It takes more than physical exercise to maintain good health. Balance is the key to leading a healthy lifestyle.
Wellness is the dynamic process of becoming aware of, taking
responsibility for, and making choices that directly contribute to one's
well being and that of the common good. It is the integration of body,
mind and spirit and the ongoing development of one's own meaning in
life.
In this week's show, I'll tell you about the dimensions of wellness and how I use them in music therapy.
Listen LIVE at 12 noon Eastern/11 am Central/9 am Mountain/8 am Pacific or catch the podcast. You can also subscribe via iTunes.
Next week, September 30, I'm going to the Texas State Fair, so there won't be a show!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
September 16, 2011 - A Day's Work
This week, my guest is Raymond Day, from A Day's Work. The products presented on this website are the result of 24 years of
focused efforts to create musical instruments and aids for the music education classroom with strong emphasis on helping the physically and developmentally challenged through music therapy. They are equally applicable in special education, occupational therapy, and elder care. Special effort has been devoted to those who are confined to wheelchairs.
Listen LIVE at Noon Eastern/11 am Central/10 am Mountain/9 am Pacific or check out the archives after the show.
MVP 2009 Winner:
Vertical Hand Drum/Tambourine Attachment
A music instrument attachment – made available through A Day's Work Music Education – designed for patients with restricted mobility, allowing wheelchair-bound to participate in music therapy without assistance.
"Music therapists constantly seek out products that facilitate adaptation, so that they can maximize client possibilities during sessions. Across populations, mobility and motor issues may require instrumental modifications. Musical interaction can only occur if music play is accessible. Motor skills can only progress through music play if current motor skills can be accommodated.
The Vertical Hand Drum/Tambourine Attachment attaches to a wheelchair/table clamp (also available from A Day's Work). A frame drum or tambourine is held securely in place. One version of the attachment comes with a spring that can hold a mallet. The Vertical Hand Drum/Tambourine Attachment is meticulously made, highly durable, and capable of taking intense use. It is highly portable and manipulable. At the same time, can be easily immobilized when you want it to stay in place.”
Listen LIVE at Noon Eastern/11 am Central/10 am Mountain/9 am Pacific or check out the archives after the show.
Physical
challenges – we all have them! Everyone has that one spot on their back that is
hard to scratch. When an itch occurs, we ask a friend or spouse, “Will you
scratch my back? I have an itch I can’t reach,” as we pass an arm over the
opposite shoulder to point out where it itches. Then we say, “No! Just a little
to the right and a bit higher. Yes! That’s it!”
Of course, some physical challenges are uniquely our own. My wife is a water aerobics instructor and she loves choreographing exercises and leading them for her students. In our marriage this illustrates an incompatibility issue. As you can guess, my wife is very coordinated; I am not. Once she tried to instruct me to do an aquatic exercise. We got in the pool, and she said, “Move your legs like you are skiing.”
After a few minutes I kind of got the hang of it. Then she said, “Move your arms opposite the direction of your legs.” I tried it while mumbling to myself, “Left leg forward; left arm backward. Right leg forward; right arm backward.” I finally stopped because my arms and legs were flailing about directionless – only my brain was still working, doing its mumbling. “Why did you stop?” asked my wife. “Look,” I replied, “either legs or arms! You can’t have both.” I love and respect my wife’s coordination and teaching skills dearly, but there is no way I can do what she does.
Some people have physical challenges that vary on a continuum of somewhat extreme at one end to severely extreme at the other. Music therapists work with such people every day. Movements of all kinds vary by increasing degrees from what most of us take for granted. The challenges vary from one person to another but include fingers and hands, legs and feet, brain and body, arms, neck, lips, and more.
Of course, some physical challenges are uniquely our own. My wife is a water aerobics instructor and she loves choreographing exercises and leading them for her students. In our marriage this illustrates an incompatibility issue. As you can guess, my wife is very coordinated; I am not. Once she tried to instruct me to do an aquatic exercise. We got in the pool, and she said, “Move your legs like you are skiing.”
After a few minutes I kind of got the hang of it. Then she said, “Move your arms opposite the direction of your legs.” I tried it while mumbling to myself, “Left leg forward; left arm backward. Right leg forward; right arm backward.” I finally stopped because my arms and legs were flailing about directionless – only my brain was still working, doing its mumbling. “Why did you stop?” asked my wife. “Look,” I replied, “either legs or arms! You can’t have both.” I love and respect my wife’s coordination and teaching skills dearly, but there is no way I can do what she does.
Some people have physical challenges that vary on a continuum of somewhat extreme at one end to severely extreme at the other. Music therapists work with such people every day. Movements of all kinds vary by increasing degrees from what most of us take for granted. The challenges vary from one person to another but include fingers and hands, legs and feet, brain and body, arms, neck, lips, and more.
Regardless
of the impediment’s location, it is a challenge for an MT to bridge the gap
from physical difficulty to accomplished music-making and muscular improvement.
Yet, it is exhilarating when the individual on the continuum can say, “I
couldn’t, but now I can.” There is a gap between what is and what could be.
Bridging this gap is one of the most important actions for an MT. Yet it
results in a moment of another more positive extreme: i.e., extreme joy and
gratification.
Bridges in music therapy are called adaptive aids. Regarding those aids, the staff at Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., says:
We are always looking for maximum client benefit in our treatment plans. Good, quality adaptive equipment opens new doors for our clients and for the treatment plan by making music even more accessible. The field benefits anytime a broader client base is reached. Examples of clients who can benefit from adaptive equipment include: clients with any kind of physical limitation due to stroke, birth defect, orthopedic injury, or impairment; clients with weakness in grasp strength or low muscle tone; clients with tactile defensiveness who have difficulty holding objects; and physically typical clients, such as someone with autism who might be working on decision making, organization, and creativity.
Creating and Supplying Bridges
Into this gap steps a woodworker – a woodworker who is not only constrained by choreography, but also has a musical deficit. The woodworker’s wife says, “He can’t find a beat, and he walks in circles when he tries to dance like he has one foot nailed to the floor.” What could this woodworker and music therapists possibly have in common? It certainly isn’t music. The answer is “the gap.”
In 1987, I received my first invitation to enter the world of music. A young lady came to my door with metal rods in her hand. It was Judy Pine, who is now director of National General Music and vice president at West Music, based in Coralville, Iowa. Judy and her husband Lou were coming to our home for dinner, but she also had another idea in mind. She said, “Ray I want you to make chime trees for West Music.” I replied, “But Judy, I don’t know a thing about music.”
“You don’t have to,” said Judy. “I know you do good woodworking and I want those skills applied to products we are carrying in our new catalogue.” Nervously I agreed, and more than 12,000 chime trees later, they are still in the West Music catalogue, along with several other products that Judy and I devised along the way.
Bridges in music therapy are called adaptive aids. Regarding those aids, the staff at Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., says:
We are always looking for maximum client benefit in our treatment plans. Good, quality adaptive equipment opens new doors for our clients and for the treatment plan by making music even more accessible. The field benefits anytime a broader client base is reached. Examples of clients who can benefit from adaptive equipment include: clients with any kind of physical limitation due to stroke, birth defect, orthopedic injury, or impairment; clients with weakness in grasp strength or low muscle tone; clients with tactile defensiveness who have difficulty holding objects; and physically typical clients, such as someone with autism who might be working on decision making, organization, and creativity.
Creating and Supplying Bridges
Into this gap steps a woodworker – a woodworker who is not only constrained by choreography, but also has a musical deficit. The woodworker’s wife says, “He can’t find a beat, and he walks in circles when he tries to dance like he has one foot nailed to the floor.” What could this woodworker and music therapists possibly have in common? It certainly isn’t music. The answer is “the gap.”
In 1987, I received my first invitation to enter the world of music. A young lady came to my door with metal rods in her hand. It was Judy Pine, who is now director of National General Music and vice president at West Music, based in Coralville, Iowa. Judy and her husband Lou were coming to our home for dinner, but she also had another idea in mind. She said, “Ray I want you to make chime trees for West Music.” I replied, “But Judy, I don’t know a thing about music.”
“You don’t have to,” said Judy. “I know you do good woodworking and I want those skills applied to products we are carrying in our new catalogue.” Nervously I agreed, and more than 12,000 chime trees later, they are still in the West Music catalogue, along with several other products that Judy and I devised along the way.
MVP 2009 Winner:
Vertical Hand Drum/Tambourine Attachment
A music instrument attachment – made available through A Day's Work Music Education – designed for patients with restricted mobility, allowing wheelchair-bound to participate in music therapy without assistance.
"Music therapists constantly seek out products that facilitate adaptation, so that they can maximize client possibilities during sessions. Across populations, mobility and motor issues may require instrumental modifications. Musical interaction can only occur if music play is accessible. Motor skills can only progress through music play if current motor skills can be accommodated.
The Vertical Hand Drum/Tambourine Attachment attaches to a wheelchair/table clamp (also available from A Day's Work). A frame drum or tambourine is held securely in place. One version of the attachment comes with a spring that can hold a mallet. The Vertical Hand Drum/Tambourine Attachment is meticulously made, highly durable, and capable of taking intense use. It is highly portable and manipulable. At the same time, can be easily immobilized when you want it to stay in place.”
– Bill Matney, MA, MT-BC
Lewisville Independent School District
Adjunct Lecturer, Texas Woman's University
Lewisville Independent School District
Adjunct Lecturer, Texas Woman's University
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