"If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism."

This Autism Speaks film delves into just how unique every individual with autism spectrum

disorders (ASD) is. There is a saying among the autism community, "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." This film resonates that message. 

For more information on this story, visit Autism Speaks at

https://www.autismspeaks.org/news/news-item/video-inside-autism-spectrum

Jessica Daisi

Cognitive Distortions

Taking inventory, recognizing, and monitoring thought patterns can help to shed light on where one's self destructive behaviors originate.  Once these thought patterns are identified, we may then begin to take control of our thoughts (redirecting negative thought patterns, talking your own self up rather than down, developing goal oriented endeavors, etc).  

Below is a list of Cognitive Distortions and examples.  Identifying one's own type of thought distortions is the first step in developing a more healthy mindset, increasing self esteem and positive self image, and unfolding the hope in moving forward into better and more rewarding thought processes and quality of life.  

Look for patterns in your own thought habits, including specific reoccurring thoughts.

Cognitive Distortions
Cognitive distortions are irrational thoughts that can influence our emotions.
Everyone experiences cognitive distortions to some degree, but in their more
extreme forms they can be maladaptive

Magnification and Minimization:
Exaggerating or minimizing the importance of
events. One might believe their own achievements are unimportant, or that their
mistakes are excessively important.

Catastrophizing:
Seeing only the worst possible outcomes of a situation.

Overgeneralization:
Making broad interpretations from a single or few events. “I
felt awkward during my first job interview. I am always so awkward.”

Magical thinking: 
The belief that acts will influence unrelated situations. “I am a
good person—Bad things shouldn’t happen to me.”

Personalization:
The belief that one is responsible for events outside of their
own control. “My mother is always upset. It must be because I have not done
enough to help her.”

Jumping to conclusions:
Interpreting the meaning of a situation with little or no
evidence.

Mind reading: 
Interpreting the thoughts and beliefs of others without
adequate evidence. “She would not go on a date with me. She must think I
am ugly.”

Fortune telling: 
The expectation that a situation will turn out badly without
adequate evidence.

Emotional reasoning: 
The assumption that emotions reflect the way things
really are. “I feel like a bad friend, therefore I must be a bad friend.”

Disqualifying the positive:
Recognizing only negative aspects of a situation
while ignoring the positive. One might receive many compliments on an
evaluation but focus on the single piece of negative feedback.

Should statements: 
The belief that things should be a certain way. “I should
always be friendly.”

All-or-nothing thinking:
Thinking in absolutes such as “always”, “never”, or
“every”. “I never do a good job on my work.”

- Jessica Daisi

"Sing About It", by The Wood Brothers

Ah! I love it! Thought I would share this lovely thing with you all ... 

"Sing About It", by The Wood Brothers

I've added it to my favorites.  Enjoy!

Jessica Daisi

My NEW Webpage!!!

Hey Everyone ...

I have a new business webpage! Please visit http://www.jgmusictherapy.weebly.com
There is great information on everything from Music Therapy with specific diagnoses/needs - The effect of music on the brain and body - info on myself and my Music Therapy practice - and more!

Enjoy and feel free to contact me with questions, comments, and inquiries.

Check it out!

Jessica Daisi

Carly's Cafe - Experience Autism Though Carly's Eyes

This experience is viewed through the eyes of Carly Fleischmann, a 17 year old girl living with non-verbal Autism.
Based on an excerpt from the book Carly's Voice: Breaking through Autism, it explores how, for someone with autism, a simple act like going for a coffee can descend into chaos.
Carly's Café was developed as an interactive video that allows the user to experience Autism from the inside-out, visit carlyscafe.com to enjoy the full experience.

What Playing a Musical Instrument Does To Your Brain

Fun New Resource!

Hello All!

I wanted to share with you a great resource! I'm excited to say that not only is this a great book, but it's a great book that a friend of mine wrote! It reminds me of the same sentiment that some of my other favorite popular children's books share, but offers it in it's own fun, whimsical,unique way.  I'm excited for this new addition to my book collection!

This is a book about a boy who wishes he was a duck.  The book takes you through his fun and love of this as well as the understanding that not everyone is going to understand or embrace your interests and quirks initially.  As is often the case with some of our interests/passions/loves, not everyone shares the same.

I think every parent faces this with his/her child, trying to teach our children what makes them unique.  We try to teach our children how to recognize and embrace his/her own unique gifts, personality, interests, and abilities.  Just as important, we lead them into not abandoning these when others don't understand.

I love and will be implementing this book for purposes even beyond this.  I especially like the idea of this book when working with my clients who have special needs.

Enjoy! 

Jessica

Life Skills

Life skills for our kiddos should always be of great importance in order to really prepare them for things that applicable to their own needs and daily functioning.  Below is a good resource for understanding the importance and the ins and outs of LIFE SKILLS for individuals with special needs.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Life_Skills_Mastery/?page=2

Special Education Life Skills

Educational Resource Information Center (U.S. Department of Education)

"Life skills are essential to job functioning, and they must be included in instruction for students with special needs. Several million individuals with learning problems are still denied the opportunity to engage in meaningful employment in the United States. Large numbers of students with disabilities, both high school graduates and dropouts, earn very low salaries (Edgar, 1988). These students do possess the potential to live and work in the community if they receive appropriate life skills instruction (Rusch & Phelps, 1987). However, without this instruction they often fail to hold their jobs. A life skills curriculum approach blends academic, daily living, personal/social, and occupational skills into integrated lessons designed to help students learn to function independently in society."

19th Annual CCC Golf Tournament

Hello Everyone! 

It's time for the CCC annual Golf Tournament again! This is an AMAZING charity.  They help our local kids tremendously! So, go out and support this uber worthy cause while doing something you already love. 

For more information, visit the CCC website at http://www.carolinachildren.org


Have fun!
Jessica

Caden and Conner (Good One) - 2012 Sports Illustrated Kids Winner

Helping kids deal with anxiety ... a great resource!

 http://astore.amazon.com/musithermome-20/detail/1591473144

Hello! Just wanted to share with you one of my favorite resources.  I LOVE THIS BOOK! I've used it a good bit in therapy, in various ways, with applicable clients.  It has been such a great little asset to intervention.

Also, I have one client who has a particular interest and fascination with this book, even though I had never actually used it with her in session.  After I noticed that she was constantly requesting the book over the course of 2 consecutive sessions, I realized that, although she seems to not appear anxious and such, there may be something to this.  So, I followed her lead, and implemented the book into session.  Once I did this, I realized she needed it.  This book happened to be the vehicle to let me know that she was having some stress related issues (although she often appears to be a happy-go-lucky little girl).

Anyhow ... great book!

Jessica

Here's A Little Pumpkin

                                                                                                Happy Fall!                                                                                    Here is a little Fall activity that is very simple and can be implemented at home on your own ...

Orange and Round

Sung to :  I'm a Little Teapot

C

Here's a little pumpkin,

F                   C

Orange and round,

G7                    C

Here's a little pumpkin,

G7       C

That I found.

When I get him cleaned up

F       C

I will say,

"Here's a little pumpkin

For my holiday."

-Jean Warren

The above song and signs are from one of my favorite little activity resources, Piggyback Songs to Sign.  I have mentioned this little book before, and I also have it included in my aStore in the left hand column of this blog.  This is a great little activity that can accomplish a lot.  Here are some goal areas for which this activity would be useful:

• 
  
  Teach/reinforce cognitive concepts (holiday themes, colors, shapes, etc.)
  
  
• 
  
  Increase communication skill (facilitate nonverbal communication, teach ASL)
  
  
• 
  
  Increase visual attention
  
  
• 
  
  Improve auditory attention (listening for certain auditory cue to perform task/ASL signing)
  
  
• 
  
  Improve hand/eye coordination
  
  
• 
  
  Facilitate midline/cross lateral work
  
  
• 
  
  Increase range of motion/quality of movement
  
  

You may find other great uses not represented here as well or you may enjoy building from this activity.  Ideas welcome!

Have fun and happy fall,

Jessica

Fishing Tournament Charity Event

http://www.facebook.com/events/410535069006763/

Carolina Children's Charity Event

8th Annual Denny Ford Memorial Fishing Tournamen

Saturday, October 6, 2012

• The Island Sportsman's Club 8th Annual Denny Ford Memorial Fishing Tournament, proceeds to benefit Carolina Children's Charity. $35 per angler, $15 per youth anglar (15 and younger) Registration Party October 4th 5:30-7:30 @ the james island Yacht Club Weigh-in October 6th 4-5:30 @ the James Island Yacht Club Species: Trout, Flounder, Sheepshead, Redfish and King Mackerel. Food, Drink and a raffle will be provided at the registration party All Rules of the SCDNR apply $5,000.00 in cash prizes plus Calcutta Trout, Flounder, Sheepshead, Redfish Prizes: 1st $300 cash and plaque 2nd $200 3rd $100 $100 cash for outstanding angler (male, female, youth) $100 cash for legal Redfish with the most spots $250 cash for aggregate trout, flounder, sheepshead and redfish Kingfish Division: 1st place $1,000.00 cash 2nd place $500 cash 3rd place $250 cash $200 early registration drawing--return your registration form postmarked by Sept. 13 to be entered. Must be present at registration party to win. Sponsored by Mevers Kitchen and Bath Design Studio www.carolinachildren.org and click on events tab for registration forms For more information please contact Parker Ford 478-8289 or Chris Mevers 200-0315

Fun Charity Event tomorrow!

Sounds like great fun, and is for a great cause!

Multiple Intelligences

I've always been a fan of the theory and practice of Multiple Intelligence.  Intelligence, talent, and ability should be valued, measured, and acknowledged with the understanding that 'smart' is more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic.  It's also important to understand how we all learn, what drives us, and where our interests/passions/abilities lie.  Big fan! 
Jessica

music makes things make sense

A great moment in Music Therapy today brought a reminder even to me of yet another way in which music making and music as intervention can help teach everyday skills so important to development, interaction, and engagement in one's environment.  Simply, music can make things make sense.

Today I was in session with a client who has a natural love and understanding of music.  He is on the Autism spectrum, and is high functioning.  His understanding of music is something that is his own.  It's a beautiful thing, really.  It is one of his lights :)

Something, also, to keep in mind here is that for him, it can be something that further keeps him in his own little world or it can be an amazing bridge to many other things.  Music is naturally the motivator for him, but if we can try to also make it the language that makes the world make a little more sense, the tool that makes life goals more accessible, and the door that opens to other areas where he wouldn't otherwise naturally open himself to ... well, that's the broad idea for him. 

Today, he was (quite brilliantly) making up songs on a professional keyboard I have.  He was also very interested in my melodica, making up tunes and such on that as well.  I had a 12 string guitar in the studio this week.  He showed some interest in this as well as it was something he hadn't seen before. 

I began playing a chord progression (very upbeat as I knew he would be interested in) on the 12 string.  My goal was to engage him in music making with his instrument and mine as well.  This concept has natural ties to social awareness, cooperation, acceptance of other's ideas and input, and social interaction. 

Initially, he was not at all interested in making our instruments work together.  He wanted to play his own and then me play my own.  This can relate to life concepts of parallel play verses interactive play.  Little by little (and I won't necessarily get into specific methods here as it would be lengthy), he began tuning into what I was playing without taking my playing as an interference or assault to his own ideas and independence.  The moment when he finally hit a sequence of notes that went with the key/chord progression I was playing, was pretty amazing.  He looked up at me very excitedly, and then looked down at the keyboard (now fully engaged), and came up with a sort of base line on the key board to what I was playing on the 12 string.  In that moment ... in that musical moment ... he understood concepts of interactive play, social awareness, social cooperation and acceptance. 

And then we had a little jam session.  He seemed on cloud 9, but even more, he seemed in his element and almost liberated. 

Music is so cool.  Really.

Regarding the baby birds nesting in the  

heart shaped container on my door ... 

one of my 'lil clients says,

 "they picked a good place to live". 

 Just when I started to have the thought that it actually was not a good spot because of its location and precariousness, my clients adds, 

"they picked your heart to live in." ♥ 

Charleston Ice helps Carolina Children's Charity

 

http://www.carolinachildren.org

Hey Everyone! Beat the summer heat while helping local kids! 

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day help us celebrate:

The determined mom who pushes doctors to find treatments for cancer and rare childhood diseases.

The dedicated mom who fights for life-saving cures despite the loss of her own child.

The devoted mom who gives her gifts, time, talents and voice to champion our cause.

Make a gift in honor of your mom      

to deliver hope to a child with cancer          

and the mother by his/her side.



            

Send an e-card to your mom                          

to celebrate Mother's Day.    



AC/DC Singer Brian Johnson @ Music Therapy Room Ribbon Cutting

YES !!! Love, love, love this!!!
Enjoy,
Jessica

AC/DC Singer Brian Johnson @ Music Therapy Room Ribbon Cutting w/ ABC News Holes and Hearts