TME Tuesday: Sound Awareness - Thinking and Teaching my Clients About Sound

This week is sound awareness week in my music therapy groups. We are using a couple of devices and a website to start our journey into sound and how sounds affect us as humans. I have a couple of movement-activated devices called Musini - this is a device from Neurosmith that is no longer made. I buy them when I find them because my clients enjoy the cause and effect of this particular toy.  I have two that are fun to play with. In addition, we are using the website, https://bouncyballs.org/, as an auditory reaction to sounds. With this website, you can set several different things to respond to ambient sounds. You have to have a microphone, but I have found that I can hook things up to my Promethean board through my clinic laptop with a slight delay in the response. This seems to work pretty well with my clients who also experience some delays in responses.

Well, we are using these two things to explore the relationships between sound and response and movement and sound. I love introducing things like this to my clients. They explore and play and respond in many different ways. It is a privilege to watch them learn how to interact with the world in ways that I have never considered.

The first three groups of the week seemed to enjoy the TMEs presented yesterday. I am hoping that the next four groups of the week will also enjoy these TMEs. After today, I will have only three additional groups that will go through these TMEs. In addition to these TMEs, we are also doing a songwriting TME and using the body band to increase social awareness. The last group made up a game and engaged in some cooperative game play directed by me but carried out by the group. I think I will formalize that into a full TME with some directions that can be chosen rather than dictated - some of my students are less likely to complete directions if they are given by an adult, but will do so happily when it is chosen from a hat. I can make a list of directives for a digital visual aid and then offer it on Teachers Pay Teachers. Where is my Ideas book?? Oh, right - it's upstairs... post-it to the rescue!!

I am getting myself ready to head out the door. This is a five and a half day week (44 hours) but Wednesday is a progress note prep night and I do not have any notes to write, so I am going to spend my extra time at work organizing my visual aids before heading out early to my church job where I have to sing during the Angel Remembrance service - I am hoping that I do not completely break down during the service. I do not do well with grief, and music is difficult for me when I am emotionally involved. I am praying for calm and a clear voice on Wednesday evening so I can support others who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. If I could disconnect my emotional responses, I would be good, but I am not sure how much I can stuff things down... So, I will do my best.

I have limited time for ideas today during work. This is one of my busiest days for groups - we are currently down two entire classes due to staffing shortages which are affecting how many clients we can serve, so I have one less group than I usually do on Tuesdays. I will do my Monday documentation when I arrive and then I will write down ideas about some of the visual aids that I bought on Teachers Pay Teachers - ways to use these visuals to support therapeutic music experiences. I have to figure out how to use them - my six things rule is in effect here. Before that, though, I have to shower and load boxes into the back of my car so I can go to the apartment and pack after school. I hope to have some of the loose stuff packed up before the movers come to pack on Saturday. They charge by the box filled, so I am trying to decrease my cost a bit through my own work. So, I have some empty boxes here that I can refill and get ready to go!

Anyway, time to go explore sound and how it works...