[Jamie Sacca]

Sure! STAR (strategies for teaching based on autism research)is an education model that my school uses. It is a research based autism education program. Students work in several areas that promote acquisition of skills,ranging from functional skills, to learning routines, and social skills. They progress on different levels until they have reached their max level as appropriate.

Some aspects are: PRT (pivotal response training)- this is a great area to fit MT in. This can work on responding to musical cues, using music and specifically created songs to work on social responses, etc.

DT (discrete trial)- is a one on one time that teachers use to work on functional skills like labeling, speech and language acquisition, and matching.

Functional routines- this is used to help students learn to sequencing of tasks (unpacking their backpacks, going to the bathroom, etc). This is another great area that MT can be paired with. Social stories and prescriptive songs, etc. I actually just wrote a series of functional songs for different parts of the school day intended to be used as part of our school’s positive behavior support system.

The good thing about STAR is that it is all designed to take data. There is a rating scale for each level, and the functional routines can be customized to test for certain skills. This is a great way to compare students acquisition of skills in different settings as well (generalization!).

I have asked the STAR trainers who have come to our school about how musical stimuli should be rated in data taking due to the fact that musical prompts are processed differently in the brain, especially differently than a verbal prompt. The data that is taken is based on level of prompt required for a successful response, but a musical cue would be like a “super prompt”- I am still not sure of their answer on this haha though I have asked several times.

I hope that’s helpful- please let me knowif you have more questions!

[Jamie Sacca]

What stood out for me this week was thinking about these four different areas as separate entities. I often pair them together, I.e. Singing and listening, instrument play as informed by listening skills. I think this will help me to separate out these different facets of music making and use them independently in interventions I look to do. I also found that I should also focus more on listening, as described in this week’s video. I think this is sometimes hard to focus on independetly because it can sometimes be too abstract for the client’s I work with, but I am hoping to use some of these ideas to incorporate listening to music into my sessions more frequently.

[Jamie Sacca]

Ok here goes!

Singing: awareness: randomized focalization a in response to musical stimuli.
Trust: begins sound pairing
Independence: imitates and responds to Vocalizations
Control: may begin to sing parts of familiar songs repetitively, may be able to “fill in the blank”
Responsibility: able to sing independently and along with others

Playing instruments: awareness: reaching for/touching instruments when presented to them
Trust: beginning to grasp and hold more readily, and make purposeful movements to play/make a sound
Independence: exploration of instruments on their own and finding different ways to play the
instrument
Control: choosing preferred instruments and responding to musical changes with their own play
Responsibility: able to match tempo, beat, and stop/start with minimal outside prompting

Moving: awareness: beginning to respond to musical stimuli
Trust: more controlled movements/movements that they know how to do and repeat in response to music
Independence: movements become more purposeful and rhythmic
Control: learn specific movements that are associated with a particular song (like wheels on the bus)
Responsibility: begins to follow movement sequences, which can be supported and reinforced by rhythmic components
of musical stimulus

Listening: awareness: responds to musical and vocal timbre
Trust: develops favorite songs that become familiar and soothing
Independence: begins to imitate components of music (quiet/loud, fast)
Control: changes actions/stops in response to musical changes
Responsibility: takes turns listening to others play, to therapists’ playing, and takes pride in showing their own play.

[Jamie Sacca]

I grew up on Long Island and live and work in NYC, so there are maaaaaany cultures and traditions around me. As a child, my main musical connections were to Italian music and Christmas music. As I got older, I began to expand my interest areas to musical theatre and classical/pop music. Currently in my work at the preschool, we are discouraged from using holiday or cultural music (anything ‘holiday-related) though I have used some “themed” interventions that connect to specific times of the year, and weather of the area. I also will use classical music and even some pop music (I like to use the Beatles, Rolling Stones (appropriate stuff only)) in sessions as well. Even though they are young, they can still enjoy more complex and varied music that is different than the traditional “kids songs” they always hear.

[Jamie Sacca]

I found the songs easy to learn and remember which is important in a session so you can be present for your client! Additionally, I also thought that some could easily be adapted for my particular needs. Will you come could be adapted to work on social skills and interactions with my higher preschoolers. They are always expanding their social vocabulary and this would be a great way to incorporate social opportunities, having one student start marching, invited by me asking “will you come?” And then having that first student invite the next student. This also reinforces and generalizes turn taking skills and joint attention. I am thinking of incorporating this intervention into my sessions in March.

[Jamie Sacca]

Oh no! I thought my responses had posted, but it seems my iPad is not working the greatest with the website! May have to go back to the chrome book!

My experiences working in early childhood relate a lot to Beth’s response about being in different musical developmental levels simultaneously and displaying those ‘splinter skills’. That is something I talk a lot about in my work at the preschool, as it relates to the skills they are acquiring in other modalities (speech, OT, PT, and Ed). We also use the STAR model in many of our classes and I was equating the different musical levels with those skills presented and expected in each STAR level, from basic functional skills to more play and social skills. One thing I notice often is that there are many of my students who display an awareness of lack of sound/silence, but cannot sound pair or vocalize independently, often displaying ‘lower’ responses of turning their head toward therapist or picking their head up when the music stops, but who will respond to a sung verbal prompt of “ready, set….” With “go” or an approximation during stop/start interventions because this is a learned splinter skill from their Ed and speech sessions.

[Jamie Sacca]

I have always said that I am just a big kid in an adult body. I love to play. And when I am running groups, I am always mindful of play, in particular musical play styles, and how my clients react to and ‘play’ within the music. I think a particular skill of mine is to be able to see the small changes, the ways of playing within music that others often miss or may interpret as off-task behavior, inappropriate behavior, or a-typical responses to musical stimuli. I think we have a unique ability as music therapists to see those kinds of play styles that children may not exhibit in other areas of their life!

[Jamie Sacca]

I absolutely agree with the above points regarding red flags in development. Working with children with developmental disabilities in this age range, what I found both great to review and almost “reassuring” in a way, is that we as MT’s have the ability and training to discuss development and can assess and work on goals in all these areas. I think it is not only helpful when speaking with parents, but with other service providers. We can “use the professional lingo” as it were to discuss development within the context of music therapy sessions, whether our clients are typically developing or have delays. I am finding this review of development is helping me tweak my assessment and evaluation process as well.

[Jamie Sacca]

Just realized I forgot to add something! I am looking to add some expertise in connecting with and speaking to the parents of the clients I work with. In the school setting I work in, I am hoping to begin adding some parent interactions/communication, perhaps as part of the on-going parent training offered by our school psychologist and teacher parent trainers. I think it would be very valuable to our community. I also would like to offer my insights into development to the parents of my private clients, whom I often see struggling to connect with their child. While I did some of this in my work at the children’s hospital, it was less developmental and more in the scope of mental health and coping skills when dealing with life-threatening or difficult circumstances, and I am looking forward to learning some great ways to advocate for music therapy and speak with all the knowledge that we as a field have to help parents of young ones!

[Jamie Sacca]

Hello everyone! It’s so nice to read about everyone’s varied experiences! My name is Jamie Sacca and I live in Queens, NY with my husband and our rescue kitty. I work on Long Island, NY, and do some private work in the NYC boroughs.

I graduated from Nazareth College of Rochester in 2010 with my MS in creative arts therapy, became an MT-BC in August 2010 and received my LCAT in 2012. I have worked in many different settings, including groups for elderly in different stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s, after-school programs for school-age children with DD’s,pediatric in-patient and out-patient eating disorder clients at a large children’s hospital, and currently as the MT in a preschool program serving students with developmental disabilities and autism in both integrated and self-contained settings. I also am a per diem for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, and have my own private practice (Downstate Music Therapy Services- soon to add the LLC!!) I really enjoy working with children and am so looking forward to broadening my skill set through this training! It is nice to meet you all!

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