Music therapy naturally allows individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism of all ages to develop necessary skills for integrating into the community and to maximize their quality of life through living, learning, work, and leisure. The speakers in this AMTA-Pro podcast describe three innovative music therapy programs providing unique opportunities for inclusion and meaningful community engagement for individuals with special needs. Dr. Ellary Draper talks about inclusive pop choirs formed in collaboration between high school choral directors and the University of Alabama Music Therapy Program. These choirs, designed specifically to include students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities alongside their typical peers, perform regularly in the community and serve as practicing sites for undergraduate music therapy and music education students. Our MT colleague Helen Dolas shares information about the Able ARTS Work, founded in 1982, which provides education and life-skills coaching to children, adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities. Professionals use pioneering, evidence-based therapeutic techniques tailored to meet individual needs and goals of participants at the Creative Health and Wellness Clinic and the Mobile Arts program of Able ARTS Work. Music therapist Grant Hales describes his unique ArtBeat Radio program, a potpourri of short podcasts featuring the thoughts, music, and creativity of adults with disabilities and musicians in the greater LA area. The goal of ArtBeat Radio is to explore the myriad ways in which the resident artists of Able ARTS Work can make their unique voices heard by engaging the ever-expanding virtual world.


MT in the Community

AMTA-Pro Podcast May, 2018

Ellary Draper, PhD, MT-BC; Helen Dolas, MS, MT-BC; Grant Hales, MT-BC

Music therapy naturally allows individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism of all ages to develop necessary skills for integrating into the community and to maximize their quality of life through living, learning, work, and leisure. The speakers in this AMTA-Pro podcast describe three established and successful music therapy programs which provide unique opportunities for inclusion and meaningful community engagement for individuals with special needs.

Inclusive Pop Choirs. Dr. Ellary Draper talks about the Patriot Choir and the Wildcat Choir, inclusive pop choirs  formed in collaboration between high school choral directors and the University of Alabama Music Therapy Program. These choirs, in their second and third years respectively at two high schools in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, are designed specifically to include students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities alongside their typical peers, providing a time for students who would otherwise not come in contact to develop friendships and collaborate in making music together. The choirs perform regularly in the community and serve as practicing sites for undergraduate music therapy and music education students.

Able ARTS Work. Helen Dolas shares information about the Able ARTS Work which she founded in 1982. The goal at Able ARTS Work is to encourage over 3,000 students to reach for personal growth through artistic expression, knowing that they are appreciated and valued, and that they have something unique to contribute to the community. Able ARTS Work and its professional staff focus on facilitating and guiding that exploration using pioneering, evidence-based therapeutic techniques tailored to meet individual needs and goals of participants. Helen describes some of the services provided through the Creative Health and Wellness Clinic and the Mobile Arts program of Able ARTS Work. www.ableartswork.org

For example, the Social Group at the Creative Health and Wellness Clinic offers children and youth with autism and other disabilities opportunities to practice social skills through individual or group music sessions with their peers and family members. Participants enjoy music, art and drama in the weekly classes, and they particularly have fun learning special musical activities to share at home.

The Mobile Arts Program provides in-home creative arts therapies for individuals unable to attend the day program at the Creative Health and Wellness Clinic but are seeking quality of life and therapeutic services. The Mobile Arts Program offers services in music, art, and drama therapy or creative arts instruction. Sessions are tailored to meet the specific needs and goals of each individual. Services include therapeutic assessment, evaluation and skills development.

ArtBeat Radio. Music therapist Grant Hales describes ArtBeat Radio, a community music project experimenting in social media and broadcasting to create an inclusive platform for artists at Able ARTS Work to engage with other musicians in the LA area (and potentially the world). Working together, the artist-comprised staff of ArtBeat Radio brainstorm different multimedia experiences, each of which explore a different topic. The goal of ArtBeat Radio is to explore the myriad ways in which the resident artists of Able ARTS Work can make their unique voices heard by engaging the ever-expanding virtual world. ArtBeat Radio is a potpourri of short podcasts  produced and distributed by the artists of Able ARTS Work in the greater Los Angeles area.

More information here: www.ableartswork.org

ABR Event Handout 2018 CHWCFlyer_Summer Clinical Programs Brochure 2017

CHWCFlyer_Summer

Clinical Programs Brochure 2017

References

Hintz, M. R. (Ed.). (2013). Guidelines for music therapy practice in developmental health. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona.

Jellison, J. A. (2015). Including everyone: Creating music classrooms where all children learn. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Maslow, A. (1999). Toward a psychology of being (3rd ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Polen, D. W. (2013). Severe to profound intellectual and developmental disabilities. In M. R. Hintz (Ed.), Guidelines for music therapy practice in developmental health (pp.335-370). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona.

Polen, D. W., Shultis, C. L. & Wheeler, B. L. (2017). Clinical training guide for the student music therapist, 2nd Edition. Dallas, TX: Barcelona.

Soshensky, R. (2011). Everybody is a star: Recording, performing, and community music therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 29(1), 23-30. doi: 10.1093/mtp/29.1.23

Stige, B., Ansdell, G., Elefant, C., & Pavlicevic, M. (2010). Where music helps: Community Music Therapy in action and reflection. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.

About the Speakers

Ellary Draper, PhD, MT-BC, is Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at The University of Alabama. She holds degrees in music education from Westminster Choir College (BM), music therapy from Florida State University (MM), and music and human learning from The University of Texas at Austin (PhD). Prior to attending The University of Texas, Dr. Draper worked as a music therapist with a variety of ages and populations outside of Houston. She also has experience as an elementary general music teacher. Dr. Draper’s research interests are in the areas of children with disabilities, particularly in inclusive music classrooms. Currently, Ellen serves as the Chair of Special Education for the Alabama Music Educators Association and Chair for the Standards of Clinical Practice Committee for the American Music Therapy Association. A regular presenter at national and regional music therapy and music education conferences, her research is also published in the Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education, General Music Today, and Ala Breve.

Helen Dolas, MS, MT-BC is a pioneer in the therapeutic application of creative arts for individuals with disabilities, and the Founder/CEO of Arts &Services for Disabled, Inc. (now known as Access ARTS Work, in Long Beach, California, which she established in 1982 while completing a Masters degree in Special Education. The ASDA musician by training and a board-certified music therapist, Dolas adopted a personal mission to direct her considerable energy and creative attention to changing the therapeutic experience and quality of life offered to adults living with disabilities. Driven by Dolas’ life-affirming “Love Before Learning” philosophy, the nonprofit Access ARTS Work today serves more than 3,000 people annually through a variety of services including enrolled day programs, outreach programs, gallery shows and exhibitions, micro-enterprise initiatives and community partnerships. Helen has been the Clinical Training Director of her AMTA-approved music therapy internship program since 1984, and is currently on the music therapy faculty at California State University, Northridge. Previously, as an adjunct professor at Chapman University, she established several new music therapy clinical training sites, including at a private school for youth with autism, at a center that serves traumatized at-risk youth, and at UC Irvine Medical Center’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ms. Dolas also recently co-founded the International Foundation for the Healing Arts to promote the development of music therapy services and has traveled widely as a sought-after speaker and panelist, including participating as one of 15 U.S. delegates invited by Her Highness Sheikah Mozah of Doha, Qatar, to participate in the Third Annual International Forum of Children with Special Needs. She has received numerous awards including a National Model Program Award presented to her at the U.S Senate. Today, Ms. Dolas continues to expand the reach and prominence of creative arts therapies, recently launching the Creative Health & Wellness Clinic for children with autism, and a Mobile Arts Program to bring therapy sessions to homebound adults with disabilities.

Grant Hales, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist at Able ARTS Work’s Therapeutic Arts Program (TAP II) in Gardena, CA. He provides clinical services in Creative Health and Wellness Clinic (CHWC) and serves as a music therapy internship supervisor. Grant directs and facilitates ArtBeat Radio, a community project in music and experiment in social media and broadcasting to create an inclusive platform for artists at Able ARTS Work to engage with others in an original podcast and/or video.