American Music Therapy Association

Learn about and practice strategies that target social skills. This interactive workshop will present 6 techniques that have been effective with our rock bands and jam session models. Participants will be given the opportunity to practice these techniques as well as view examples of how to build effective relationships with musicians (like Jason Mraz) and the community.

Objectives:

• Objective #1: Participants will learn about 1 standardized assessment (SRS-2) and 1 researcher created assessment tool (Rockstar Reports) that obtain client information regarding social skills. (CBMT I.B.2) (CBMT I.B.4.j.) (CBMT I.B.5) (CBMT I.B.8)
• Objective #2: Participants will learn how to design and implement 6 music therapy interventions related to cognitive and social skills for adolescents and adults with autism and other special needs. (CBMT II.A.2.q, r, s, ag, ai, aq, av)
• Objective #3: Participants will be able to identify 3 trends in research literature (music therapy and related disciplines) for adolescent and youth with special needs. (CBMT IV.A.2)
• Objective #4: Participants will learn techniques for training volunteers as mentors to provide social skill modeling to use in individual and group settings. (CBMT IV.B.8 and 11)

Schedule:

• 1:30-2:30 We’ve Only Just Begun: Overview of research and assessments for social skills (includes 45 minutes of presentation material and 15 minutes of break out group exercises/discussion)
• 2:30-3:20 Technique 1: Don’t Stand So Close To Me: Teaching social skills through a 10-step learning hierarchy (30 minute presentation material and 20 minutes of break out group exercises/discussion)
• 3:20-3:40 Break
• 3:40-5:00 Techniques 2-3: I Write the Songs: Prescriptive and Collaborative Songwriting Techniques (includes 60 minutes of presentation material and 30 minutes of break out group exercises/discussion)
• 5:00-5:20 Break
• 5:20-6:30: Techniques 4-6: I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band): The use of role-play, video modeling and volunteer mentors (includes 45 minutes of presentation material and 25 minutes of break out group exercises/discussion)