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.
It's really nice to see how music brought the boys to life, from being a "little down" to wanting to move around a lot. The reaction at the end of not wanting to say goodbye is touching. It's a sign this work is probably reaching his "soul" and part of him is attached to it. I encourage to see how quickly this boy jumps into action (or not) next week. Will he come in really eager for more play with music?
ReplyDeleteI'll bet for the older folks who struggle with memory it's a lot better to work with a "memory task" in this way, having fun with a song and with rhythm in community, than having a therapist ask a bunch of questions about earlier life experiences. My Grandma, who died a year ago Christmas, had dementia. She had a professional caregiver who couldn't have been more right for her - totally in tune with her. Toward the end my Grandma would remember earlier and earlier songs and the caregiver would encourage her to keep singing them and talk about the memories that she associated with them. One really surprised us because none of us had ever heard her sing it. The caregiver did a little research and found it was a hit song from when she was in high school in 1938. I bring this up because you're reporting valuable observations on music and memory in the older folks and also because it got me thinking. I know the song "Dancing Queen" from when I was a kid. I'd bet that most of the people you're seeing that groups were well beyond their teenage years when that song came out, but I'm sure all of them would know it because it's a part of our culture now. I know that sometimes songs used to help older people with memory issues or also younger people who have brain injuries are specifically chosen thinking of the generation of the people being helped - like songs that would have been really meaningful from their youth. To boil down my meandering comments, I'm curious how music therapists choose the music they use in their sessions?
Thank you for the nice comment! For the Alzheimer's sessions, we had a song book filled with a lot of older songs, love songs, patriotic songs, and things like that. They would also choose songs that are requested or they think would be good in an activity. For every group I helped with or observed, a lot of songs were repeated, so I'm sure that balance and having the songs be an established activity was a part of the therapy. And for the children with autism, the songs would be the same for each boy, and the songs would provide different opportunities to achieve their individual long term goals.
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