Programs

Early childhood language & socialization skills : Ages 0 to 5

MusicTalk focuses it's efforts on working with children with Autism and other conditions leading to communication and language delays such as Down syndrome and mental retardation.

Our program has been designed specifically around the needs of pre-school aged children that have been tested and diagnosed with having language and communication disorders. We currently visit twenty-two classrooms each week throughout Placer County. By utilizing our unique and effective methods of encouraging language and communication skills, we are able to provide a means of extended support through group sessions for parents and caregivers, as well as take-home packets of the material that our facilitators use in the classroom setting.

By using music as a tool, our facilitators are able to implement a program that recognizes and integrates the need for content, affect, and action for language delayed child. Additionally, we address issues such as social interaction, play with others, sensory awareness, and over-all communication. We also practice may of the basic lessons critical to any child's development: sharing, waiting your turn, saying please and thank you, and being physically aware of those around you.

Through the MusicTalk Program, we have a unique opportunity to help facilitate each child's growth through the use of songs, stories, puppets, and instruments, and recognize that music is not only a helpful way to communicate, it truly is an fundamental tool when encouraging positive responses in the children that we work with.

Young at Heart Program: Seniors and Teens and Adolescents playing music together.

Young at Heart creates a unique opportunity to develop a lasting sense of community involvement between our young people and senior citizens. There are many wonderful musicians in our senior community, some are still able to play music, some are not. There are also many budding young musicians who are eager to practice and perform in different environments and to have the special opportunity to play and learn from those who have much more experience.

There is so much to be learned from those around you and being able to get to know people through the music is a truly unique experience. There have been many situations where a senior participant of the program is non-communicative and may no longer recognize even their closest family members. Amazingly, when they get together with the Young at Heart group and hear their favorite songs from the past, they're able to sing every word – without missing a beat!!!!

Through this program, we are not only able to bring the gift of music to the seniors that are living in the care facilities that we visit, but are also able to support the development of mentoring relationships between the seniors and young people who participate. As with all of our programs, we have found Young at Heart to help with communication, self-esteem, and depression. It's a wonderful way to “liven up the day” for our senior participants, (many of whom are unable to leave their care facilities), and also provides our younger participants with an opportunity to connect with and learn from individuals who have many gifts wonderful stories to share.

Music for the Senior Soul: Seniors Only

Music for the Senior Soul, the first of MusicTalk, Inc.'s three programs, was developed in response to the needs that were evident within the Senior Citizen community of Auburn. After caring for her father through his difficult battle with Alzheimer's disease, Bobbie Brown, MusicTalk's Director and Founder, recognized that most people not only respond well to music, but that she also had a wonderful opportunity to use many of the old-time favorite songs of our senior participants to help them find again those memories that were locked away because of their health issues.

Music for the Senior Soul is a program that utilizes therapeutic music to promote comfort and calmness to our senior program participants that have conditions such as Alzheimer's disease or Related Dementia, Parkinson's Disease, Terminal Illness, or are within their End of Life Experience and/or HOSPICE Care. We customize our music for each encounter and work with individuals and small or large groups. We work with each participant individually to help reduce their feelings of stress, agitation, isolation, and depression, and to help elevate their over-all mood and sense of serenity.

In addition, we have the unique privilege of helping to ease the stress of our participants when they are in their End of Life Experience Phase and to play music for them and their families that is both calming and familiar to those we are working with. Music for the Senior Soul provides our facilitators with a unique and heart-warming opportunity to reach our program participants in a way that is both emotionally and socially enriching and supportive.