Year:
2019
Angie Sylas, MT-BC, MMT, is a board-certified music therapist currently who completed her Master of Music Therapy degree at ASU after practicing as an MT-BC for 16 years in disability services. Angie has a Bachelor of Arts in Music Therapy with a minor in Psychology from Charleston Southern University in South Carolina and completed her Music Therapy Internship at Fort Wayne State Developmental Center in Northern Indiana. With additional training in unique methodologies such as Dalcroze Eurythmics, Orff Schulwerk Method, Greenspan Floortime Approach, Neurologic Music Therapy, Facilitated Communication Training and co-treatment across disciplines, Angie strives to bring fresh eyes and new perspectives in treatment for the people and teams she serves in disability services. She has worked in 1:1 and group settings within natural environments and school/day-program settings, and also has provided team trainings for carryover techniques to support inclusion, total communication, daily living skills support, and sensorimotor support outside of direct services. Angie also has experience as a music therapist with Autism Spectrum Disorder, dually diagnosed individuals, addiction, trauma survivors, grief work, movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, Dystonia, and Dyspraxia, and has led both inclusive community-based drum circles and professional self-care drum circles. Most recently, Angie has focused her professional skillset on training the music therapists on AAC strategies and individualized sensory support, identifying carryover interventions to improve independent and supported communication outside of the music therapy setting, developed music therapy assessment strategies for mind/body disconnect to identify motor support mediated by facilitation, solidified training protocols for Total Communication strategies for adults in waiver and day program settings, and presented across disciplines on the validity and implementation of rhythmic body support to increase the brain/body connection for all movement and AAC communication. Passion for both music therapy and service in disability programming began with her sister’s unique medical challenges, needs for specialized support in a rural area, family advocacy for quality services, and her sister’s intense response to musical intervention as a young child. Originally from a small rural community in South Carolina, Angie music therapist and supervisor with Insights Consulting in Indianapolis, IN. Angie plans to seek her doctorate in Disability Studies with a focus on inclusion and rhythmic sensorimotor accommodations.