the rise of STRONG, CONNECTED and LIFE-CHANGING women...

Well what an amazing musical journey I've been on today!

My mission was to find some good, strong, self-efficacy building song lyrics for young women - songs that would help them in their adventures of 'unconditional self-love' - one of every woman's greatest obstacles. Songs that, in enhancing their sense of self, would help women really believe that they can make a difference in their own lives. What I discovered was that it is almost impossible to find songs of this nature that don't focus on body image! I am beautiful, you are beautiful, looks don't matter, beauty is on the inside - blah, blah, blah!

Isn't it time we saw female self-worth as a concept that doesn't need to be addressed through beauty?

The endless number of pop singers singing about women who 'Are Already Beautiful' was too much to bear and just when my search seemed futile and I was about to abort mission I came across Mick Thomas' Vandemonian Lag project. And what I found was pure gold!

REAL STORIES about convict women who were transported for crimes of prostitution, for murder, for theft - women who were brought to Tasmania, who were thrust into a life of poverty, as criminals and who REGAINED THEIR LIVES AS STRONG CONNECTED WOMEN! Can you believe it?!



Now this is what I call motivational - I can not tell you how many young women I've worked with who are involved in crime, living in poverty, victims of consequence and part of a vicious cycle of low sense of self. It takes ridiculous amounts of belief in yourself to even imagine successfully breaking this cycle - and that is something these women don't usually have.

So, for you girls, HERE IS A POSITIVE MESSAGE!

Here are girls who've done it before. As Professor Lucy Frost says these women were tried for being disconnected themselves and here they are, against all odds, keeping their families together, giving them a sense of connectedness and developing their emotional stability.

It is SO possible! And THIS is the message I want young women to hear :)


Jane Gilligan - On The Town. Jane Gilligan was tried and convicted for prostitution, or as was documented, being 'on the town'.


Ann Myers. Annette Myers was convicted of shooting her husband in the head. A public campaign saw her death sentence altered to transportation after it was found he abused her.



Sex Hospital. Portrays the story of one of Tasmania's biggest sex scandals of the day.

Oh the joys of baby sign language

My 19 month old daughter knows two languages - English and Sign. 

She has no hearing impairment or sensory delays of any kind (well ok, she has a cataract, but for the point of the story she's in A1 sensory condition)! She doesn't appear to show any symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, of developmental difficulties or speech impediments - but she does sign anyway!

I first found out about baby sign as a student music therapist at Ipswich Special School, Qld. I was amazed at how so many children with so many varied set of symptoms and characteristics were all able to communicate through this one beautiful channel! Since then I've tried to use sign with all the 0-4's I've had the pleasure of making music with. 

I've always thought "they probably don't even realise I'm doing anything" - a shake of the thumb as I say we're 'finished' with the instruments, a tap to the chin when I thank them and a policeman's hand up when we 'stop' - nothing that really stands out. But that was until I started using sign with my Maple - and then I realised that EVERY SINGLE HAND GESTURE THAT GOES WITH A WORD IS BEING PROCESSED!! Even after all those years of using sign I was astounded when I realised just how powerful a communication tool it actually is. 

It all started when, at 12 months, I decided to see if I could work out if Maple was actually 'finished' with her milk or if she was just playing that 'on/off/on/off game' with me. I asked "Maple are you finished?" and shook my thumb from side to side as I said it. Nothing. But at the VERY NEXT FEED - she looked up after 10 minutes, shook her thumb from side to side and moved away. From that day on 'finished' has been her keyword - she will tell me when she's finished with her milk, finished in the bath, finished her food, her book, her cuddle, even (yes I'm guilty of it) my ipad - she'll actually give it back after 5 minutes and tell me she's 'finished'. It's a beautiful thing to watch a toddler using signs in context and demonstrating total comprehension of what the words actually mean before they can speak them.

Makaton is the sign program I was first introduced to and is what I generally base my sign style on. Makaton is a language program which uses signs, words and symbols to encourage language development in those with communication difficulties. The program is divided into stages with the initial stages incorporating the most basic and common words such as Mummy, Daddy, bed, drink, food, toilet, please, thankyou etc... and the subsequent stages introducing more complex concepts and phrases. The signs are derived from AUSLAN (in Australia that is) as this is the cultural language of our deaf community. The word is always spoken when the sign is used and the pictorial symbols are helpful when working with children with more complicated communication delays.

I don't use symbols and I only really use signs from the first couple of stages of the program - these seem to give us enough of a basis in the language to be able to sign our general day-to-day needs. We also make up our own signs - funny ones that pertain to our own 'family language' and Maple has adapted some of the ones we've shown her which we've then taken on.

Sign language encourages eye contact, physical contact, non-verbal expression, verbal expression, fine and gross motor skills, positive neural development, cognitive involvement, social interaction and inclusion, facial expression and much, much more.

I love the idea that even though I only speak English I still have a second language - I love the idea that one day Maple might be able to communicate with children who a lot of other children can't communicate with and I love the idea that when I use signs at work other children, parents and educators are, often unbeknownst to them, processing a new language.

And I totally love it when Maple signs 'I love you Mummy'  - ahhh... melts the heart :)

My baby sign language workshop is available as a skype session for only $80 so contact me today!

OR

http://ohmymusicalgoodness.blogspot.com.au/p/upcoming-sessions.html
Come to one of my baby sign workshops and learn so much more!

OR...

http://www.babysignandlearn.com.au/
These folks have some great resources to help you get started on your sign journey

https://www.facebook.com/BabySignAndLearn
You can also find them on facey of course!

Dying To Know...

Death is somewhat like a disco ball - it has SO many sides...

When i was 6 my best friend died of Leukemia. I clearly remember the following day at school when our teacher told us all that if we needed a little cry during the day that it was OK, she was crying when she told us. I clearly remember thinking "Huh? Why would we feel like crying?"

A couple of years ago a teenager I'd been working with died unexpectedly and tragically. People kept telling us "It's OK to cry".  I was devastated and even now his death fills me with emotion and grief - though I barely knew him!

When I was a student music therapist a woman I was working with throughout her palliative journey in aged care died while I was playing the guitar to her - she had just told me that when she dies she'd become an angel and watch over me and my babies. The staff at the nursing home told me "it was OK to cry" - and I did - though I felt happy!

August 8th is the inaugural Dying to Know Day, a fabulous concept! A day dedicated to encouraging us to talk about death - to ask questions, share our plans, fears, discuss grief and bereavement, try and work it all out and most importantly support each other. Death comes to all of us multiple times throughout our lives and can affect us differently and profoundly every single time.

OF COURSE it's something we need to talk about more - why didn't we think of this before!??

It's time the topic of death became less taboo and more dinner table - lets make the 'death talk' something that people feel they can ask for without it being awkward.

You never know how much healing and peace may come from a conversation like this.

http://thegroundswellproject.com/dying-to-know-day/

The Language of Music...

A few things got me thinking about the language of music... it started with realising that Maple was starting to have minor tantrums, which got me thinking about how frustrating it must be to not be able to communicate when you know what you want to say but just don't know the words, which got me thinking about her actual 18 month old vocabulary (isn't it cute!!), which ultimately brought me to a memory of something my Dad wrote in my 18th birthday card - 

"The Language of music transcends all barriers".

No matter whether you're an 18 month old with limited vocab, an immigrant with little English skills, an elderly person with dementia, a really, really drunk person or someone who just doesn't really get literacy....

EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD CAN UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC!!

Not only that but we can communicate and express ourselves through the language of music also - 

it's a language that knows no barriers!! 

Sure we all have our personal likes and dislikes - I love folk and can't stand pop, love classical, hate death metal etc. but whatever our personal choice may be we ALL understand the language of music! Music does not discriminate against race, age, culture, ability or identity.

So the moral of this story is lets listen to more music! Especially with our friends and family who don't quite work on the same communicate scale as us!!

Unless we are discussing apples, bubbles and daddy Maple isn't really an equal part of our conversation but when we are listening to music together we are ALL equals with our language skills and that must be an absolutely lovely feeling for her and do wonders for her sense of self :)