Roia Rafieyan recently retired from long-term employment as a music therapist in a residential care facility in the United States. Most of the last 33 years were spent in the company of institutionalized nonspeaking Autistic people with whom she collaboratively and continuously worked to evolve into a more respectful music therapist.
Roia spent most of her time as a music therapist working in a state facility for people labelled with various intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Voices article authored by Roia titled, "Getting to 'no' you: When nonspeaking autistic people refuse music therapy," notes that nonspeaking people are often placed in music therapy, not necessarily because they want to be there. She believes it's incumbent upon us, as music therapists, to learn how nonspeaking people communicate "no," so we can begin to honor efforts at self-determination/self-advocacy.
Roia’s current interests are arts-based research, collage, and reading. Her enduring interests are relationally-based music therapy approaches, reflexive practice and clinical supervision.
Episode Links:
- Rafieyan, R. (2022). Getting to “No” You: When Nonspeaking Autistic People Refuse Music Therapy. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 22(3). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v22i3.3373
- Roia's Blog: https://mindfulmusictherapist.blogspot.com
- Roia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roia-rafieyan-ma-mt-bc-b4655735/
- Music Therapy Clinician: https://njmusictherapy.org/music-therapy-clinician/
- Maya K. Marom, “Patient Declined”: Contemplating the Psychodynamics of Hospice Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 13-22, https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/26.1.13
- Katelyn Beebe, MMT, MT-BC, Perceptions of Self-Determination in Music Therapy for Individuals Diagnosed with Intellectual Disabilities: A Survey of Music Therapists, Music Therapy Perspectives, Volume 40, Issue 1, Spring 2022, Pages 94–103, https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miac004
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The Able Voice Podcast is hosted by certified music therapists Hayley Francis Cann (@mtahayley) and Kimberly Dolan (@mta.kimberly). Get in touch with Hayley and/or Kim by emailing contactsynergymt@gmail.com or visit www.synergymusictherapy.com.
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