Category: Reflections

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Newfound podcast: WSJ on Small Business

One way in which I have been trying to branch out as a young professional is to develop my business skills. My fiancé offers endless assistance, for which I am grateful. I am also trying to seek out any resources I can utilize on my own.

Podcasts are huge for me right now. I am in the car a lot, driving from client to client to contract to client, etc. Perhaps it’s my Suzuki upbringing, but I absorb a lot from listening to interesting content; I love to read, of course, but I think I gain more from the act of listening.

One podcast I’ve liked this week is Wall Street Journal on Small Business, which can be found here. The podcast is short and provides synopses of several pieces that are applicable to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

 

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An Article Weekly: “Use of Music to Improve Speech Production”

Each Monday, I will be writing up a short, non-academic review of an article I’ve found interesting. These articles will be taken from music therapy peer-reviewed journals. 

The article I’ll briefly review tonight is, “Use of Music to Improve Speech Production in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Theoretical Orientation,” by Hayoung A. Lim. The article was published in Music Therapy Prespectives, (2009), Vol. 27.

I chose this article because I presented to a group of speech-language pathologists last week, and have since been more and more interested in the role of speech and language in music therapy. I have four clients who are not verbally communicative but are expressive in other ways.

This article is a literature review, and a somewhat lengthy one at that.

I’ll briefly describe three pieces of information regarding speech production I took from the piece:

  1. The two different kinds of echolalia (defined in this article as “the repetition of utterance with similar intonation of words or phrases that someone else has said” p. 105) are immediate and delayed. Immediate is as it seems, and delayed echolalia can occur as late as weeks following the utterance. Research suggests that echolalia serves as a communicative function, and is also considered a developmental behavior. Echolalia is known as a “speech imitation skill,” and can be targeted in music experiences. Page 105
  2. Gestalt language forms are defined in this article as “unanalyzed units of speech,” or chunks of speech, routines and patterns within speech, and formulaic utterances that do not complete a cohesive piece of communicative language. With this form of language acquisition that some children with ASD use, these children might be relying in echolalia to interact with others because they are unable at that point in their language development to combine the chunks, if you will. Pages 106 & 107
  3. Children with ASD typically are preoccupied with routine, and therefore may be more attuned to the predictability of some speech structures and not the context of them. Page 107

Here are three points that implicate the use of music in speech production with children who have ASD:

  1. “Music perception follows the same principles of general perceptual organization, such as patter recognition and grouping information into categorical units (p. 108).” Music exists in time, and with children who are interested in predicting events to occur, songs with familiar openings and closings can be appealing.
  2. There has been found significant positive correlation between musical vocal behavior and non-musical speech production behaviors. Page 111
  3. Music often provides an enjoyable environment and learning situation. Page 112

There are so many more things I could and should say about the relationship between music and speech, but I will leave it for another post.

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My Epic contract

I began another contract today. This one will last for eight weeks. I work with groups of adults with developmental disabilities throughout the day, and end the day with a debriefing session that includes staff members. Today was the first time I’d met most of the clients and many of the staff members. I loved the experience and am fortunate to feel very comfortable with and welcomed by the staff.

One of my biggest challenges with this particular contract is that I am charged, if you will, with the task of designing music experiences that non-musicians can facilitate  with the clients in my absence. The facility owns a collection of instruments that I used today and will be using in the future, but the facility’s biggest hope is that when I leave, the music won’t. The staff provides music sessions on a daily basis, and I understand my job to be to provide new resources for them and new techniques with which they feel comfortable. Apparently, some of the staff chose not to be a member of my particular project because music was too intimidating. Based on the responses I observed in the clients today, I definitely believe music is a powerful force at this facility (and most places). My big question is, How can I lead and teach in a way that is musically stimulating and pleasing, but not impossible for non-musicians to perform? 

I do love challenges.

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Expansion

I presented on music therapy to a group of speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists on Wednesday (was that really only yesterday?), and since then I’ve been thinking more and more of the importance of collaborating. Each therapist’s purpose when working with a client is to help him or her reach a goal, and what I have in common with other creative arts therapists and “traditional” therapists is that I want to help move a client in a positive direction. I know that knowing more about each modality would be tremendous for me as a clinician and for my clients as well.

Much of the current event information and inspiration I get regarding music therapy is from other music therapists’ blogs. So, today I subscribed to 20 speech-language pathologists’ blogs. 🙂 This isn’t to say that I will know exactly what they’re talking about, but I will hopefully have a better understanding of what they do, in some respect. I will also be looking into other avenues of education (presentations, podcasts, etc.).

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Co-facilitation

Tomorrow I present to a group of speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists on the application of music therapy in a setting that serves children with developmental disabilities. I have not seen, in person, a music therapist co-facilitate a session with a therapist or specialist of another profession, but have had a chance to see video of co-facilitation with physical therapy. I don’t necessarily expect that I will be doing anything of the sort with the children at tomorrow’s site (should I even meet these children), though I think co-facilitating with another specialty would be fantastic. Not only would I hopefully see progress in a client, but I’d also have a better perspective of the processes of the other facilitator. 

I just listened to this month’s episode of Music Therapy Round Table in which the subject addressed was the “bucket list” of music therapists. I’ve always wanted to write and publish, but perhaps a more timely goal to have is to work in some co-facilitation.
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Aloha to the uke

I am back on the mainland! I spent the past several days on Maui, and returned yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, Hawaii is a wonderful place. Several times I saw people lounging on the beach with their guitar or ukelele.

The only souvenir of Hawaii I wanted to bring home with me was a ukelele. Now that I am working primarily with small, young children, the size of the ukelele and its portability makes the instrument very appealing. I shadowed one of my ukelele-playing music therapist friends working with children, and I decided then and there that the instrument was essential.

Knowing that I was about to depart to Hawaii, I decided I’d pick one up there.

Meet Duke.

While in Hawaii, I attended one group class designed for beginners. I didn’t get any new skills from this class, so I took a private lesson from someone at Lahaina Music, where I purchased my uke.

Aloha and mahalo!

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Considerations of past clientele

About one month ago was my last day at the care center where I worked for one year. Not surprisingly, I miss the residents and their family members with whom I’d grown to know in that time. Though I worked there only part-time, I was still in the facility most days of the week. I feel like I knew many of the residents very well.

I bring this up because I spent some time last night with one of my close co-workers there. She asked me how my new work is going, and I reported that I am happy with it, and that I am stimulated and challenged by it. All of these things are true, but I do find myself wondering how the residents at my old job are doing. I asked her how work is going, and she shared that a nasty stomach flu is spreading through the facility and otherwise spoke in generalities. I had a lot of trouble keeping myself from asking her about certain residents, especially one whom I’d seen on a 1:1 basis weekly. I didn’t ask her, and we didn’t speak about anyone in particular, and I know we were in the right for discussing our respective work in the ways we did.

I recognize that this is a tricky subject in some ways. I remember taking a class on counseling strategies, and spending a whole day (the class was one of those intensive, days-long classes) discussing the ethical and correct manner in which to regard past clients should you, for example, see them on the street. This past weekend I saw two daughters of one of those care center residents leave a restaurant I was entering. They didn’t see me, and I know they were not people whom I had seen on a therapeutic level, but I was still wondering what I’d do and say to them had they talked to me.

I think this is always a delicate matter. I think there are graceful ways to do everything, but that grace comes from thoughtful preparation.

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Laryngitis

I think it’s funny that when I lose my voice, I apparently lose all ability to do anything, including provide music therapy services and blog.
I’ve been really ill this week, but finally today feel that I was functional.
I had to plan my sessions with my weak voice in mind. I used recorded music much more this week than I ever have.
In the monthly meetings my area colleague friends and I have, we bring up common issues. I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on dealing with sickness and the guilt that accompanies it (in my case, anyway).
I hope you are well!

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An episode on laughter in music therapy

I liked the episode “Laughter in Music Therapy and With Young Children” from the podcast …in their words, published by Imagine. Kalani Das, MT-BC, prepared a piece about the role laughter and humor play in music therapy. One of my biggest goals for myself as a music therapist is to provide an environment where laughter and a sense of humor is allowed and encouraged, when, of course, it is appropriate.

Has anyone else heard this episode? Better yet, does anyone know if the podcast is still being published?