Thursday, November 14, 2013

Drumming is Universal (A Personal Photo Stream)

A suggestion for Congress...

I'm sitting in my brother's Hollywood apartment—a city bursting with diversity.

It's often easy to pay more attention to the differences between us.

Drumming helps me recognize the similarities.

When we connect through making music, we are connecting through our humanity.


Senior Home in Baltimore County
Community festival in South Baltimore

I shared a Beatwell Playshop a couple mornings ago with two very diverse populations:

16 seniors and 16 kindergarteners.

The seniors became kids again.

For this week's post, I want to share pictures from my drumming journey showing that music-making is truly universal. Enjoy!


Preschoolers in West Baltimore
HealthRHYTHMS training in Ft. Lauderdale
Adult Mental Health Program
Drum Festival in Greenbelt, MD


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Autism Residency and E-Book Announcement!


I took this picture minutes before my 18th and final Beatwell Playshop at The Auburn School in Lutherville, MD.

For nine weeks, I created and shared two weekly programs for the 26 students—one for elementary and one for the middle schoolers.

Although an Autism Spectrum diagnosis is not necessary for admittance, most of the students would meet criteria and be considered "high functioning."

This residency has been a creative high-point in my career. I have already been contacted by similar schools for consultation services!

I'm excited to announce that I plan to summarize this residency in an e-book that I will put up for free download. I will share tips for lesson planning and facilitating for this unique population. I will also go into detail about each of the nine programs and offer suggestions to help therapists and educators integrate the lessons and activities into their own work.