[Kristina Rowles]

I try to incorporate all of these experiences in my practice. I have found myself being more attentive of these four areas and how I implement them. Currently my caseload has me working with more pre-school classrooms. I try to create opportunities that safe for singing. I find that some of my classes sing more than others. I believe some of that is because they are in different developmental levels. I am hoping to change up my typical singing songs that I use and make the more geared toward the typical developmental level of the class in order for them to have a safe space to explore their voice. For playing instruments I try to bring a wide variety of instruments that are easy to play for the group. Everyone chooses a different instrument and sometimes I have the group pass the instruments around in order to experience a variety of instruments. I always have to make sure everyone has the opportunity to play the drum because that always seems to be a class favorite. I use movement songs in my classes and they have become very familiar with these songs. I am hoping to add some more variety to the songs and even new songs that focus on sequencing of movements for my classes in responsibility. I have recently been really allowing more silence during my therapy sessions. It’s amazing the reactions that come to silence. I have always been someone who likes to move from one thing to the next, or work as quickly and efficiently as possible. While working 1:1 with my client I found that he sometimes needed 5-7 seconds to respond to a prompt. By allowing him time for his brain to process this information he was able to successfully participate in the song.

[Kristina Rowles]

Singing
Awareness: Vocalize in response to singing
Trust: Make purposeful, pitched vocalizations in response to singing
Independence: Imitate short vocalizations
Control: Use both ascending and descending intervals when singing
Responsibility: Sing familiar songs using melodic contour and rhythm

Playing Instruments:
Awareness: Track sound of moving instrument with eyes and/or head
Trust:Explore instruments with hands or mouth
Independence:Use hands to move strings on guitar or Autoharp
Control: Grasp mallet or striker to play instrument
Responsibility: Alternate beating tempo from fast to slow and slow to fast

Moving
Awareness: Tolerate body parts being moved rhythmically
Trust: Move entire body rhythmically in response to music
Independence: Move legs rhythmically
Control: March, bending knees and lifting feet
Responsibility: Move with a peer partner

Listening
Awareness: Show pleasure toward music in the environment
Trust: Initiate vocalizations in response to silence in music
Independence: Recognize familiar music even with a change in timbre
Control: Anticipate the end of a familiar song
Responsibility: Accept music suggestions of others

[Kristina Rowles]

I work with a wide range of populations. I find that there is at least a little bit of everything. I recently starting working with someone who likes Rap music and I have needed to educate myself more on this genre of music. I get requests for country, jazz, patriotic, and rock in my groups with elders. While I have not noticed large genres stick out with the people that I work with, I do notice that everyone has their personal favorites that I end up adding into my song list.

[Kristina Rowles]

I have used “All of this is Me” with a family that I work with. I was first introduced to the song through the previous music therapist who worked with this family. The family is a single mom with twin girls who have a variety of health problems. The girls are very familiar with the song and will identify body parts during the song and sing the “me, me, me” at the end. One day I had arrived a few minutes early to the house for the session. Mom was changing diapers of the girls before we got started with music. As she was changing the diapers she was singing this song to them. It was a great moment for me to see her using this simple song with her daughters and know that she uses music with them throughout the day.

[Kristina Rowles]

I used to work with a young boy diagnosed with autism who was 3 years old. When I met him he was beginning to move from trust to independence. There was always music in the house and Dad was a phenomenal pianist. This boy would look at sheet music and sing (musical babble). It was always joyous to see this happen. It was always fascinating to see him develop a sense of trust with the instruments each week, and watch that process become faster and faster. When I first got out my guitar, he was fascinated by it but was afraid to touch it without Mom or Dad touching it first. He did not yet trust that sound of the guitar and the sounds he could make with it. Over a few weeks he became more comfortable with the guitar and would play it by himself and even start exploring different parts of the guitar. I enjoyed watching him learn to trust the guitar and then explore the guitar on his own.

[Kristina Rowles]

I look to be a support to parents and care givers through music therapy programs. As a couple people have mentioned previously, I want to create a space where I can educate parents about the developmental milestones and the process of learning that happens to reach each one. It is important to create a safe space for a child and their caregiver to learn and grow. This information gives me a foundation to teach caregivers about letting their child grow.

[Kristina Rowles]

One of the valuable take aways from this week was the vast amount of information provided for all the developmental stages. There are so many important things that happen during each part of a child development. My experience with very young children is limited but I am excited to begin using this knowledge to look for the different milestones that a child will achieve.

[Kristina Rowles]

Hi Erika,

I was able to get it to work. Thanks for your help!

Kristina

[Kristina Rowles]

Hi Everyone,
My name is Kristina Rowles and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone in the coming weeks. I graduated from Ohio University in 2014 and completed my internship in Bar Harbor, ME at Birch Bay Village Retirement Community. I then moved to Middletown, CT where I worked as a music therapist at The Alzheimer’s Resource Center of CT for 1.5 years. After spending so much time working with elders I was looking for more variety in my schedule and the opportunity with work with a variety of populations. I recently began working with Connecticut Music Therapy Services last September. I now work with a variety of populations from early childhood to elders. I am excited to learn through this program so I am able to better serve my younger clients that I now have on my caseload.

[Kristina Rowles]

I am having some problems with Gravatar. After I upload my picture I have the option to crop the image but all I see is a black rectangle and when I continue to the next page my picture ends up as a black box. Is there a step that I am missing? I have uploaded it multiples times and consistently had the same problem. The picture is in a jpeg format.

Thanks,

Kristina

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