Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
August 8, 2017 at 12:32 pm
in reply to: Use 5 words to describe the music experiences in Sprouting Melodies 1.
ParticipantFive words:
Gentle, Relaxed, Personalized, Joyful, FunFive sentences:
1. Parents, your babies have been hearing your voices since their time in the womb! YOUR voice is safety and security, not mine ☺ 2. Please do what you and your babies need to do to be most comfortable 3. Timbre is the way your voices sounds- upset, angry, happy. This is just as important as volume! 4. I’m so glad you’re all able to spend focused and special time with your babies. Let’s have a good time together! 5. Let’s spend a few minutes talking about anything you’ve noticed as you sing with your little ones at home
SM 1 Session plan:
1. “Good Morning” from Singing in the Rain, adapted to be much slower. Sing hello to each child, acknowledge each parent. 2. Bonding song: “Move When the Music says Move”- adapted from “Sing When the Spirit says Sing”, use feet, hands, eyes, nose, etc. 3. Songs about me: “I like Myself” – original song and super fun- happy to share it with y’all! 4. Instrument song: “Stop, Children, What’s that Sound”- adapted to be much slower. This is a great song to use for instrument playing! 5. Movement: You are my Sunshine. I can’t get enough of this song, EVER! And I love to add lyrics such as “I pick you UP, dear! And put you down, dear” 6. Cool down “Bye, bye, Miss American Pie”..NOT all 114 verses, just the chorus with changes “came to music for some fun, now I’m feeling so fly” ☺Gosh, you all had great ideas in this material. Rylie, I like how you explained the startle reflex and how to continue, not stop, and what to change.
Jeannelle, I agree with the others about using the Tchaikovsky- the activity is great AND it helps people understand classical music doesn’t have to be stuffy.
Hilary- love that you explained silence as PLANNED- there’s a reason for everything we do!
ParticipantHilary, great point about preparing kids with special needs to interact with their peer groups.
Rebekah, I admire the work you’re doing with ill children transitioning- that must be such a rich and challenging experience.
ParticipantThe community of children with developmental disabilities that I served was saturated with information, sometimes too much. That is, many of our families were involved in therapies all day, every day. Although I communicated what happened in each session to the parents/caregivers, I sometimes felt they were just too tired to absorb it. I love the idea of a SM group for kids AND families to be in music together. “This time will ALWAYS include time for you to be JOYFUL/PEACEFUL/LOVING with your child”- how wonderful that must sound to a parent who drives their kid(s) all over for one challenging therapy after another.
Because there are several strong ethnic communities in my city, I think music therapists have not yet been able to serve those communities with strong cultural identities. I’d very much like to see music groups like SM begin in community centers with culturally appropriate music and language so more strongly-ethnically-identifying groups can benefit from music therapy.
July 24, 2017 at 10:37 pm
in reply to: What value do music therapists bring to families of young children?
ParticipantHilary, I completely agree. Being able to change and switch up in the moment is invaluable. I remember thinking I’d NEVER be able to deviate from a session plan!
Rebekah, I love the way you worded that: “experiences we provide expand the world the child is able to engage in and learn from” and teach “families so they can continue to engage in positive interactions with their loved ones even when not at music therapy group.”
July 24, 2017 at 10:34 pm
in reply to: What value do music therapists bring to families of young children?
ParticipantI often think the training of music therapists results in our having such a strange and USEFUL skill set- we see and hear opportunities that others don’t, and that’s a unique contribution to the community. To be honest, I don’t know how therapists- occupational, speech, etc.- do it WITHOUT music. We’re able to engage the entire *family* and create opportunities for engagement, communication, playing together, listening, and that clients often don’t even realize we’re sneaking in therapy.
A friend recently showed me a video of her child, recently diagnosed with Autism, playing in the kitchen cabinet. She’d been upset because his speech is delayed, but when I watched the video, she said, “Where’s Johnny?” in a M3 pattern, and the child climbed into the cabinet, closed the door, babbled the EXACT SAME PITCH AND RHYTHM, then opened the door with a huge grin on his face. She had never noticed this! Who else but a music therapist would have noticed the pitch, rhythm, cadence? I love that about us music therapists!
July 24, 2017 at 9:45 pm
in reply to: How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?
ParticipantSabrina, this sounds great! I want to be in your session! I love the idea of organizing your songbook by activity or music experience. Isn’t it great how we can all benefit from each other via this forum?!
July 24, 2017 at 9:36 pmParticipantJeannelle, that infant and mother snuggling sounds like a warm and lovely moment. And the tapping in rhythm on the back- how fun!
I really enjoyed reading all your responses- identifying the stages. It’s so cool to have new tools!
July 24, 2017 at 9:32 pmParticipantHi everyone, I am reminded of one client I saw several years ago who was non-verbal and absolutely beautiful in many ways. Her parents were immigrants and were struggling to find a community, and then their child was stricken with a serious medical issue that left her profoundly developmentally delayed. Her mother felt she responded to her, but few of her other therapists believed her responses were purposeful. Through a careful assessment in Music Therapy, we discovered she matched pitch! She looked purposefully toward instruments and sound! This family returned to their home country not long after beginning music therapy, but in that time I saw clearly where the child was and make recommendations for how she could begin to communicate. It was one of the most moving experiences I had as a therapist.
July 24, 2017 at 9:16 pm
in reply to: Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.
ParticipantLaura-Maria, that sounds super fun! I think we all need an opportunity to say, “Hey, WATCH ME DANCE!” 🙂
Rebekah, did you do the wiggly jiggly car song?!
July 24, 2017 at 9:13 pm
in reply to: Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.
ParticipantYou guys! I had the chance to sing “Good Morning” to my dear friend’s 2 year old son. She was driving, and I was sitting in the backseat with him. Frankly, neither of us was sure what to do when she pulled over and ran into a store to do a quick errand. I’d been playing and singing with him all along, but with this song- what a transformation! I saw his little face brighten and open before a big smile, and then his body language opened as well- his arms, hands, trunk- everything became OPEN to receiving, playing, engaging. It was such a lovely experience!
ParticipantSabrina, yes! *we* know what’s happening in music therapy, but it’s SO helpful to practice new ways of communicating what’s going on, when, why, and how.
ParticipantI bring almost 10 years of clinical experience with children with special needs. My toolbox has a variety of activities and music, but I’m looking forward to the curriculum in this course supporting my involvement in learning new music and approaches. So often in sessions, I think we’re intuitive, so I’m especially excited about learning new lingo and ways of thinking about what we do and how.
July 24, 2017 at 8:54 pm
in reply to: What was your most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content?
ParticipantJeannelle & Amanda, I completely agree that it’s difficult to talk to parents sometimes- often. Being prepared with facts always helped me to avoid being emotionally involved – I’m sure the way this information is structured will really help me with that, too.
July 24, 2017 at 8:51 pm
in reply to: What was your most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content?
ParticipantI really resonated with the “red flag” points. My work with children spanned the time when research began to discover what very early signs of Autism looks like. The population of children in the clinic I worked in began to change from children 8-10 years old to pre-school aged children. I loved thinking of red flag warnings in music settings specifically.
I personally love children putting instruments in their mouths! It tells me they are curious and creative, and sometime this is the first time the child is able to coax sound from the instrument. It’s cool 🙂
July 19, 2017 at 10:24 am
in reply to: How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?
ParticipantHi friends,
Singing, listening, and playing come easily to me, but moving never has. I had to work very hard to learn to be playful with my own body in music therapy sessions so I could model and really play WITH my clients. My work has been mostly with individual sessions, and while I think I may be able to observe the responses our facilitators are talking about in that environment, I would need to record groups and watch later. I will need some practice in skilled observation of these levels- they’re super cool and I want to make sure I see and recognize as much as I can! I have used these four music experiences for many years but not had this specific ATICR framework. I know our parents would respond well to the idea of moving through this and begin to see their child’s movements and vocalizations as purposeful! -
AuthorPosts
