Last week I shared a new song, "Let's Stay In The Green Zone," that I had written for a student who receives consult music therapy services. Today, I want to share a second song I wrote, called "Today I Will," to help this student stay in the Green Zone of Regulation (meaning they are calm, [...]
Recently, I moved from Miami up north and started working virtually at a school in Maryland. I provide group, individual, and consult music therapy services for their middle and high school students with autism and related disabilities (which I absolutely love doing). During the consult for one student who has music therapy on their IEP, the [...]
In a previous blog post, I shared one of my favorite brand new ideas (for either virtual or in-person learning) - Hip Hop Meets Classical. If you haven't checked out that post, do it now! It is sure to be a hit with your school-age and teen clients (and is also a great way to [...]
Have you struggled to come up with cool and engaging virtual ideas for your school-age and teens clients? I know I have. The other day, I just kind of sat and stared at a blank Word document. I wondered - what can I do that is novel and interesting for them? I always come back [...]
“Hip Hop meets Classical” This simple search on YouTube led me to find some neat videos and create a brand new musical experience that was pretty cool for my teen clients. Many of them are working on improving their attention and auditory perception skills. So, their task was this - Listen closely to the hip [...]
Making music therapy sessions and classes "cool" for our tween and teen clients can be tricky. In my last blog post, I shared one of my favorite ways to instantly up the cool factor on our musical experiences for teens. It's a simple technique, but can make a huge difference in whether your clients say [...]
One thing I hear very often from music therapists and educators who work with teens is that they have trouble finding musical experiences that are considered "cool" by their clients and students. I can relate 100%. I worked with children for so long that it was hard to crawl out of that headspace and create [...]
One of the services I love sharing about most with parents is our adapted music lessons. Many parents tell me their child with autism loves music and wants to learn piano, but they tried with a "traditional" music teacher and it did not go well. Our adapted lessons are unique in that they're taught by [...]
Have you ever worked with a group where the individuals had a wide range of ages? Or, where you weren't sure which individuals would show up on any given day? I know in these situations we want to use musical experiences that are flexible and appropriate for that wide age range, but those can be [...]
One of the things I cherish most is the collection of session videos I have from my time working with children and teens in Miami over the past sixteen years. I've used these music therapy videos, with written permission from the parents and clients, as teaching tools on my website, in presentations, and in my [...]
