I was recently contacted by the editor of Specialneeds.com, an online resource for parents of children with special needs. The editor asked if I would take part in Autism Awareness Month by writing an article about music therapy and autism. I was more than happy to do this! This topic is near and dear to [...]
Auditory Stimulation In honor of the beginning of Spring (although it always feels like Spring in Miami!) I'm continuing my series on Sense-ational Activities. Sense-ational activities are those that target the five senses. I've shared activities that provide olfactory stimulation, tactile stimulation, and multisensory stimulation. Today's post will focus on an activity I use to provide auditory stimulation. [...]
There are so many resources out there for small business owners and those like myself, who own a private music therapy practice. Here are two excellent resources you should be utilizing now: Resource #1: SCORE SCORE offers free small-business advice, how-to resources, and templates. You can also find a SCORE in your local area (SCORE Miami-Dade [...]
I love my job. I'll just say it. I have been employed full-time as a music therapist at UCP's Early Beginnings Academy since 2006. I remember when I first started the job thinking "This feeling will pass. It will become mundane." But it never did. I still wake up in the morning and am excited [...]
Today I'd like to share one of my most popular songs, and it's about...BODY PARTS! I use this song frequently with the children I work with who have special needs and it's always a hit. For older children, you can make the song more complex by using body parts such as: neck, shoulder, back, and [...]
Back in January I posted about My Musical Goals. I decided this is my year to step it up musically so I can enhance the quality of my music therapy sessions. Here's my update on how things are going... My January Goal was to Become a Ukulele Master. I found some great websites, including Ukulele Tricks [...]
I've heard a lot of people talk about their bucket list for life. Well, I have a bucket list for music therapy! I wrote to the lovely ladies of the Music Therapy Roundtable about this idea and they took on the topic in their latest podcast - Episode 27: Music Therapy Bucket List. Here is MY [...]
"Every week had 7 days, every week has 7 days!" The 'Days of the Week' Song is often heard being sung through the hallways of UCP's Early Beginnings Academy. For my preschool and Kindergarten children, this song teaches some very important concepts: - Every week has 7 days - The names of the days of the week [...]
I am amazed by the number of articles that come out each week about music therapy. Coming off of advocacy month in January, it is always exciting to see these stories spotlight a different music therapist and a different "type" of music therapy (hospice, special education, medical, etc). I was fortunate enough to be interviewed for not [...]
What do you do? The idea for this song came about when I was working with a child with autism, providing individual music therapy. I found that it was easy for her to learn academic skills (numbers, colors, lettters) because of the rote memorization involved to learn the information. However, when it came to questions about how [...]
