Happy Halloween from MTEC!

Make this Halloween a musical one!

SING these fun words to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.” Fill in any other Halloween words/items you’d like! Have your child draw pictures to go along with the items in the song, or print some pictures off the internet.

The witch rides tonight, the witch rides tonight,

Hi-Ho it’s Halloween, the witch rides tonight.

The witch takes a bat, the witch takes a bat…

The bat takes the cat, the bat takes the cat…

DRUM ALONG with this fun “Halloween Drum Song” by Betsey King Brunk. If you don’t have a drum, make one! Turn over an empty coffee canister or bang on some pots and pans! Make up your own tune or chant the words. Practice counting to 2, each time you play the drum!

Halloween! (boom, boom)

Halloween! (boom, boom)

It’s a scary, (boom, boom)

Scary scene! (boom, boom)

I say BOO! (boom, boom)

To you! (boom, boom)

Halloween! (boom, boom)

Halloween! (boom, boom)

Some FUN and SPOOKY Halloween songs to sing and dance to:

The Addams Family Theme

Thriller (Michael Jackson)

Dem Bones

Witches’ Brew (Hap Palmer)

Five Little Pumpkins (Raffi)

Monster Mash (Bobby “Boris” Picket)

Witch Doctor

Music FUNdamentals at the Rocky River Recreation Center!

Music FUNdamentals starts November 1st at the Rocky River Recreation Center.

It's not too late to register for this class!

Learn the basics of music through this action-packed program. This 5-week class will inspire kids to grow, giggle and groove!

The class will be held Tuesdays Nov. 1-Nov. 29 from 1:15-2:00 PM. You do not have to be a resident of Rocky River to participate: $72-member/$77-resident/$82-non-resident.

Call 440-895-2599 to register today!

Music Therapy Month Series: Music Therapy and Early Childhood

Music is prevelant in the life of a young child (and rightfully so!) This post will address how and why music therapy works for children ages birth-5 years.

In order to delineate music therapy from other ways young children experience and learn music, a quick definition:

Music therapy is an intentional and developmentally appropriate use of music by a music therapist to address a variety of goals.

These goals will vary based on the individual or the group. Often, early childhood music therapy focuses on meeting developmental milestones. These include communication, social/emotional, sensori-motor and cognitive skills.

Why is music therapy so successful in early childhood?

• Children are inherently musical. Did you know that even infants can "coo" on the tonic or dominant pitch (1^st and 5^th notes in a scale, respectively)?
• Music therapy is multi-modal: this means it is not only something one listens to, but can move to see and feel. ( and in the case of infants, possibly taste as well!)
• Music is motivating and engaging. Music permeates an environment—it is difficult to shut one’s ears the way one can shut his or her eyes! Music is energizing and can encourage motor skills and development. Alternatively, music can be calming and comforting as well.
• Young children learn through play. Music therapy is naturally playful and therefore a developmentally appropriate way to reinforce and increase cognitive skills.
• Even before a child can speak, music can provide a path of communication. Music can be the commonality that helps that child relate to others. Music making is a social event and can support and increase appropriate interactions with caregivers and peers.

MTEC provides individual and group sessions for young children—these children include "typically developing" chidren, children with disabilities and children considered “at-risk.”

MTEC is proud to be a part of Toddler Rock at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Toddler Rock is a pre-literacy program that serves children from underserved areas of Cleveland. Check out more information about this program here.

Music Therapy Month Series: Music Therapy and Rehabilitation

Music Therapy and Rehabilitation: Speech and Language

Music therapy can be a very effective tool when addressing the rehabilitative needs of individuals. It relies on the principle of neuroplasticity, or the capability of the brain to form new neuronal connections after damage has occurred. The brain is able to adapt and change to find new ways to re-establish functioning, both in small ways (as in learning), or in large ways (as in changes in functioning areas). For example, if an individual suffers a stroke and damage occurs in the language center of the brain, with the appropriate stimuli, the brain can find and create alternate pathways through other areas of the brain to regain lost functioning.

The “map” of the brain

Picture the brain as a map of Cleveland. Downtown is the frontal lobe where learning, judgment, calculations, and higher processing occurs; think of the many offices, the courthouse, and Cleveland State. Playhouse Square is the right hemisphere, the cultural center of the brain and home to creativity, the theatrical, and music. Ohio City is the left hemisphere, responsible for language production and comprehension; think of having conversation over dinner in one of the many restaurants in that area. The cerebellum is the steel mill in the Flats, responsible for muscle movement, coordination, and the labors the body must perform each day. To the south, the occipital lobe where vision is processed, or the 490 bridge which offers the best view of the city.

If Cleveland were a brain . . .

How can music help?

Music is a multi-sensory experience, and is processed in the brain in many areas simultaneously. Music conveys information through areas such as speech and language, emotion, motor functioning, memory, and tactile interpretation. When looking at a PET scan of a person exposed to music, language, and music and language, one notices that the most activity occurs when the brain is exposed to music and language.

Observe that language is processed mostly in the left hemisphere (Ohio City) and music is processed mostly in the right hemisphere (Playhouse Square). When both language and music are presented, processing occurs in both areas simultaneously. In addition, processing is occurring in the frontal lobes (Downtown Cleveland) responsible for higher processing and also in the cerebellum (The Flats) responsible for muscle coordination and balance.

Why is this important?

When the brain processes information in a variety of ways simultaneously over numerous times, the brain forms a connection between these areas. In the example of the individual who had a stroke which damaged the language center in the left hemisphere, exposure to music and language will either repair damaged connections or form new connections and re-establish functioning in an undamaged but related area of the brain. The brain has actually changed its functioning map. In the analogy of the map of Cleveland, this would be like fire damaged restaurants in Ohio City relocating to Playhouse Square.

What do music therapists do?

A music therapist will develop and implement interventions to help the brain form these new connections. One technique that music therapists use is called Melodic Intonation Therapy, or MIT. When using MIT, a music therapist will create a melody based on the natural way a common phrase is said. Through practice, an individual will first master singing this phrase, then gradually phase out the melody to allow for functional speech. Over time, an individual will regain more and more speech with the ultimate goal being language functionality and fluency.

October is . . .

Not only is October Music Therapy Month in Ohio, it is also Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

The Akron Beacon Journal had a fascinating article about how modern parents feel about the diagnosis of Down Syndrome, as well as the future of this diagnosis.

Check it out by clicking here.

*For more information about Down Syndrome, take a look at the National Down Syndrome Society, as well as it's Northeast Ohio Chapter, The Up Side of Downs.

Music Therapy Month Series: Music Therapy and Hospice

Suzanne De Chillo/The New York Times

A Short History of Hospice Care:

In its earliest days, the concept of hospice was rooted in the centuries-old idea of offering a place of shelter and rest, or "hospitality" to weary and sick travelers on a long journey. In 1967, Dame Cicely Saunders at St. Christopher's Hospice in London first used the term "hospice" to describe specialized care for dying patients. Today, hospice care provides humane and compassionate care for people in the last phases of incurable disease so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible. (Source http://www.cancer.org )

Music Therapy's Role:

In a room where a person transitions from this life, the emotions present are often intricately woven together like a blanket. Just as a blanket can provide comfort for persons during the dying process, those same emotions can feel restricting and limiting. Music can ease a person’s mind, allowing emotions to surface and anxieties to release. Active and passive music listening can provide a person with a change in pain perception that may offer them relief and comfort. Kubler-Ross, a pioneer on the methods associated with death and dying, has identified fives stages to describe the emotional and psychological responses that many people face when approaching death. The five stages (which are not a rigid series of steps) include:

D - Denial

A - Anger

B - Bargaining

D - Depression

A – Acceptance

The Music Therapy Process:

In a music therapy session in the hospice setting, the therapist may use a patient’s preferred artist or song to identify the experience as the patient’s own. Music can address and deal with underlying feelings that are tied to various stages of response.

During end of life, there is often a need for life review. Music gives room for capturing moments that are deeply personal, even though a song is so widely known. Some memories cannot be explained in words, but the music speaks volumes for a patient.

Many times loved ones remain close during the dying process, and so quite often music therapy sessions involve family and friends. Music during these times can benefit not only the dying but those who may be grieving. Music therapists are trained to work with the person, not the illness. With music therapy in hospice care, the therapist is there to facilitate a celebration of life and support the spirituality of that person as they pass from this life.

"Where words fail, music speaks." ~ Hans Christian Anderson

Music Therapy Month Series: Music Therapy and Autism

Music therapy can make an incredible difference in the lives of individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

How?

Music is Engaging:

Music captures and helps maintain attention. It is highly motivating and may be used as a natural “reinforcer” for desired responses. Music therapy can stimulate clients to reduce negative and/or self-stimulatory responses and increase participation in more appropriate and socially acceptable ways.

Music is Communicative:

Music therapy can enable those without language to communicate, participate and express themselves non-verbally. Very often music therapy also assists in the development of verbal communication, speech, and language skills. The interpersonal timing and reciprocity in shared play, turn-taking, listening and responding to another person are augmented in music therapy with children and adults with autism to accommodate and address their styles of communication.

Music is Emotional:

Music therapy allows individuals with diagnoses on the autism spectrum the opportunity to develop identification and appropriate expression of their emotions.

Music is Stimulating:

Because music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain, music can stimulate cognitive functioning and may be used for remediation of some speech/language skills.

Music is a Sensory Experience:

Music provides concrete, multi-sensory stimulation (auditory, visual, and tactile). The rhythmic component of music is very organizing for the sensory systems of individuals diagnosed with autism. As a result, auditory processing and other sensory-motor, perceptual/motor, gross and fine motor skills can be enhanced through music therapy.

Music is Structured:

Musical elements and structures provide a sense of security and familiarity in the music therapy setting, encouraging clients to attempt new tasks within this predictable but malleable framework. (source: www.musictherapy.org)

MTEC services many individuals with diagnoses of ASD.

MTEC therapists travel to schools, adult group homes, and a variety of private facilities. We also have many clients that come for individual sessions at MTEC, as well as for piano, guitar and voice lessons. MTEC’s co-directors and therapists have presented countless presentations on the benefits of music therapy with individuals with ASD.

A mother of one of MTEC’s clients with ASD said:

“Jack has responded very positively to music therapy. He receives music therapy at school and privately at home. Although Jack has difficulties with behavior, he is usually very happy and compliant during music therapy. Through music therapy, Jack has increased his expressive language, turn-taking skills, interactions with the therapist, ability to wait and ability to attend for longer periods of time.”

We would love to hear from you about your experiences with music therapy and the diagnosis of ASD. Feel free to leave a comment below!