[Erika Svolos]

I can see all of your pictures :). So glad this worked smoothly for each of you!

[Erika Svolos]

This is a great question for working on cultural humility and working from a cultural responsive lens. Take some time to consider the various cultures and diverse communities within the area you are working in.

[Erika Svolos]

I look forward to hearing each person’s experiences with the songs! Remember to come back to each week to read other participant’s submissions and to respond to other’s posts. We have found that this helps to deepen your experiences with the training information.

[Erika Svolos]

Thank you both for your insights and takeaways.

[Erika Svolos]

@ Ceara Thank you for taking the time to look at all the knowledge and perspectives you are brining to the field.

[Erika Svolos]

@ Kayla
Thank you for sharing that information, the important perspectives you are bringing to your work, and to our field.

@ Ceara
Thank you for telling us more about the qualities Kayla bring to early childhood music therapy.

[Erika Svolos]

Wonderful!

[Erika Svolos]

Hi Everyone,

I apologize I am a little late in posting.
It is a pleasure to read all of your introductions!

My name is Erika Svolos. I have been the online moderator for the Sprouting Melodies training for the past 9 years. I live in New Jersey with my husband, my 9 yo daughter, and our cats Moose and Sir Didymos.

It is a joy to be a part of this fantastic program and to join in your Sprouting Melodies journey. I am a graduate of Marywood University, currently finishing up my graduate degree at Montclair State University. I’ve been a clinical music therapist for the past 24 years.

Over that time, I have worked in a variety of settings including in-patient child/adolescent psychiatry, a private clinic for autism, a large urban public school system, private practice, a private special education high school for individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders, and a private Orthodox Jewish special education school. In August 2013 I started my own business/private practice; Music Therapy Services of New Jersey, LLC. I completed the April 2013 Sprouting Melodies online training and it was a wonderful addition to my practice. I began offering Sprouting Melodies classes in February of 2014 and I’ve truly enjoyed working with my SM families.

I will be assisting with any questions and/or technical difficulties.

You should have received an email with information about the online forum technology and my contact information.

If you do not receive the email, please contact me at erika.svolosmtbc@gmail.com.

I am looking forward to getting to know each of you over the next ten weeks!

[Erika Svolos]

It was a pleasure to be with all of you in this course. I thank you all for your insights and contributions. I wish you much success in your future endeavors.

[Erika Svolos]

Thank you for your response.

[Erika Svolos]

Thank you for your insights!

[Erika Svolos]

Great insights! I’m so glad you have gained more skills to support the work you are doing.

[Erika Svolos]

It is wonderful to hear how helpful this material will be for all of your clinical work. Thank you for sharing!

[Erika Svolos]

Dumping and dropping are also a typical developmental stage. Typically we see that in 8-10 months but when it comes to neurodivergent children we can see that earlier or later chronologically. Also, as you mentioned, it can provide great sensory input for ND children. Kiddos will do a variety of things from filling objects and dumping them, picking up objects and dropping them. They will do this over and over again as they master skills. If an instrument will be broken…I’ve found teaching about how to keep our instruments safe and then offering alternative things to drop, i.e. a ball or a scarf. This allows the kiddo to learn about caring for materials, what materials can be dropped, and meeting that developmental need of dumping and dropping.

This article has some good info about this stage: https://www.adam-mila.com/milestones/fine-motor-skills/put-in-take-out/#:~:text=Dropping%20Objects%20on%20Purpose,up%2C%20then%20dropping%20them%20again.

[Erika Svolos]

Celia I really enjoyed hearing what you are excited about! Thank you for sharing. Something that may help you with regards to sensory needs is the work of Jean Ayers and Lucy Jane Miller and the STAR Institute in Colorado. Sensory processing is a multi system process including the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile systems. It also involves things like the vestibular, proprioceptive, and interoceptive areas.

Here’s a link that has been helpful for me: https://sensoryhealth.org/basic/your-8-senses

There is so much we can do with all the experiences we use singing, movement, listening, playing instruments that can help to support and activate these areas. The challenge there is accommodating all the different needs at once. I like to think ahead of time, what I can put in each experience that supports the over typical, responding, under responding, and mix responding systems and then model these for the families and the children.

[Author]

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