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Adaptation Everywhere: An Interview With Laurel Rosen-Weatherford

Providing music therapy services to clients ages 2.5-26 within a continuum of school settings, Laurel Rosen-Weatherford believes that all students can participate in music making. She creates an inclusive environment that offers opportunities to explore, engage, and learn from each other. In this podcast, Laurel emphasizes the importance of Universal Design for Learning and gives examples from her clinical practice including adapting to participants and their level of engagement for joint music making. Through consultation with the school district’s assistive technology consultants, Laurel recognizes the difference between low-tech (e.g., large-size visual cards for “go” and “stop”) and high-tech (e.g., client’s individual core boards on devices or eye gaze technology) and utilizes both in daily practice. She also discusses adapting instruments, describes the “Dr. G. Method” for alternative music notation, and gives structured songwriting ideas. Laurel has experience outside the classroom environment providing sessions on Zoom, courtyard music with families, and intergenerational services in senior citizen centers. Her greatest advice to listeners is “to watch what your students are doing” to guide adaptations and how to adjust expectations.

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About The Interviewee

Laurel Rosen-Weatherford, MM, MT-BC, works at the Monroe County Intermediate School District. She teaches undergraduate courses for Lourdes University and University of Toledo and serves on various boards and organizations. She is eager to create opportunities so that every learner can participate. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Shina, E. (2023, July 15). Adaptation everywhere: An interview with Laurel Rosen-Weatherford [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Adaptation Everywhere first appeared on imagine.

Creativity Across The Board: An Interview With Chelsea Kinsler

A team member of Therabeat, Inc, Chelsea Kinsler offers individual and group music therapy sessions as well as adaptive lessons at their interdisciplinary In Harmony Pediatrics Clinic. She is passionate about offering children successful experiences through adaptive music lessons by targeting achievable goals and providing support. Annually, children have the opportunity to demonstrate their achievements and celebrate their strengths in a peer-supported performance environment. In this podcast, Chelsea gives tips on how to adapt the music room, instruments, and music notation. She talks about using motivating and engaging music apps and music games that reinforce learning at home. Her top advice for adaptive music making in early childhood is to be creative and to embrace the strength of each child.

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About The Interviewee

Chelsea Kinsler, LPMT, MT-BC, is the Clinical Director and Internship Supervisor at Therabeat in Woodstock, Georgia. At Therabeat, the team believes that “being a musician is for all, not just those who wish to pursue a career in music.” Offering adaptive lessons to children with varying abilities, Chelsea addresses the unique needs of every child. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Shina, E. (2023, July 15). Creativity across the board: An interview with Chelsea Kinsler [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Creativity Across The Board first appeared on imagine.

Adapting in Every Moment: An Interview With Andrew Chapman

Andrew Chapman is the coordinator of the University of Louisville Music Therapy Clinic where their mission and vision is to make music experiences accessible and available to everyone. He says, “Almost every clinical experience has some form of adaptation,” and describes the adapted rock band led by clinic staff. In this podcast, Andrew discusses the use of open tunings on stringed instruments and color-coded stickers as well as Alexa, Chrome Music Lab, and GarageBand as tools for adaptive music making. Setting up a story, “Once upon a time…” as a narrative for songwriting with young children is one of Andrew’s favorite things to do. His top advice for adaptive music making in early childhood is to pay attention to children’s musical strengths and identity regardless of ability.

Resources

About The Interviewee

Andrew Chapman, MT-BC, is the coordinator for the University of Louisville’s Music Therapy Clinic. Clients are seen as “clinic artists” and served in preschools, foster care facilities, and cancer centers. He is eager to offer music-making experiences that set his clinic artists up for success. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Shina, E. (2023, July 15). Adapting in every moment: An interview with Andrew Chapman [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Adapting in Every Moment first appeared on imagine.

Music-Making Can Happen Anywhere: An Interview With Jessica Baron

As the founder of Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom, Jessica Baron has a passion for sharing music with as many children as possible. She says, “So many kids are in need of adaptive services.” In this podcast, she speaks to their Adaptive Music for Achievement and Inclusion in Special Education (AMAISE) program, as well as using music with children who are homebound or hospitalized. Jess and her educators focus on “measures of joy,” looking for subtle signs of engagement via large or fine motor movements to evaluate the child’s response. Her top advice for listeners is to “relinquish all expectations” and be ready for anything, but also to mirror children’s way of creating a sound to build a musical conversation. 

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About The Interviewee

Jessica Baron, MA, is a lifelong musician, educator, and author whose passion for responsive teaching and inclusive, developmental education led her to start the non-profit Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom. Her eight books on childhood creativity and musical development address ukulele and guitar education for all ages, as well as parenting. Jessica Baron is passionate about looking at all that children have to offer within a musical interaction. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Ruffner, A. (2023, July 15). Music making can happen anywhere: An interview with Jessica Baron [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Music-Making Can Happen Anywhere first appeared on imagine.

Color-Coded Success: An Interview With Miriam Tart

As a staff member of Piedmont Music Therapy, Miriam Tart works with children in individual sessions at preschools. Instruments with alternative tuning, adaptive mallets with larger handles or straps, and color-coded instruments and music are what Miriam uses with her clients on a daily basis. In this podcast, she talks about providing accessible music making experiences in community settings such as a children’s library or a recreation center. Miriam expresses how humans often tie a sense of worth to being included, and music can encourage this in young children. During adaptive music lessons, the goal focuses on the process rather than the performance. She recommends color-coded music notation and songbooks for children with various abilities. Her top advice for listeners is to be flexible and creative.

Resources

About The Interviewee

Miriam Tart, MMT, MT-BC, works with a wide range of clients at Piedmont Music Therapy in Charlotte, North Carolina. She offers individual and group sessions as well as adaptive lessons. Making music successful for young children is at the core of her work. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Ruffner, A. (2023, July 15). Color-coded success: An interview with Miriam Tart [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Color-Coded Success first appeared on imagine.

Adapt to Connect: An Interview With Matt Logan

Working at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, Matt Logan is familiar with adapting music making to pediatric patients admitted to the hematology, oncology, blood and marrow transplant, and neuro rehabilitation units. Matt’s intention is to inspire connection, trust, curiosity, creativity, and expressivity when making music with young patients. In this podcast, he emphasizes selecting instruments that provide an optimal level of challenge and interest for the child and songs that are meaningful to families. He speaks to the value of including everyone in the patient’s room in the musical experience to level out the dynamic of power in a medical setting. To Matt, adapting instruments for young children means using pentatonic scales and providing a high quality musical experience. Spontaneous, improvised songwriting, captured on Mom’s or Dad’s cellphone is what Matt does on a daily basis. His top advice is to prioritize connections with children through the non-verbal act of making music. 

Resources

About The Interviewee

Matt Logan, MA, MT-BC, is a clinician and internship director at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, California. He primarily works with patients undergoing cancer treatment and neurological rehabilitation. Connecting through music and adapting in the moment are key to his professional success. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Ruffner, A. (2023, July 15). Adapt to connect: An interview with Matt Logan [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Adapt to Connect first appeared on imagine.

Find a Way to Make it Work: An Interview With Jodi Click

A piano, guitar, and voice teacher, Jodi Click also provides music and movement sessions for young children. Adapting to children’s ability to make music a successful experience is on her daily agenda. In this podcast, she gives multiple examples on how everyone can participate in music making and innovative tips for adapting instruments. She uses assistive technology for songwriting, sound effects, and answering questions and thinks outside the box to find affordable tools. Pictures, color-coded instruments, and rhythm cards are her go-to materials for learning about music notation. Her top tip for adaptive music making is “try everything.”

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About The Interviewee

Jodi Click is a licensed special education teacher with over 20 years experience in teaching in self-contained classrooms and working as an assistive technology specialist. Currently, she uses her music therapy training to teach private music lessons and lead music and movement sessions in her home studio in Berne, Indiana, and virtually. She is passionate about finding ways to overcome any challenge that young learners face. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Bolton, D. (2023, July 15). Find a way to make it work: An interview with Jodi Click [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Find a Way to Make it Work first appeared on imagine.

It’s All About Relationships: An Interview With Camille Catlett

Supporting early childhood faculty across the US, Camille Catlett has her finger on the pulse in developing university programs that inform systems impacting infant and early childhood mental health. “It’s all about relationships,” she says, as infants and young children draw experiences from their environments and caregivers. In other words, if adults in a child’s universe are stressed, they will be stressed; if adults are well-regulated and calm, they will be calm. In this podcast, Camille briefly addresses the evolving and advancing guidelines and standards in infant and early childhood mental health, as well as self-awareness, self-care, and mindfulness of adults who are providing care for young children. She also shares resources for parents and families and underlines the importance of home visits while emphasizing advocacy efforts on a legislative level. Her hope is that COVID-19 has done less harm than we have feared regarding infant and young children’s mental health. 

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About the Interviewee

Camille Catlett, M.A., is a Senior Technical Assistance Specialist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her consultative work focuses primarily on building capacity of early childhood faculty related to diversity, equity, and language development. She coordinates several national and state listservs, and is the Resources Within Reach columnist of Young Exceptional Children. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Kern, P. (2022, September 1). It’s all about relationship: An interview with Camille Catlett [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post It’s All About Relationships: An Interview With Camille Catlett first appeared on imagine.

Taking Care of Yourself to Better Help Others: An Interview With Kimberly Sena Moore

In her teaching, Dr. Kimberly Sena Moore stresses the importance of “taking care of yourself to better help others.” For her students, self-care has reached a heightened importance similar to identifying stress behaviors in early childhood clients. In this podcast, Kimberly acknowledges the complexity of infant and early childhood mental health and points out that children’s social and emotional development is impacted by various systems. During practicum experiences in early childhood settings, she encourages her students to focus more on pro-social and emotional skills as well as cognitive skills. Her suggestions for parents are to be aware of their own stress level while helping their children feel safe and loved. If there is one thing to hope for, she wishes that children going through the COVID-19 pandemic will develop into resilient young people. 

Resources

About the Interviewee

Kimberly Sena Moore, PhD, MT-BC, is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the music therapy program at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. She is known to imagine readers as an expert on emotion regulation development in preschoolers who are neurodevelopmentally at-risk. Her book chapter on music therapy and childhood mental health is standard literature for music therapy students. Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Kern, P. (2022, September 1). Taking care of yourself to better help others: An interview with Kimberly Sena Moore [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Taking Care of Yourself to Better Help Others: An Interview With Kimberly Sena Moore first appeared on imagine.

Still Finding Out How People Are Impacted: An Interview With Olivia Swedberg Yinger

As a music therapist and parent of two children, Dr. Olivia Swedberg Yinger voices their concern for young children under five and their parents struggling with mental health issues being forgotten in the aftermath of the pandemic. They raise the question how humans’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been impacted by the pandemic – answers we still need to find. In this podcast, they speak about the Neurosequential Model and its sequence of engagement (i.e., regulate, relate, reason), give musical and mindfulness suggestions for young children, and stress the importance of maintaining established routines. Honoring and validating children’s feelings and conveying the message that they are not alone, as well as parents’ self-care, are key for a family’s mental health. They hope that adults can see children as experts of their needs arising from their pandemic experiences.

Resources

About the Interviewee

Olivia Swedberg Yinger, PhD, MT-BC, is Associate Professor and Chair of Music Therapy at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. One of their research interests and previous contributions to imagine is trauma-informed music therapy. Their knowledge, experiences, and insights are invaluable to early childhood music therapists, especially during the pandemic era.

Contact: [email protected]

Suggested Citation

Kern, P. (2022, September 1). Still finding out how people are impacted: An interview 

with Olivia Swedberg Yinger [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz

The post Still Finding Out How People Are Impacted: An Interview With Olivia Swedberg Yinger first appeared on imagine.