Um...Thanks??

Last Friday, on my way into work, I spent lots of time imagining scenarios with co-workers and administrators. (In my defense, I am on some pretty heinous medications that are messing with my attitude, mood, and sleep cycles - almost not worth the purported cure...but I digress here...). I went to my job and found that some of those scenarios were not hypothetical. Ugh. I went through my morning routine. The day progressed. Two co-workers were not going to be available to assist in running the day's sessions. Bus room was cold, hectic, and frustrating. One co-worker snapped at me when I was trying to do my job. I was feeling frustrated, unappreciated, and invisible.

Then, I received an email that sent me over the edge. We have a traveling trophy that is really quite hideous. It moves from person to person in a monthly rotation. Folks add something to this "Prophy" before sending it on to the next person. I got it this month. The email that came with this dubious honor stated that it had been noticed that music reached the kids that were unreachable in other areas. I was complimented on my focus on our students who are on the severe end of their diagnostic spectra.

I cried.

Not so much because of the "Prophy," which now gets to stay in my office for the month of April, but because I all of a sudden realized that I wasn't invisible. I was visible. I remembered the value that music can have in the life of a person who has never been allowed to play. A person who has been told to be quiet his entire life. A person who has never been allowed to hit something as hard as she can. A person who finally hears a sound that illustrates an emotion or an idea.

Wow.

The power of music is such that people who do not respond to other stimuli respond to sounds and silence. "Music demands attention. The power of music is evident in a group. Music is time-ordered, reality-oriented, and an appropriate way to interact with others." (Anybody recognize Gaston and Sears here?? You should - totally took all of this from them!) It is nice to be heard!

Here is the "Prophy" in all it's glory. Do you know what EVERY SINGLE KID that has seen this has said?? "Why does that BRATZ doll have a beard?" There are no answers.

Cheers, all!

Gaston, E. T. (Ed.). (1968). Music in therapy. New York: Macmillan.

Sears, W. W. (1968). Processes in music therapy. In E. T. Gaston (Ed.), Music in therapy. New York: Macmillan.