1. Your name:

Lisa Barnett

2. Education/Background:

Bachelor of Music from Michigan State University in Music Therapy 1981.

I did my music therapy internship at Napa State Hospital and developed friends there that I still hold so very dear to this day!

I have worked in the public schools for over twenty-five years in the metro Detroit area and started my private practice Songs To Grow On four years ago.

3. Favorite band/artist in 7th grade:

The Who was my favorite band because we actually performed “Tommy” in junior high school. We had a very progressive music teacher for the time! My favorite artist was and still is Carole King and I hope to see “Beautiful” in New York City this September.

4. Why did you want to write an e-book?

The “My House” was originally created as a custom ordered book.

After a presentation on the book at the Great Lakes Regional Music

Therapy Conference in 2012 I was approached by several music therapists who were interested in assembling the book themselves. That is when I consulted with my web designer about the possibility of offering the book as a downloadable PDF. Since it became available as a downloadable entity I have found an audience of parents and teachers that have been interested in assembling the books for their children and students. I am so excited that the book is now available to a wider audience.

My House: Interactive Music Therapy Songbook and Audio File

5. What was your process for developing your e-book?

The idea for the “My House” book was fueled by my desire to create a book for children on the autism spectrum that would be a vehicle for them to tell their own unique story about where they lived, who they lived with and the special people and things that were important in their lives. The book in its original form was introduced at a program in the Clawson Public Schools called The Starfish Project. This creative arts group was designed for children in the Autism classes and their peers in general education.

It was my hope that as the children shared their books with one another that they would see first hand that they had many things in common. The initial group of books were displayed at a district wide arts festival called Arts Alive and the response from parents was more than I could have ever expected. One parent who attended asked if she could “purchase” a book and that was when I got the idea that my “little project” could perhaps become something more. A year later I was layed off from my position with this school district and I thought about the book again and hired a graphic designer to help take the book to the next level.

John Boissy who is the illustrator and graphic designer that I worked with on this book was an amazing resource. The entire process from start to finish took well over a year. There were many things to figure out in terms of design, use of color, fonts, and materials. This was a whole new world to me. A great deal of information was shared through email and face to face meetings. The creative process is exhilarating but does not happen over night. If I learned anything from this, I realized that a good product takes substantial time to develop.

6. Favorite book (e-book or print) related to Music Therapy

Creative Music Therapy by Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins

While the book was written in 1977, it clearly is a treasure and introduced me to improvisational music therapy! I still love to read the case studies and was blessed to actually take a workshop with Clive Robbins at Michigan State University in 2010.

7. How would you describe your e-book in three words or less?

Creative, Interactive, Musical

8.  Who can benefit from purchasing your e-book and why?

Music Therapists, speech therapists, teachers, parents and other caregivers are the ones who can purchase and create the book and the book is versatile enough to have therapeutic benefits for children with autism, apraxia and certainly children of preschool age and early elementary who do not have any specific developmental issues.

9.  What kinds of music therapy e-books would you like to see more of on MusicTherapyEbooks.com?

I am always looking for things to download for my students with autism.

I would like to see more books that cater to developing their communication and socialization.   I am hoping to develop a new book soon that will be similar to “My House” but will focus on the child’s “school” environment.

10.  Anything else you would like to add?

Thank you so much to Rachel and Michelle for believing in the

“My House” book and making it available on this innovative website.