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 [...]
We are more than halfway through summer, which feels unbelievable. Weren't we just celebrating the last day of school?! Recently, I've been enjoying Hawaiian/summer/beach-themed sessions with my middle school students and teen clients. I always enjoy a good theme, and this one in particular makes me feel relaxed and happy. Maybe it's the colorful lei [...]
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 [...]
I'm always on the lookout for new, positive pop songs that can be used therapeutically in my sessions with school-age kiddos and teens. Honestly, most times it feels like slim pickings. Many have inappropriate language that can't be used in the facilities where I work, or the content of the songs has little therapeutic value. [...]
