[Shonda Malik]

I am going to base my response on the work I do with children with special needs including autism, down syndrome and sensory processing disorder. I use singing to develop language. I begin with vocalizing to keyboard improvisations, work towards forming words, then sequencing of words, and then practice answering questions. I use playing instruments to develop motor skills, increase time spent attending to a task, develop impulse control, and work on following of directions. I use moving to provide needed vestibular and proprioceptive input which often helps the child expend energy while developing their sense of self in space and refocus their attention for the rest of the session. I use listening to work on impulse control with stop and start songs and with singable storybooks to work on comprehension skills.

[Shonda Malik]

Singing; Awareness=turn eye gaze towards source. Trust=shows pleasure when hearing a familiar song. Independence= imitate animal sounds. Control; sing 2-3 words in phrases using pitched intervals. Responsibility=sing intervals of 4ths and 5ths.

Playing; Awareness= use arms to reach toward source of sound. Trust= play instrument with internal rhythmic beat. Independence= bang 2 objects together. Control= grasp mallet to play instrument. Responsibility=play rhythm pattern on a 2-handed instrument.

Moving: Awareness= calm to rhythmic rocking. Trust= move entire body rhythmically in response to music. Independence= pull to stand to bounce with music. Control= sustain hand-clapping. Responsibility=hop on one foot.

Listening: Awareness= show increased attention towards consonant pitches. Trust= look toward face of singer. Independence= follow simple directions set to familiar music. Control= anticipate the end of a familiar song. Responsibility= adjust quality of singing to blend in with group.

[Shonda Malik]

I work in the greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas. With my adult clients I often have groups with a wide age range. Traditional folk songs like “She’ll be comin round the mountain” are big hits with all the ages. However, personal music preferences among the adults range from country, to popular, to classic rock and rhythm & blues. To assure that I provide the preferred music for all the tastes and ages I select different ‘song collections’, most of which I borrow from the library, so that there is a never ending variety of styles and eras represented. With my hospice clients hymns are a important aspect for many of them so I have to be sure to check the client’s religious preference.

[Shonda Malik]

I am preparing for a music therapy camp for children with whom we want to help develop their self-awareness of feelings (ages 7-11). I was excited to learn “how do you know when it’s summer time?” I plan to adapt the words to “how do you know when you’re feeling sad” and then use the second half of the song as a songwriting experience where the children will create lyrics that describe physical characteristics and thoughts they might have when they are sad.

[Shonda Malik]

I have a three year old client with a potential diagnosis of autism although she is still waiting to be officially assessed. I have observed her displaying characteristics of the control stage. One of our recent goals was for her to learn to answer the question “what is your name?” I used a song with her and after two sessions she sang on the third session “my name is _____”. She seems to understand the question answer form AEB her not singing the question and just singing the answer. Another characteristic of the control stage is that she loves when I match my keyboard accompaniment to her instrument playing, with all of her abrupt stops/start, slow, fast, as well as mimic her vocalizations, and I in turn use different songs to lead her in imitating me.

[Shonda Malik]

The information from this week was a wonderful review for me about developmental age levels which I will use to best design music therapy interventions for the clients I serve who have developmental ages which are lower than their chronological ages. For example if my client has a developmental age of 3 I should select a counting song that goes as high as number four and not expect that they count to eight.

My experience in working with children with developmental disabilities will enable me to recognize in typical early childhood groups potential developmental concerns. The same experience will help me address those concerns with music therapy interventions to support development.

[Shonda Malik]

My most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content was the emphasis Beth put on us being a source of education for the parent’s regarding developmental appropriateness as well as spotting when there might be a developmental delay. I often find myself noticing developmental aspects about a client but I sometimes forget that the parent of this single child hasn’t had the privilege of working with many same-aged children like I have and thus doesn’t always know if they should be concerned. I also found it valuable to be reminded about the developmental appropriateness of the aggression and rebelliousness of 3-4 year olds and comforting to be able to share with parents that this aggression will decrease as they become 4-5 year olds.

[Shonda Malik]

Hello everyone. My name is Shonda Malik. I work in Ohio in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas. My music therapy alma mater is Ohio University. I interned at a child and adolescent pyschiatric facility/school in Richmond Virginia. I am a mother of four boys. I have been working as a board certified music therapist for 8 years. I opened my own music therapy practice in 2011. I recently completed my masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in December 2013. I work with a range of populations including geriatric hospice, adult developmental centers, private child clients with special needs, and public schools with a caseload of children ages 5-13 with autism and other developmental diagnosis. My individual private clients have been as young as 18 months and I in the past led some preschool music therapy classes before budgets were cut. I absolutely delight in working with early childhood ages. I have attempted to form classes at my local YMCA and recreation centers in the past but sign-ups have never been enough to run a class. My reason for taking this class is to learn marketing strategies to successfully run classes. I’m going to start with the idea Meredith shared of offering free 1x a month sessions at my local library. I most look forward to learning lots of new songs which I will be able to use with my private clients as well as group classes. I also wish to learn more details about development and the use of age appropriate instruments. I look forward to reading everyone’s posts throughout our training. -Shonda:)

[Shonda Malik]

5 words; explorers, observers, movers, surprises, fun

5 sentences; 1. If you notice your child sings the songs at home but never in class that is normal and completely okay. 2. Your child will enjoy facing you at times and facing towards the group at times. 3. It is okay for your child to explore the room, even if it seems they are not engaged in the song, this is normal and they will rejoin the music making when they are ready. 4. Help your child organize and feel safe in their jumping by firmly planting their feet on the floor with each landing. 5. When you child finishes with an instrument and it has been in their mouth please place it in the bin marked “wash me.”

Session plan sprouting melodies 2; 1. Instrument exploration- recorded music during arrival. 2. Gathering song-Hey! Hey! come and Play! (EKS) 3. Hello song- NR 4. bonding-wiggly jiggly car (EKS) 5. Instrument play-dancing in the middle (EKS) 6. Gross motor movement-pick your hands up high (EKS) with scarves 7. Cool Down- can you see me? (EKS) 8. Goodbye (MRP) 9.Farewell-Thank you very much (EKS)

[Shonda Malik]

5 words= soothing, gentle, comforting, soft, safe

5 sentences= 1. The baby loves your voice the most. 2. The baby sees you best when you hold her 12-18 inches from your face. 3. (when they arrive late) I’m so glad you made it, join us. 4. Sway with the baby gently and slowly. 5. (baby asleep) Their sleep is important, you can learn the song and share it with your baby at home.

Session Plan; Instrument exploration with recorded music; Greeting song-“Hello”-Nordoff-Robbins, sing names; Gathering song- “Gather Round Babies” (MRP) body percussion; Bonding song- “Row it faster” (EKS) baby held in bended legs; Instrument play with “in my little hand” (EKS); movement song- “as big as can be” (EKS); cool down-‘Just like me” (EKS); goodbye-Meredith’s goodbye song

[Shonda Malik]

Part of my caseload is clinical-based and I also have a variety of community-based settings where my work in groups is more experiential, social or performance based. I believe the work I do in these community-based settings looks much different than what a non-music therapist might provide. When I work in groups with clients who have significant developmental disabilities I provide them with music instrument playing opportunities that are as independent as possible. Non-music therapists might not even give an instrument to these same clients, or play it for them, or do hand over hand play the entire time. In another group for adults with mild cognitive delays, part of our music experience is on-topic group discussions based on themes presented in the songs we play together. A non-music therapist facilitating a music group might think that discussions don’t have a place in music making time.

[Shonda Malik]

The four posts above very eloquently stated many of the values music therapists bring to early childhood music programs. I would like to talk about the live music we provide as compared to programs like Kindermusik that rely heavily on prerecorded music. Our live music approach allows us to be more in the moment with our groups and use silence, surprise, repetition, dynamics, voice timbre, etc etc. We are also better able to adjust mid-session to the needs of our clients because we have such a large repertoire of music within ourselves and therefore don’t have to fumble with a digital device.

[Shonda Malik]

The biggest need of the families I work with who have children with autism or other developmental needs is funding. Often the families are already spending money and time on ST, OT and PT so their willingness to even get started with trying music therapy usually relies on whether there is funding. An even bigger obstacle is that when I present the county and local grant funding options to families only a small percentage of them will actually follow through with even attempting to get the funding set-up. I think most families are overwhelmed with their busy and stressful lives and they just aren’t able to manage following through with the funding applications.

[Shonda Malik]

I am going to base my response on the work I do with children with special needs including autism, down syndrome and sensory processing disorder. I use singing to develop language. I begin with vocalizing to keyboard improvisations, work towards forming words, then sequencing of words, and then practice answering questions. I use playing instruments to develop motor skills, increase time spent attending to a task, develop impulse control, and work on following of directions. I use moving to provide needed vestibular and proprioceptive input which often helps the child expend energy while developing their sense of self in space and refocus their attention for the rest of the session. I use listening to work on impulse control with stop and start songs and with singable storybooks to work on comprehension skills.

[Shonda Malik]

Singing; Awareness=turn eye gaze towards source. Trust=shows pleasure when hearing a familiar song. Independence= imitate animal sounds. Control; sing 2-3 words in phrases using pitched intervals. Responsibility=sing intervals of 4ths and 5ths.

Playing; Awareness= use arms to reach toward source of sound. Trust= play instrument with internal rhythmic beat. Independence= bang 2 objects together. Control= grasp mallet to play instrument. Responsibility=play rhythm pattern on a 2-handed instrument.

Moving: Awareness= calm to rhythmic rocking. Trust= move entire body rhythmically in response to music. Independence= pull to stand to bounce with music. Control= sustain hand-clapping. Responsibility=hop on one foot.

Listening: Awareness= show increased attention towards consonant pitches. Trust= look toward face of singer. Independence= follow simple directions set to familiar music. Control= anticipate the end of a familiar song. Responsibility= adjust quality of singing to blend in with group.

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