Happy Wednesday! My master's thesis, Joint Attention Responses to Simple Versus Complex Music of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) JUST came out in the most recent issue of the Journal of Music Therapy! Yay! It has not yet arrived in Miami, so I am eagerly checking the mailbox to see if the little brown book is in there. [...]
I love when my clients inspire me and give me new ideas for interventions during my music therapy sessions. This happened a few weeks ago and I've been using the idea ever since. One little guy I work with individually loves book and songs. I use this type of musical experience to work on expressive language, [...]
I used to come into the classrooms at UCP's Early Beginnings Academy and I talk a LOT. "Okay everyone let's sit down in the circle." "Oh you have new shoes - awesome!" "Ok everyone sit down. Stop pulling her hair. Don't pick your nose. Come on let's all sit down!" This year, I am making [...]
Last Thursday I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Temple Grandin speak at my alma mater, University of Miami. Each time I hear her speak, I pull out new information. This time, I was absorbing information so I could integrate it into my work with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I have always had [...]
Having four days off to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday was JUST what I needed. At UCP we are in full Holiday Show preparation mode and I feel like I am going a mile a minute. Can you relate?? It was nice to have a few days off to relax, catch up on sleep, and of course.....work [...]
I'm going to be honest. I spend a good amount of time perusing social media sites. I LOVE to check out what’s new on my two favorite FB groups – Music Therapists Unite and Music Therapy Business Owners. Through these interactions and through emails with my newsletter subscribers I’ve heard overwhelmingly that music therapists are sometimes just [...]
Happy Saturday Song Share to you! Five Fine Foxes is a song I wrote my very first year working at United Cerebral Palsy (UCP). The lyrics are taken from the B.E.L.L. Literacy Program, which stands for Building Early Language and Literacy. The program uses rhymes and chants to engage the children in practicing letter sounds and working [...]
I feel like it has been a while since I wrote a real blog post! Between forming my LLC, launching my new ebook, and some other projects that will soon be revealed ;) , it feels like I haven't had a moment to sit back and reflect on it all. Sometimes when you own a [...]
Launch Day is here and my new ebook Sensational Songs & Activities has arrived!!!! I am thrilled to announce that his resource is available, since it has been months in the making! In case you missed my announcements all over Twitter and Facebook, Sensational Songs & Activities: Sensory-Based Ideas for Music Therapy is an ebook jam-packed with intervention [...]
"Here is a song about S...S, S, the letter S!" Here's a little tune to address the letter S. There are a few ways to implement this activity: You can ask children to identify various S-word pictures; you can play "I Spy" and ask them to identify various S-words around the room; or you can sing nonsense words [...]