[Amy Myers]

Singing – The majority of my students are nonverbal communicators. That being said, I know that many of them show more seemingly intentional vocalizations in music therapy than in other settings…their speech therapists have told me so! So this week’s material got be thinking about what the progression of musical development can look like for a child for a child who communicates primarily through nonverbal means.

Instruments – A lot of what I learned in this section in regard to educating parents can also be pertinent in regard to educating staff. I have gotten better over time with taking opportunities to educate staff about the importance of children exploring instruments in their own ways (rather than immediately correcting their “form” so to speak) and to minimize the need for verbal prompting. I find that the staff in my sessions are often quick to immediately jump in and verbally remind students what they are supposed to be doing (I loved the “Rule of 3000” and will definitely be borrowing that!) or change how they’re holding a mallet or playing a drum. But it is so important to let them explore music in their own way, on their own terms, and in ways that are meaningful to them.

Movement – Many of my students crave movement and seek out different sensory inputs through different movements, so we do a lot of movement-based stuff in my current practice. For some reason, though, I hadn’t thought about stomping and patting knees coming before clapping hands in development. As soon as I heard that, it made perfect sense to me, especially with how many of my students have difficulty with bringing their hands to midline. I will definitely keep that in mind in the future!

Listening – I definitely think I could do more with listening! I think I often focus more on really observable actions (often seen during singing, moving, and instrument play), and I sometimes forget how important music listening can be. This was a nice reminder to sometimes take a step back and embrace the developmental sequence of listening a bit more in my work.

[Amy Myers]

Transitions are huge for most of the students I work with. A lot of my students find transitions and anything unexpected to be really challenging. I find that transitioning away from preferred items/activities or moving from one activity to another can be particularly jarring for my younger students. With this in mind, I was drawn to the song “Are You Ready for Music?” The predictability of the song structure along with the invitations to engage in music provide space for the child to choose how and if he/she engages in music in those ways, thus aiding in the idea of transitioning into a space in which he/she is ready to attend and participate.

[Amy Myers]

The clients I work with are primarily from Upstate New York (mostly the Albany area) but a few of my clients’ families are from other parts of the world (India, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Iraq). I send out a survey to families at the start of each school year to get a better idea of the music that is important to each family and their children. The majority of my clients identify western pop/rock music as their preferred genres. Most of my families write back and provide huge lists of songs they listen to on YouTube with their children. KooKooKangaroo is a big hit at my school – I’d say at least half of the families who respond to this survey list this. A few of my students are also really into songs from musicals and current movies. A few of my families have listed Reggaeton, Bachata, and Bollywood music. I also have quite a few students whose families have identified R&B, hip hop, and gospel music as their preferred genres. Overall, I’d say it’s a pretty wide mix with my current caseload.

[Amy Myers]

As I was listening to the information about each of these stages, my mind went to a group of 4 and 5 year-old children I worked with a few years ago. It was an interesting group to work with, as half of the children were preparing to enter kindergarten while the other half had just moved up to the “big kid classroom.” Looking back, I can see that most of the children in this group were either in the control stage or the responsibility stage. Some of the children were very much in the control stage and loved making choices and asserting themselves through music. Other children wanted to be helpers and were incredibly respectful and quiet during turn-taking activities.

[Amy Myers]

Awareness (1) Child calms in response to repetitive rhythmic rocking and/or gentle bouncing paired with familiar sung melodies. (2) Child responds to melody variations by turning head toward or away from the sound source for a few moments at a time. (3) Child quietly listens while MT is singing and begins to coo and gently vocalize when the MT stops singing and holds a silent space.

Trust (1) Child moves in response to music but not necessarily in rhythm with an external pulse. (2) Child extends arms to reach out toward an instrument and uses his hands, feet, and/or mouth to explore the item. (3) Child finds assurance and security in the predictability and repetition in the key, tempo, and melodic structure of familiar songs.

Independence (1) Child vocalizes using melodic inflection, repetitive sounds, descending intervals, and glissandos. (2) Child takes an instrument, shakes it in one hand, and then transfers it to his other hand. (3) Child isolates different parts of his body to move in response to rhythmic music.

Control (1) Child chooses two bells to play and chooses to loop them onto his wrists as he plays. (2) Child begins to focus on reproducing the spoken words of a song before focusing on matching and reproducing the pitch. (3) Child organizes his movements in a meaningful way to dance in response to music and participate with others.

Responsibility (1) Child matches an external pulse and maintains a steady beat while playing a drum for the duration of a brief song. (2) Child follows the dynamics of a song by vocalizing and playing loudly and quietly. (3) Child stops his playing to listen to and respect another person’s playing.

[Amy Myers]

What is at the forefront of my mind as I reflect on this question is my ability to connect with and remain present with children in music, regardless of how they communicate. Most of my current clients are nonverbal communicators, and music has been a really incredible and effective way for a lot of my clients to interact with their peers, their staff members, and with myself. Along the same lines, I think I bring a good balance of energy/silliness and calmness to each session and am able to draw upon both of those different energy levels based on the client’s mood and needs in the moment.

Although this isn’t necessarily a “strength” I’ll bring to these groups, I am really drawn to idea of community music therapy and think that providing a way for families to build connections with others is incredibly important. The possibilities for this to take place through participation in these groups has stood out to me thus far in this course, so reflecting on that piece has been exciting for me.

[Amy Myers]

For me, a huge takeaway was seeing the continuum of developmental milestones laid out across all of the age groups. I obviously recall all of this from my Developmental Psychology course, but it was a nice refresher for me. After working in a school for students with special needs for the past few years, my work with neurotypical children/children who are developing typically in regard to these milestones has been somewhat limited since I started working. All of my students show delays and/or impairments in one or more domains. For that reason, I find myself sometimes forgetting what “typical” development looks like! I certainly realize that development must be viewed in accordance with each individual child, rather than “by the book,” so to speak. However, this week’s material served as needed refresher for me and will be helpful in conceptualizing developmental milestones in each age group throughout this course.

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