Kathleen reflects on a variety of topics in her blog concerning music therapy, wellness, health care, community, and education. Her perspective as a music therapist, speech-language pathologist, professor, and cancer survivor with a deep appreciation of neuroscience bring unique life and value to her entries.
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“Can we value another human who has a different opinion than we do? Can we build bridges of peace within our own hearts, our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, states, and nations?”
“Anecdotally, parents and therapists have long reported a ‘magical’ response to music by children diagnosed on the spectrum… ‘many autistic children possess musical potential that can and should be developed.’”
“The evolution of our brains, in response to these environmental pressure, can be in the direction of grace, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, and letting go. We could equally choose the possibility of resentment, anger, regret, holding grudges, and defending our turf. What a mighty crossroad we appear to be at the age of this pandemic.”
“I would like to reimagine how cancer news can be given. It should be given with care, just like the medicine in order to get the best response from a patient.”
“Music training and experiences shielded him from the rapid rate of decline that one would expect with Alzheimer’s. Well into the mid-stages of the disease, he was musically functional. But he needed lots of support to be functional offstage.”
“It was long thought that music was a by-product of our evolutionary history. Some bit of a tag along to the magnificence of language and cognition. What neuroscience is now looking at is the essence of music in tuning the brain to perceive, identify and analyze sounds in preparation for learning language.”
“Music education often seems to be at risk of decreased funding or total elimination. The shortsightedness of this, in light of neuroscience findings in music research, astounds me. It is clearly a move in the wrong direction.”
“I found refuge in the benches around a dolphin pool. There was no show on so I was able to sit in relative solitude with the sun shining on my face. There I listened to my favorite sedative and relaxing music tracks.”
“There has recently been a tremendous amount of change in the field of music therapy. In the last 5-10 years, I have seen us reach what feels like a tipping point. This tipping point is where all of our advocacy, research and clinical work are making a difference in the media, in education, in medicine and with the general public.”
“In June of 2017, I was steeped in forums discussing the beauty and power of music. I was steeped in the possibility that music education and music therapy may finally be coming into its place in the word of medicine and education. I’ve always dreamed big but this was outstripping my best dreams.”