all of the things mentioned by the group: support, empathy, success, joy. They deserve a time to spend together, in experiences which they can enjoy together. My previous clinical experience was notably absent of the critical component of the family. I have only ever had the opportunity to work with the children, and unfortunately was not allowed much contact with the family. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to help these families to enjoy each other and their lives together more fully.

[Jennifer Sokira]

In many of the communities in which we work, there is not only a need of affordable opportunities for children of all abilities, but also for a place for caregivers to connect with each other and to get reliable information about musical development. In CT B-3 does not cover music therapy in any way so the opportunity for families to connect with Sprouting Melodies is really very valuable to them.

[Shannon Kiley]

To echo some of the other thoughts, parents really crave that reassurance that they are doing the right thing. (btw that reminds me of a video I saw recently– worth a watch! http://www.upworthy.com/these-kids-finally-say-what-they-really-think-about-mom-and-her-reaction-priceless-9) Additionally, I’ve found that parents really appreciate the tips you can give them for connecting with their child musically. Overall I’d say the biggest need of any family is connection, and what better way to do that than music?

In the community, I see a need for validation of those with disabilities. Too often people with disabilities are overlooked and marginalized, and they appreciate someone really seeing them for who they really are. In CT, most houses and communities are spread out (sprawled) in a strange way, and the “downtown” area of most towns seem to be dedicated primarily to cultivating a quaint image of the town rather than creating a sense of community. Therefore I think visibility efforts in CT are particularly well-suited.

[Kathryn Opher]

The families I work with like the perspective of how music can be part of their child’s life without the stress of doing the “right” thing. We play a lot in my sessions and I talk about how this play is helping the kids and what they are learning. I am empathetic and accepting while teaching the parents how their kids are OK. Joy and fun are important as the above posters have stated–life can be hard for these parents and to see their kids succeeding cannot be underestimated.

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