[Samantha Springer]

Hi Mikelia,

I agree with you that learning about typical development was extremely helpful. We learn all of that information in school, but I found that it didn’t really sink in as much as it should have due to learning so much so quickly. However, this course has been helpful in reviewing the material. I hope that you can use this course to continue creating better treatment plans as well!

[Samantha Springer]

Yes! I would love to meet you and get to know you. I actually live in the far east Madison area-only 5-10 minutes from all of Sun Prairie. I will contact you! Also, P.S. Your little one is very adorable!

[Samantha Springer]

Awesome! That’s where I work full time. Laurie, Jane, and Michelle are all people that I look up to in the music therapy community. It’s awesome meeting someone who interned there in the past!

[Samantha Springer]

Music therapists can provide insight to different developmental stages and allow for the parents to ask questions. Music therapy can be a place for the parents/family to bond and the parents can take music home with them that they have learned in music therapy to practice a variety of skills and/or bond during every day activities.

[Samantha Springer]

The families that I work with in the community are also overwhelmed figuring out the ins and outs of services that are available for their child. They are also concerned with how their child is progressing on a developmental level towards different skills. As discussed in this module and the previous week, music therapy and music in general can be a tool for teaching and/or reinforcing different developmental skills. Additionally, music therapy can provide the family and the child receiving services to bond and spend time together, building strong familial relationships.

[Samantha Springer]

As several people have pointed out, music therapists have a wide scope of knowledge regarding child development and we have the background and training to recognize various developmental and musical behaviors. Music therapists can work with the parents to point out the little aspects of what the music therapist is noticing in the session regarding musical behavior and then train the parents to implement different experiences at home or in another setting away from music therapy sessions to further encourage growth for the client or child.

[Samantha Springer]

I agree with this as well. I often forget to point the little aspects of what I hear out in music therapy sessions to the parents and especially explain to them the significance in terms of developmental stages and growth.

[Samantha Springer]

I love the gathering songs that they use! I used one of the gathering songs this past week in a 1:1 session, but it was still effective. This person likes to sit on the couch or hide at the beginning of sessions so I tried one of the gathering songs and it went well! I used this song to indicate that it was time for music before we sang “hello.” They engaged in the session at the beginning and throughout the entire “hello” song.

In terms of the four musical developmental sequences of singing, playing instruments, moving, and listening:
I’ve been focusing more and noticing these areas more and more with the music therapy clients that I work with as well as with the traditional lesson students that I teach weekly. Learning about these developmental sequences has opened my eyes in identifying what potential musical development stage the person is in at that moment and has helped me tailor the session to their immediate strengths and areas of growth.
For the singing developmental sequence I used a song that I wrote with the scarves to encourage this individual to increase their vocalizations and pitch matching. When we raised the scarf, our pitch got higher and when we lowered the scarf, our pitch got lower. I changed the vocalizations throughout the song and soon they were singing with me on the pitch and vocalization.
For the playing instruments sequence, I encouraged several of my clients to reach out to manipulate instruments on their own time and when they were ready, we practiced “start” and “stop.”
With the moving sequence, the client that I worked with demonstrated control by imitating various movements they had learned previously during a movement exercise. I love movement experiences-I use them a lot during sessions!
Lastly, for the listening sequence, I used a relaxation based intervention to encourage a relaxed response and calm demeanor for this particular client. I focused on how I used my vocal timbre (I have a relatively high pitched voice).

[Samantha Springer]

I finally had the opportunity to use the “Tickle Song” in a session. However, I used it much differently than what they had described in the videos. The client that I used this song with was curled up on their chair and was less engaged than usually. However, I started to sing this song and used it like it “game” and they started to laugh and got off of their chair and reengaged in the session. Like the video mentioned, I found that this song was great for establishing trust and closeness as well as interacting with the client in a way that they enjoyed in that moment.

[Samantha Springer]

Manny of the songs that I use at my place of work are sensory and instrumental based. I write a lot of my own songs and use a lot of traditional folk songs in my work with the clients I serve. Many of the clients I serve enjoy children songs, 70’s/80’s songs, and pop songs. Besides sensory and instrument based music, I play a wide range of music every day based on their preferences and personal/family culture.

[Samantha Springer]

I love Laurie Farnan! She is a phenomenal musician and music therapist. I use many of her instrument based and sensory based songs as well!

[Samantha Springer]

In the past, I have served several children who were gaining greater awareness of themselves and of their surrounding environment (developmental level of awareness). We focused mainly on using music to provide a sensory experience (I worked closely with OT’s as well) to provide vibrational and tactile stimulation through the use of instruments that produced strong and low physical vibrations and sounds. I played a variety of instruments on different parts of their body such as on their legs or arms to provide them with the opportunity to feel the vibrations and gain greater awareness to these areas. I also noticed when they would turn their head or localize towards the sound of different instruments to gain greater awareness of their environment.

[Samantha Springer]

I haven’t had the chance to use the embedded songs or the songs from the PDFs in a session yet. I will use them later this week and then report back!

[Samantha Springer]

Music Developmental Level of Awareness: Turn their head towards a sound source; relax their entire body and take deep breaths when hearing calm and rhythmic music ; reach towards an instrument that is presented to them.
Music Developmental Level of Trust: when silence is presented, the child may look towards the source that was previously making the sound; play the instrument that is presented; recognizes and responds to melodic changes.
Music Developmental Level of Independence: while singing with another person, the child will imitate different vocalizations; the child recognizes familiar music despite the instrumentation; strums a guitar with the music therapist.
Music Developmental Level of Control: a child will sing short phrases with the music therapist of familiar songs; plays instruments at several different tempos; the child starts to move their entire body to the music-they want to dance along to the music!
Music Developmental Level of Responsibility: the child will start to create their own/new songs; will identify emotions of songs; take turns playing an instrument

[Samantha Springer]

Hi Danielle,

I would LOVE to collaborate at some point in time! I love meeting up with music therapists in the Madison area.

Yes, please do send referrals my way in the future as I would love to build up my weekend schedule! If you need my contact information, I am also on Facebook. =) Thank you!

[Author]

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