[Steve Sullivan]

The only experience I have with this age group is from my son. He just turned six so my memory of those times is foggy, but I know it was a lot of fun, a lot of stress, and a lot of learning for us all. He has definitely developed on his own unique timeline, and I think friends and family can be well meaning when asking about the baby, but often times they are giving bad advice or wondering why your child isn’t developing exactly like theirs, and its almost competitive. So I learned to really not take things too seriously and to be mindful of who I went to with questions or concerns.

@Melissa It is so fun being a parent! I agree that we can learn a lot from children on how to be in the world.

@Elizabeth I like how you point out the danger of comparison, especially when it comes to children’s development. This is something we can remind parents of and hopefully remove some of the stress they have about their children.

[Steve Sullivan]

Music therapists bring the same goal of wanting the best for clients and families, but compared to a person without MT training, we have evidence-based multidimensional interventions and multiple theoretical approaches to best empower each child and family to find their way, improve communication and identity, and attend to the many different needs as they arise. So we just have more tools and more training to plan ahead and react in the moment. We also have more training regarding the intentional use of musical elements, and would be more mindful of how to employ these for each developmental stage.

@Kristen I like your point about being trained to be constantly in the moment. I feel like my focus and attention skills have definitely developed running groups. To be able to be in the moment musically, but also be assessing the group as a whole and each individual and making adjustments as you go is hard work!

@Jessica Yes! I agree that the research and evidence-based practice is very important.

[Steve Sullivan]

In my community there is a lot of diversity of income, housing, languages,etc. I think most families need structured positive time together. In my particular neighborhood there are homeless families. At my sons school, something like 18% of students are homeless, which is crazy to me. My wife and I gave a lot of time and money to the school to help those students with winter clothes and to be able to participate in the book fair and other fun things that cost money. The school is great, is very aware of those student’s needs and is really thoughtful and discreet about it. So basic survival needs, and ability to participate in school are big problems, but I think this type of class could give children and families a place to think of as a sort of home, as a place to belong and to be accepted, and something to predict and rely on.

@Emma I like your brainstorming about places to engage the community and thinking of the clients financial situation!

@Elizabeth That’s a great idea about partnering with other business in your area like the museum! I also liked the ideas of helping families find new ways to interact with each other within the family, and bonding families within the community.

[Steve Sullivan]

SINGING: Awareness: Uses pitch in vocalizations, notices other voices, Trust: Matches pitches 50% of the time, moves along a spectrum of lesser to greater variety in pitches and lesser and greater abruptness in pitch changes Independence: babbles with melodic inflection, parents don’t need to do anything but listen to them, let the children explore their voices and pitch Control:follows contour of melody of familiar song, even if pitches aren’t accurate, the rough approximation is there Responsibility: begins to use pulse and meter within melodic contour, dynamics and range,

PLAYING: Awareness: responds differently to different music, sedative vs play, looks towards instruments, shows startle response to sudden or loud instrument changes Trust: briefly uses pulse and meter, experiments with rhythm, tests how loud or quiet an instrument can get, Independence: explores a variety of instruments purposefully, may begin to predict what sound an instrument will make, Control: starts and stops instrument play with the music, Responsibility: maintains a steady beat, may help others choose instruments, play an instrument cooperatively,

MOVING: Awareness: Rhythmic movements are instinctual, will watch others and motor neurons will be firing, learning and preparing to move in the future with intent, Trust: Responds to music with repetitive movements, bopping up and down, beginning to synchronize with the beat, Independence:isolates body parts to move rhythmically, tapping only hands, feet, moving head, Control: Imitates learned musical movements, Responsibility: use musical movements in sequence, heads shoulders knees and toes, tony chestnut, etc.

LISTENING: Awareness: recognizes changes in vocal timbre, can identify caregiver’s voice vs strangers voices, Trust: recognizes familiar melodies, begins to learn the typical rules of music, what to expect, Independence: begins to match intensity of movements to music, Control:stop action to listen to music, may choose to ignore music, or may choose when music starts or stops, or to change the music Responsibility: listens to the music of others, can begin to echo a rhythm, is building a larger and larger repertoire of knowing what to expect within musical form, chord progressions, beginnings and endings, etc.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Kristen That is a great point about the psychology of music and knowing how to manipulate the concepts to maximize client success! I like your process of going through those levels within a single session with your patients, and it sounds like its really flexible and seamless to bring a client through those levels with the music.

@Emma I like how you talk about using your movements to help clients respond by visually seeing you. I think that’s something I need to work on and to feel more comfortable in my body and moving.

[Steve Sullivan]

I wish I had had this training back when I had my double practicum with kids! But it will be amazing to have going forward. For singing, with kids in particular, I’ve used familiar songs as well as new songs depending on what the clinical intent was. In one classroom there had been some escalating anger, pushing, and hitting over a couple weeks, so I wrote a song called “I Never Hit My Friends (And I don’t Want to be Hit)” that at first was new to them, but over time it became a calming song that we would sing together, and you could see a lot of introspection and thoughtfulness as they sang.
For playing, I love seeing how kids make different and non conventional sounds with different instruments, and I always try to validate and encourage whatever way they choose to interact with an instrument. The kids loved getting to choose an instrument out of the box we passed around, and we sometimes would do story songs, where during certain sections, say when the Big Bad Wolf appears, they would make a certain cacophonous sound, and when something else would happen, there would be a quiet sound. One thing I will say about kids and instruments is I really dislike lame sounding junky “kids” instruments. Even kids with profound disabilities are immediately disinterested in something that hardly makes sound, or is unpleasant, or only can do one thing. I remember my son started playing a real harmonica when he was around 2, and so I bought him a pack of kids harmonicas that had multiple keys, which I thought was a good idea, but they were plastic and were hard to play and hardly made any good sound, and he blew in one of them once and never again. So even though some of the kids instruments look really fun, if they’re not actually musical, then its a waste of money and their time. That tactile and aesthetic musical experience is so important. Anyway, for movement, sometimes that would be using scarves, or dancing, but that subject in general has been the slowest for me to understand and incorporate. I realized a year or so ago that I hardly ever moved myself and often felt sort of disembodied, but I’ve come to understand how important movement is, so that is definitely something I’m still learning and working on. As far as listening, sometimes I use turn taking, echoing what others have played, changing dynamics, working on attention, and I’ve found that the easiest way to get kids to listen to something with interest is to play something interesting. Often times the music for kids is so simplified that they get bored with it, and we have to be careful not to give them too little credit for what type of sounds and music they might be interested in hearing.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Melissa That is interesting and so important to learn about various cultures attitudes towards the appropriateness or even if certain music is allowed at certain times. That came up several times during my internship, and for one client, music was strictly forbidden at all times.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Emma That is great to hear and you bring up a good point about wondering where client’s we’ve worked with are months or years later. It seems there are few long term research studies. We don’t typically follow clients for decades or anything like that. I feel like as therapists we have such a great opportunity to plant a powerful seed in young people that empowers them to feel self-efficacy about being musical and being creative, and making sure that their musical responses are validated and celebrated. Sometimes it only takes one careless word from an adult that shuts down a person’s creativity and belief in themselves for life. So it is a big responsibility we have.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Melissa Spiess That’s amazing and so fun to hear! My son is always singing and making up his own songs, and when we play together, he has very specific instructions on what he wants me to play, although they are all metaphor instructions like, “Play destruction and then play the battle is won”. I think we can learn a lot from our own children and then use that experience with clients!

[Steve Sullivan]

I did a double practicum working with children with special needs in a school setting. There was one student who had a really tough time in class, and it took a long time to build trust with them and for them to participate. The student was mostly nonverbal when I first met them. I saw them go through these phases and toward the end of my time with them they read and sang “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and lead the group. They also started taking my ukulele away from me and going around and singing the Hello song to each student and basically stole my job! It was amazing to see them change through time and gain that trust and independence.

[Steve Sullivan]

I am originally from New Mexico so I grew up in a rural area that had a unique juxtaposition of cultures and music. Of course there was traditional and modern music from Mexico, which sort of changes as it crosses the border and up into the Southwest. Lots of folkloric music, mariachi, classical, music from Spain, as well as flamenco and dance music. I lived right next to a Navajo reservation, so I also heard traditional music from them, and saw many sacred dances and sacred music. Then there were the cowboys that transplanted there from the deep south and loved classic country, Hank Williams, etc. My Dad was really into Motown, Stax, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, stuff like that, as well as Opera, and my Mom listened to a lot of classical and 60s folk and pop. So that’s what was there, except it was the 1980s and all of the sudden we had hiphop coming in via the radio and a big influx of people from California, and of course all of the other 80s rock and pop, so it was a big mixture of many different styles of music from various cultures.

I’ve lived in Minnesota for almost 11 years now, and there is much more cultural and musical diversity here than there was in New Mexico. I’ve had the opportunity to play with musicians from all over the world here in MN. Its a musical hub and its interesting how it all influences each other. I’ve played with a lot of Hmong musicians, African musicians, Irish musicians, Indian musicians, and its been a huge learning experience. As others have said, there is a large Somali population, large Hmong population, but you can encounter people from all over the world here pretty easily. At my internship with Park Nicollet, I got to work with many patients from different cultural backgrounds and faiths. I’m excited to get to learn more music from other cultures and incorporate them into practice!

[Steve Sullivan]

@Erika Svolos I like that idea of being a facilitator rather than a leader. We won’t be working with these kids and families forever, and we won’t be there in the home everytime there’s a transition, so I love the idea of really focusing on empowering the families to take ownership of the music and use it in their everyday lives.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Destiny I agree and really appreciated the insight into the thought process behind the writing of those songs! I’m thinking about what I might write for songs with those ideas in mind!

[Steve Sullivan]

I enjoyed singing and playing these songs. I will have the chance to try them out in real sessions soon! I also love writing songs, and it was great to hear the thought process behind the creation of the different types of songs, especially bonding and transition, as well as the ideas about meter, mode, syncopation, all put to careful use. My mind is already thinking about ideas for songs to write! Very inspirational!

[Steve Sullivan]

@Melissa I like that you brought up the things that didn’t work for you and your child. It is a good reminder that kids and families are unique, and its never a one solution fits all deal. My son has worked with various different people, occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc. and the ones that he has benefited the most from I think had a lot of various tools and when one didn’t work, they tried something else. It also sets parents up to feel more at ease if an intervention or idea is presented as simply an option that may help, but if it doesn’t, it’s not the parent’s fault or the kids fault, it was just one of many options and there’s new things to try.

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