Process versus product. Generally when I give an introductory talk about Music Therapy, I begin by making the comparisons between Music for Leisure, Music Education, and Music Therapy. Music for Leisure is a passive type of music which I am going to leave alone today. Music Education and Music Therapy are active processes and very… Read more »
Category: Music Therapy, Bottom up Approach
Recognizing Development and it’s Significance in Each Individual.
This weekly blog is about change, development, and growth and recognizing them. Not only recognizing them, but attending to their significance in each individual. Sometimes when working with special needs children, most specifically in this case children on the spectrum, there comes a point in which growth appears to have come to a stand still,… Read more »
“Rock Around the Clock” Elicits First Word
Click here to hear Charles’s Song: Charles Song( Next click; ste-002) Little Charles likes to leave me a gift before every holiday. He always does something unexpected, yet highly needed the last session before each holiday. This last session before Easter break, non-verbal Charles said his first word while climbing the stairs -“up”. Charles… Read more »
Musically Structuring Responses and “Stims”
This week I thought I would show a video of one of the previously mentioned children that had “pop out words” and how we arrived there. As I began working with Jay, I worked toward attending, giving eye contact to the therapist when addressed, playing instruments or moving to the music and also giggling or… Read more »
Impulse Control and Transitioning
This week I ended up having two small groups of higher functioning four year old children with autism diagnosis. As I began the session and watched each group member, I quickly readjusted my plan. I knew exactly what we were going to work on and how to work on skills such as sharing, taking turns, transitioning and… Read more »
Why Music Therapy – Not Just Music?
It recently was reported to me by three different family’s of non-verbal, autistic children with whom I work, of the commencement of “pop out words” that began (outside the Music Therapy room) as the child began Music Therapy sessions. This is the only change that each child seemed to have undergone as these words started… Read more »
Autistic Children; Watching for Developmental Learning Cues
I have talked in many of my blogs on behavior being communication, stim behaviors as being useful and each person being unique, label or not. In today’s blog, I would like to show you an example of how utilizing music therapy has helped put these concepts into practice. In October 2011, I acquired a four year old , non-verbal, autistic little… Read more »
Beyond the Diagnosis, Beyond the Shoes
I had to send this out today. As I was finishing sending my last newsletter out, my daughter was in the room talking to me about school. She read to me this essay she wrote . She chose a subject she enjoys and it seemed to link to my last newsletter very well. (She had… Read more »
Can We See the Child Beyond the Diagnosis?
What is beyond the diagnosis? All that lingo; Developmental Delay, Self stimulatory Behaviors, Communication Delay, Echoic Speech, Sensory Processing Disorder, what lies beyond that? Who really are these children? When a new child walk into a classroom, a good teacher of course, wants to be as well equipped as possible. If records, or IEP’s are available, a good teacher… Read more »
Solveable “Choice Stopper” Techniques In Helping Kids To Choose Well
So you read the last blog and it did not work out quite that easy? Did your child waffle, refuse to choose, take forever choosing, or keep changing his/her mind? Or were you in a classroom situation where the child had figured it out and is consistently choosing the lesser choice to get out of… Read more »