Hi Folks,


Well as you can see it has been quite a while since I have last updated my blog...hopefully this will change as the new year offers more exciting things to share.

The first of these is to announce my walk team for this years Bay Area walk for Autism Speaks.  I am very excited to share that we already have 7 team members signed up, and have already begun raising funds toward our team goal.  Follow the link below to check out my team page, where you can sign up to join the team, or make a donation!

Music Therapy Rocks - Spencer Hardy Music Therapy Services


This years event is Saturday May 21st, 2011 located at the History San Jose at Kelley Park.  Last year more than 4000 people came out to participate in the walk, with over 50 local service providers participating in the resource fair. This year it is expected to be even bigger! The event day is filled with music, activities for kids, speakers, and of course...the walk around the park!I had a great time at the walk last year, participating both as a walk team, and as a service provider in the resource fair. But this year I would like to make my team bigger and better!!  That's where you come in....if you are in the Bay Area, please sign up to join my team, or create a team of your own!

Many of you know of the work I do with the Autism community, and many of you are impacted by autism yourself through children, friends, family members, and clients. But for those of you that don't know all the numbers, let me give you an idea. Right now ever 1 in 110 children is being diagnosed with autism, and this number is even higher in boys, 1 in ever 70. This means that more children this year will be diagnosed with autism, than with aids, diabetes, and cancer combined. However the funding that goes into autism treatment and research each year is extremely low. By participating in the walk, you will be raising money that goes directly to research and treatment.

If you are not in the Bay Area there are 2 things you can do....first, look for a walk like this one in your area!  Autism speaks has walks like this one all over the country, so I'm sure there is one close to you.  And second, donate!!!  Donate to my team if you'd like, or just donate to autism speaks in general for all the great things they do.  If you can't donate $, contact a local autism speaks organization and find out if they need supplies, food, or donate your time as a volunteer.  This year in addition to my team, and my resource fair table, I am also participating as a Walk Committee Member and helping out with the organizing of the resource fair.  

Thanks for visiting my blog, and check back again soon for more fun updates!

Alright folks,

So I gave you a blog entry about what I have been up to since starting the business in February, but now as promised, an entry about what we have been up to more recently, and what exciting plans we have coming up.

First! And most importantly: We will be at the Silicon Valley Special Needs Resource event TOMORROW! This is going to be an amazing event that has been put together by Through the Roof Special Needs. And it will be at the Horton Youth Center in San Jose. Check out my calendar for more details.

In addition to establishing a great base of private clients, I am happy to say that this fall Spencer Hardy Music Therapy Services has many other new developments in the works! First off, I was hired to teach two group classes at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View. These classes are organized to bring in adolescents and adults from surrounding schools in the area. The students come from the Morgan Center, PACE, and Achieve Kids. It has been a challenge, as both groups have a big variance in ages and interests. But we have been able to bring together a variety of interests and really make in work for everyone. Last week we had an impromptu dance to La Bamba in one class, and the other rocked out on songwriting, what they would buy if they had a million dollars.  Last week we sang "Free Falling" and one of the students sang the entire song from memory!!

Other exciting contracts that have either just started or are beginning in the next few weeks include bring music to My Friends Pediatric Daycare Center in San Jose, and to a special needs classroom at a school located in Palo Alto. I have also been building relationship with other professional in the area to collaborate on projects including working with a local music school in the area and a local tutoring company. We’ll see what the future brings for those new possibilities!

I’m also excited to announce that I started a page for my business on Facebook. It’s a great way to network and get the word out about things going on. Check out my page here, and if you have a Facebook account, please “like” my page so you can connect to my business, keep in touch, and get updates and info on music therapy.

As you can see I have made some changes to my website, in addition to the blog. I have added a “more” tab that links to my calendar page, and to my blog page. At the bottom of every page I have also added links to my new Facebook page and my new email list! Please, if you haven’t already signed up for the email list, sign up for it now!! This will be a way for me to keep past, present, and future clients, friends, families, other music therapist, and other colleagues up to date on what is going on with Spencer Hardy Music Therapy Services. I promise I won’t flood your inbox, it will probably end up being about one email a month.

I will leave you with that! Check back soon for more updates and hopefully picture from the fun event tomorrow.

 Well before I tell you about all the exciting up and coming plans for my business, let me start off by updating you about what has been accomplished so far:

My music therapy business, Spencer Hardy Music Therapy Services, was established in February of this year. I started out with the exciting challenge of become “substitute music therapist” for a friend and amazing music therapist in Los Altos, Beth Robinson, while she was on family leave. Then after a few fun weeks of music making with some of her clients, it was off to finding clients of my own!

It has been so amazing to meet so many other Music Therapist also running their own private practices. And I am especially grateful to Susan Rancer and Beth Robinson, for all of their help with getting me started!! They have both been amazing mentors for me.

First I had to get the music room all ready for working out of. Shopping spree!! I needed furniture for the waiting area and the music room, digital piano, instruments, office supplies, etc. We decided the desk would be most useful in the closet ☺ 

Waiting Area:
                

Music Room:
              

It has been a lot of fun working from home, although at some times extra challenging!! I’m happy to say that my caseload grew faster than I expected and I now have a steady group of individual one-on-one clients that continues to grow.

Networking and promoting my business has been a challenge, but also a lot of fun. It is great to get out there and provide some free music for events in the area while also getting the word out about what I do. In April I attended an event at the YMCA in Mountain View. Then in June I attended the Bay Area Walk for Autism Speaks.

The Bay Area Walk for Autism Speaks was a lot of fun. With help from fellow Music Therapist Beth Longwell as teammate and at our booth on the day of the event, we had a great day. In addition to providing information about music therapy and the services I provide, we also had instrument exploration time, structured music groups, and two different instrument-making activities.
               
           


We also got featured on the Official Walk Now for Autism Speaks Blog!! A video we posted to get the word out about our team and our cool T-shirts got featured on their “Walk Stars of the Week” segment! Check it out here.

I am excited to add that I have also joined the Planning Committee for the 2011 Bay Area Walk!

In addition to building my private client base, I have also been developing contracts with local schools and other business in the area. This summer I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to provide music for the Menlo Park Extended School Year program. Jumping from classroom to classroom I provided five groups back to back twice a week!

Check back here for my next blog where I will tell you what I have been up to more recently!!!

 Hello Folks,

I am excited to be starting this new blog for my business, Spencer Hardy Music Therapy Services.  This new blog will keep you updated on all the ins and outs of my business as well as any exciting news and new endeavors.  I am excited to announce that I will also be starting an email list and Facebook page to help keep people updated about the business as well.  Please check back for more updates coming soon!!!

Spencer