That’s the emoticon version of a heart, in case you were wondering. Valentine’s Day is a week away, so this is the perfect time to talk about what a great pair speech therapy and music therapy make.
I love collaborating with the speech therapist at my school, so much so that I recently gave a presentation about music therapy for communication goals to her speech and language pathology association. The children with whom we work respond to music above everything else, so incorporating music into speech interventions makes them even more effective.
This month, speech and language goals for our students are centered around the theme of friendship, and target words include I, you, friend, heart, and the colors pink, red, and white. Our speech therapist put together some simple song ideas, and my job was the add the music.
I am your friend,
You are my friend,
We are all friends together.
Everywhere we go,
At work and at play,
We are all friends together.
I’m going to the store to buy candy hearts,
To buy candy hearts,
To buy candy hearts.
I’m going to the store to buy candy hearts,
To give to my friend on Valentine’s Day.
Some of the hearts are pink or red or white,
Pink or red or white,
Pink or red or white.
Some of the hearts are pink or red or white,
All for my friend on Valentine’s Day.
Both the speech therapist and I include these songs in our sessions so that the students are exposed to these concepts frequently throughout the month. Collaboration is key in the classroom setting…plus I love being part of a team. How do you collaborate with other professionals to enhance students’ progress?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Rachel! Just wanted to share that I love your site and have been learning so much about music therapy and the power of blogging. I am an occupational therapist that works at a therapeutic school and I also have a small private practice. I wish I had a music therapist to collaborate with at work – I think it could be great collaboration. Right now I work with a great team of speech therapists, social workers, behavioral consultants, art therapist, and teachers.
Hi Theresa! Thanks so much for the kind words – I’m really glad to hear that you are finding the site useful. It sounds like we have a lot in common :) I’ll cross my fingers that a music therapist joins your team in the near future!
Thank you for this post, Rachel! I’ve been seeing/learning first-hand the benefits of music therapy to increase verbal communication. I’m working with a client who is non-verbal, but she vocalizes. She often says ‘huh’ and ‘luh’, so we are working learning how to say and sing ‘hello’!
Unfortunately, there is not a speech therapist on staff at the center, but I’m learning a great deal as I go! Praise the Lord for internet research. :)