Week Ten

Week Ten! The final week. The past few days have been really bittersweet. I've met so many incredible people and musicians. I'm glad I was given so many wonderful and unique opportunities.

Day 27:

On Monday, we had 4 preschool boys. One boy was new and the others had been here before. The new boy was very resistant. He wouldn't participate, cooperate, or speak clearly. He didn't want people in his personal space either. When one boy got too close to him, he pushed him over and started crying. He also whined a lot. It was reassuring when he wanted to play the small drum and the Q-chord. We could see that he did want to participate if it involved something he liked. He then threw a fit when he had to play the maraca instead by throwing it across the room and then hitting it out of my hand when I retrieved it for him. Another boy wanted to play the small drum that the new boy had, but part of the session involves knowing how to take turns. He also threw a fit with the maraca, but he knew he had to play with it if he wanted to play the small drum. So he very unhappily shook the maraca. The two other boys were very clingy with me during the session. They kept telling me to sit by them, or would hold my hand or arm and just look at me. Overall, the session was okay. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.

After music, we had a mini goodbye party for my last day. We had mini muffins and juice boxes. They also signed a card for me and it was really sweet. I've loved working with them every week, and it was hard to say goodbye.

Day 28:

I got a lot of visual aid things completed on Thursday! I was there for four and a half hours and finished off strongly. I made 4 song puzzles (2 with Go The Distance, 2 with Here Comes The Sun.) The goal of the song puzzles is to match the available pictures to the lyrics of the song. I also made 5 Mad Libs binders. I made definition cards for each binder for adjectives, verbs, and nouns. Each binder has songs with blank spaces and a set of markers in a pouch so the words the clients choose can be erased.

 
(The Song Puzzles)                                                                        (One Mad Libs Binder)

Day 29:

A lot of music therapy sessions involve things that aren't music. One game the participants with Alzheimer's played was passing around/mimicking animal motions and sounds, which led to singing. We sang a lot of happy songs. I noticed that the sillier the activity/song is, the happier the clients seem. I played Moonlight Sonata on the piano for the first group. The objectives for the groups (stated verbally) involve 5 domains: motor, communication, cognitive, affective/emotional, and social. There was a lot more singing in the second group this Friday.

We had a nice goodbye, too. I was given flowers and a balloon. Working with these men and women, hearing about their lives, and watching them progress has been a highlight of every week.

After this session, I went to the clinic and observed my final session with the first boy with Autism. Client 2 unfortunately wasn't able to make it on Friday. His mom told me that he was having a hard week, which would explain his behavior in the session. He was a lot more physical and would hit his head a lot. He seemed really down and would pout for parts of the session. He just wasn't feeling it today. He had a really bad moment during an activity and the MT had to hold hold his ears to calm him down. It was an interesting way to end my time observing because his sessions/behaviors have always been all over the place. I was able to thank his mother for letting me observe her son over the course of my project, and I even got to say goodbye to the boy.

Final Words:

And that would be the end of my internship! I have learned so much over the past 10 weeks and I'm excited to complete my project. I've loved being able to combine my love of music and psychology. And I also loved getting to share my piano playing with the elderly clients and the preschoolers. I've worked with people with ages ranging from 3 to 96, seeing both similarities and differences from each client. Thank you to everyone who made this possible!

Week Nine

Day 24:

On Monday, there were 5 preschool boys. Everyone seemed a little bit more down than usual. We had them sit on carpet tiles to limit unnecessary moving around the room and getting too close to each other. I played "I'm a Little Teapot," "If You're Happy and you Know It," and "Old MacDonald" on the piano. There was a lot more movement when they heard the piano. We sang a song called "Owie Owie Ouch" which is about owies and then we discussed owies that they have on the outside (like a scab or scrape) and owies they have on the inside (like a headache). During the goodbye song, one boy was very resistant to saying goodbye and through a fit.

Day 25: I wasn't able to make any visual aid folders on Thursday.

Day 26:

On Friday, the elderly participants sang really upbeat songs. There was a lot of involvement and movement. We played hot potato with an egg shaker to the song Dancing Queen and if the song stopped on them they had to recall a memory from their teenage years. I took notes for the second session on their participation. They played with maracas, drums, and egg shakers.

Client 1 didn't show up today. Client 2 had a very typical session. They did the same activities as usual. The session was overall very average and he participated/cooperated his normal amount.

Week Eight

Day 21:

On Monday, we had 6 preschool boys. I made a chart to rate each preschooler on their participation for each activity. I rated them on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being sad or not talking, and 5 being happy or talking a lot. I played "I'm a Little Teapot" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" on the piano for them. The session was good today, but there were a lot of copycat responses. For example, the first boy may say he is sad, and 4 boys after him say they're sad as well, but will act happy during the session. This makes it difficult to tell what their actual moods are.

Day 22:

I worked on a few visual aid projects on Thursday, but I hope to do more next week. The main one included making a folder saying "I want to.....please" which will make it easier for non-verbal clients to choose the activity they want to do.

Day 23:

On Friday, I recorded data for all of the participants in the group for elderly people with Alzheimer's. I recorded: What amount of lyrics they sang correctly (estimated), whether they maintained a steady beat or not, and whether they provided lyrics in the activities that required it (or needed a little, to complete assistance from their caretakers). Everyone sang and participated a lot.

The boys who have Autism had pretty typical sessions, so I don't have a lot to say about them today. Client 1 kept putting all of the instruments in his mouth though, so they had to change activities a few times before finishing.

Week Seven

Day 18:

On Monday, we had 6 preschool boys in the session. There were things that we noticed like saying they were happy but would act sad, and vice versa. Most of them sang the whole time. One activity was drawing what they felt while a MT played a song. One boy showed signs of OCD in his drawings. They were getting a lot better at taking turns today. They were also a lot happier by the end of the session. I recorded moods for the session, and have been asked to find more recording devices/charts to analyze their progress. I will hopefully be playing piano for them during the next session.

Day 19: I wasn't able to make any visual aid folders on Thursday, but plan to make them next week.

Day 20:

I took more of a scribe role for the sessions with the participants with Alzheimer's on Friday. I recorded if they sang, what their feelings were, and how much they participated during each activity. Fun note: One couple brought their dogs so that was very fun!! :)

I also did more research on the behaviors of the children who have Autism. (Another fun fact: I learned that saying 'Autistic kids' is wrong and that it is better to say 'children with Autism' so they don't feel like they are defined by what they have). The clients cover their ears to block out sensory input and to lessen auditory input. It may also be because they feel anxious, scared, or uncomfortable. They have a tendency not to sit still and fidget because of sensory-motor challenges and/or difficulty with attending behaviors. They also tune out during the sessions because they feel overwhelmed. Overall, each session was good.

Week Six

Day 15:

On Monday, there were 7 preschool boys. Most of them wanted to participate towards the beginning, but they peaked during the middle of the session. They did a lot of activities like reading/singing story books, playing with a Q-chord (trouble taking turns), and playing with big drums. The goal of this session was to have 80% participation in their behavior. One boy threw a fit and had to leave the room.

Day 16:

I did a lot of stuff with the visual aid projects on Thursday! I finished the pop. song folders from last week. I completed one of the long term assignments called "My Sound Song" sets. I also adjusted a lot of the other folders to make everything fit (like: Down By The Bay & Purple People Eater). 

Day 17:

With the Alzheimer's clients, they described their feelings with colors. They did breathing and other exercises, too. They played with small musical chime boards and did a lot of singing. There were a lot of Irish songs because of St. Patrick's Day. They would also take turns singing verses in the songs by gender.

Both of the Autistic boys had really rough private sessions. I learned afterwards that it was most likely a mix of being a teenager and being on spring break. Client 1 cooperated a little more than client 2, but he was also distracted a lot. Client 2 actually had a really unproductive session because he just sat in the corner behind a chair for a majority of the session and the music therapist couldn't get him to cooperate at all. 

Week Five

Day 13:

On Thursday, I started new visual aid folders. This time I had to choose recent pop songs and print pictures to go along with the lyrics. The clients then make the song using the pictures in the folder. Here's one of them.

Day 14:

A new graduate student from ASU led the morning session with the elderly people. No one showed up to the 9:30am session, so we had to wait for the 10:30 am session to start. The student did things differently, she read all of her music from her phone, and even played the first song directly from her phone while doing relaxation and breathing exercises. She constantly sang songs after that with no real variety. So that must be her teaching style. The clients were really accepting of her and helpful considering she was new and English wasn't her first language.

I went to the clinic after this and was able to observe client 1 after a couple weeks. He is 13 years old with Autism, and his goals are communication and sensory skills. Compared to client 2, he doesn't listen or cooperate nearly as much. He had his fingers in his ears and would ignore the music therapist a lot. He would also get distracted a lot with the instruments rather than play them. He also started to kick her. So far, he doesn't seem to progress or get much out of the sessions. He just has a constant mood and behavior the whole time. She has to give more attention to his goals than the other client because it is harder for him to cooperate. I have also noticed that he is better at musical commands than physical commands. Client 2 had a good, productive session as usual.

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory

One of the elderly people came up to me and told me about a documentary on Netflix called Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory. His wife and daughter also attend the session and have on multiple occasions told me how much they all love it. I watched it today and can tell you all how beautiful and honest this documentary is. It shows how music can be the only way some people connect. It really shows how much music can change moods. Even when they can't remember a lot about their lives, listening to a song from their childhood allows their minds to recall things and it brings them so much joy and memory. If you want to check it out, it is over an hour long, so if you don't want to watch all of it, then at least watch the first 5-8 minutes. It really gives you a taste of the reactions and emotions felt. I would recommend watching more though!!