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!!

Week Four

Day 10:

I wasn't able to attend the session with the preschoolers on Monday, and because of Spring break next week I won't be seeing them next Monday either. It'll be interesting to see the how the gap changes (or doesn't change) their progress.

Day 11:

On Thursday, I adjusted and added to the song binders for the elderly people. I'll be adding more to them next week as well. I also finished the visual aid folders I've been working on since my 2nd day.















I will no longer be attending the drum circle theory classes on Thursday nights. The facilitator and I decided I know enough about the theory of drum circles at this point, so now I'll be attending some actual drum circles led by him (Frank Thompson) and another facilitator.

Day 12:

At the music therapy session with the Alzheimer's clients, we placed their name tags on their chairs before they got there so there would be no problems with seating. There was a lot of exercising, mimicking, singing, and relaxing. There were also more visual aids today.

I then went back to the clinic and observed client 2 again. (Client 1 was sick and we'll have a double session for him next week to make up the time.) He had another really good session today. His main goal is still attention at task, and he's doing really well with taking turns and finishing an activity before they move on to the next one.