[Megan Neil]

Singing: Many of my kiddos in my current early intervention work have delays in the communication domain and for many parents this is the BIG focus- we want them to talk! I find that music is an awesome way to work on speech goals. My current SLP supervisor even agrees that music is a huge asset when working on speech goals. Long before kids are talking they are singing and making pitches- as outlined in this course. For my kids I have been looking for these levels when using songs with them. Are they using pitch in vocalizations? Are they matching any of my pitches? Are they babbling? Do they follow the melodic contour of songs? Etc. I use familiar and unfamiliar songs with kids and watch for where they are at with their development of singing. A big thing that the music therapists do where I am at is leave the ends of phrases out and pause. Many of my kids are not able to fill the words in but they generally seem to notice that the pause is there. The goal is that they will begin to fill this in with something- a vocalization, a movement, making eye contact, etc. And then when words do come they can fill in “Town” during wheels on the bus.

Playing Instruments: During groups and individual sessions I use a lot of instruments. I generally will put out a few different ones- egg shakers, maracas, and bells- into the center of the circle for an experience during group and let the children pick what they want. It also gives them the opportunity to switch instruments if they choose. I also encourage the parents to pick instruments and explore and play as well. I have noticed that when I instruct the parents to chose an instrument they get excited! While singing can be scary for parents, instrument playing is less intimidating and generally gets parents to loosen up a bit- which is great and great modeling for their kids.

Moving: As described in our program movement is so important with kids, especially the 0-3 age group I am working in currently. These kids first interactions with music are generally through movement! I have done a number of movement songs, many of which outline specific things to do. I think it’s very important for me to do more educating with my parents and let them know that I am not expecting all the kids to clap or play fast or play slow, etc. I am only expecting what their abilities are in terms of their developmental level.

Listening: Generally for the sedative songs listening is my objective. I am not expecting the kids to play, move, or sing but more for them to engage with the music in a very different way. I am hoping to see them recognize changes in the music, recognize familiar soothing melodies, and to stop their activities to listen and inwardly engage. Songs I use to focus on this are- You are my sunshine, twinkle twinkle, ABC, etc.

[Megan Neil]

Singing:
Awareness- when vocalizing does not do so using only one pitch, uses one or more pitches sequentially or uses more than one pitch at different times
Trust- during the beginning of group the child sings “Twinkle” using their own pitches, later in group the child matches a few of the pitches in “Twinkle” in the key the music therapist is singing it in
Independence- begins speaking to self in a sing song way, may do this when they are playing by themselves or during transitions or to soothe self
Control- may make a request for a song by singing the first few pitches of a song or the melody with the melodic contour of the song
Responsibility- sings songs in group with the pulse and meter fully defined

Playing Instruments:
Awareness- during play songs the child is exploring the environment by watching, placing instrument in mouth, and turning body, during sedative songs the child is holding the instrument and calmer/not exploring the environment as much
Trust- the child picks up the maraca and instead of placing it in their mouth immediately shakes it two times
Independence- the child picks up the maraca and shakes it, hits it on the ground, taps 2 together
Control- the child notices the starts and stops in the music and when the therapist sings “and now it’s time to stop” the child stops playing independently
Responsibility- the child plays during the “keep a beat song” on the beats the parents are clapping with

Moving:
Awareness- the baby moves on its own most likely not in relation to the music happening
Trust- the child starts moving their body up and down during the wheels on the bus
Independence- begins to turn arms round and round for wheels on the bus
Control- starts to do more than one movement during the wheels on the bus, for example the wheels, the horn, and the windows
Responsibility- begins doing head, shoulders, knees, and toes movements in sequence

Listening:
Awareness- becomes upset when Mom raises their voice
Trust- turns head when “You are My Sunshine” is sung
Independence- during “Twinkle” the child’s facial expressions relax
Control- When the child is distracted and trying to leave the room but “If You’re Happy & You Know It” is played they stop what they are doing, turn around, and listen
Responsibility- starts to understand that others make music too, during group when others have a turn on the drum they wait and listen

[Megan Neil]

In my family & home community folk songs & Christian songs have been important growing up. I remember that my mom sang “You Are My Sunshine” to my sister & I every night and now it holds great significance to me. Many other childhood folk songs were important as well as simple Christian songs and hymns that we used in my church community. My Irish heritage was also very important in my family and so traditional Irish songs such as “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” and “Danny Boy” hold great significance.

Being in Boston my clients have a wide variety of traditions and cultures. I do not know children’s songs from other cultures and was wondering if anyone could help me out? I have many Spanish speaking families but I also have families of varied ethnicity’s & cultures as well. Thanks in advance!

[Megan Neil]

The youngest client on my caseload is 11 months old. I remember having my first session last week. I have never had an 11 month old client and really I haven’t spent much time with 11 month olds in general. I remember feeling VERY overwhelmed within the session because I really wasn’t quite sure how to frame music therapy experiences to her needs and capabilities. After reviewing this segment and learning about development & the musical levels I understand that she is in the Awareness Level. Her musical choices are: to look or not to look, to reach toward music, and to turn attention toward music or turn away. Many times in the session she would interact through holding instruments, mouthing them, looking at me and Mom and then many times she would crawl or walk away and/or look at other things in the room to explore. Her Mom seemed distressed that she wasn’t fully engaging. After this segment I know that for the Awareness stage these are her musical choices and they are very appropriate! I will be sure to tell her in our next session these things I have learned!

[Megan Neil]

Unfortunately I have gotten a bit behind and am trying to catch up, therefore I haven’t had a chance to implement many of these songs yet into my practice- however moving forward I am hoping to do so! I am hoping to learn 2 songs a night & implement them when appropriate into my sessions in the near future!

Before taking this class one of my best friends who had taken this course shared the Wiggly Jiggly Car with me! This has been one that I have been using in my parent child music groups at my Early Intervention center. I think it is taking some time to sink in, since this is a brand new song for this site, but the families seem to be responding to it! The parents really seemed to enjoy it and loosen up during the “car ride” and once they got the hang of the song were participating more. I hope to make this song a regular one for my groups so that they can learn it and begin implementing it at home!

[Megan Neil]

As I begin my new job parents are looking to me asking “my child started doing this, is this okay? is it typical to see this at this age?” It is VERY important for me to understand what happens at these various developmental levels in all domains including the musical domain. I am very excited to begin learning about musical development and comparing it side by side with other things that may be happening for the child in other areas.

One thing that stuck out to me as a quick takeaway was the concept of “sharing” not being developmentally appropriate at 12-18 months. Instead of saying “share” Beth suggests saying “trade”. At this point she explains that kids are not interested in sharing yet.

[Megan Neil]

I focused my Master’s clinical project on music therapy & attachment. I feel that I bring this knowledge to early childhood music therapy programs and feel it helps support my experiences that I lead. I have noticed this week at work that I am beginning to let this knowledge help shape how I assess where my families are at with this and also to help shape some experiences I may do. It is helpful to understand the developmental process because attachment looks different at different points along the way!

[Megan Neil]

Hello All!

I completed my BM in Music Therapy at Slippery Rock University near Pittsburgh PA. Throughout my time in school I gained a lot of experience in practicum settings working with kids and teenagers. I was in a crisis shelter, psychiatric hospital, juvenile detention center, etc.

I decided that I really loved working with teenagers and pursued an internship at Bethany Children’s Home in Womelsdorf PA. This is a group home for foster care teenagers/youth. All had experienced various forms of trauma. Some came after multiple traditional foster home placements that did not work out. Others were placed through Juvenile Probation Offices. I completed my internship and was hired on to work there first as a therapeutic summer recreation worker and then directly after as a music therapist. I loved my job but the facility went through many structural changes and became a very difficult environment to be in. I also decided throughout this year that I did not feel complete in my studies and looked to further my education.

I decided to pursue my MS in Music Therapy from Radford University in VA. I was offered a graduate teaching assistantship. Through this position I worked directly with students to supervise their undergraduate work directly, provide individual supervision & feedback, and attend clinical class and assist with learning by providing lectures & participating. It was a lot of work but I loved it! And want to continue supervising students & interns in the future!

During my time at Radford we were able to pick an area of focus for our practicum and clinical projects. Due to my experience at Bethany Children’s Home I decided that I wanted to focus on family work. I saw the many youth at Bethany who were doing really well personally and were placed back home. But a month or two later they would be back. I started to realize the impact of the systems they lived in- especially their family system. Even though the youth was doing well when he/she was placed back in the same environment that had not been changed things got trickier. I realized that if I worked with family units music therapy may have a broader impact. I focused my work on “alternative family units” specifically foster, adoption, and reunited families. I worked with a reunited family (kids were in foster care and then came back to birth mom) and then an adopted family where the child had been in the home for about two weeks before we started music therapy.

Through my clinical project I learned about family work, family centered practices, and what was happening in the music therapy world related to this. My dream job was to work with the family contexts I focused on in my project however this doesn’t exist yet (that I know of). Through my research I was led to early intervention and eventually found Thom in Boston. Through early intervention one of the ways family qualify is through risk factors. One of the risk factors is adoption and foster care! And all of early intervention work is with families (since the kids are 0-3). I decided to take the job based on these factors! And as an added bonus this summer MA has recognized music therapy as a separate category in early intervention meaning music therapists can now bill insurance as MT-BCs!

I actually just started my job last week in Boston. I have experience working with kids, teens, and families however the 0-3 year old pocket is new to me! That’s why I signed up for this course. I chose it particularly because it was geared specifically toward music therapists and I am hoping to get a lot out of it to add to my new early intervention position!

Sorry for the length! Clearly I am excited 🙂 I look forward to this course with all of you!
Megan Neil

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