I know many of you are obsessed with my blog about obsession (mainly because I talked about cupcakes). I am sorry to inflict you with a watering mouth and an obsession for my creative writing, because now I feel immense pressure to perform to my audience’s (of 3—hi mom) standards. Well, I told you I would talk about music therapy with adults with disabilities in my next blog so here it is!

Outside of cupcakes in my day to day life, adults with disabilities are my music therapy obsession. They FUEL me for life and are my cup of tea as far as music therapy goes. I love their personalities, and I love their passion for music therapy. Many of these clients will have negative behaviors that I never see during music because they are so motivated to do well.

Enter the music therapy session for adults with disabilities. We are all about social skills building in these groups! I write and teach them songs to help them function more appropriately in everyday life. We talk about giving compliments to one another one week and another week we talk about ways to deal with stress (of course singing, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and ending with “I’ve Got A Feelin'” from The Black Eyed Peas). Our theme song for this semester focused on making good choices at work, at home, and with their peers.

The other site where I lead music therapy groups, is for lower functioning adults who participate in more of a day care environment. They have activities planned throughout the day, and music therapy is one which they attend. Many of these individuals are working on motor skills, grasp, eye gaze, identifying a sound source, or possibly interacting with others. It is amazing once the vibrotactile stimulation of the guitar gets to them and their atrophy subsides, they wiggle their toes, or their breathing changes. Individuals who are combative, anxious, and who usually can not maintain attention are engaged for the majority of our session.

That concludes part 2. I think it’s time for a cupcake.