Done With My Work
This song was created for a client with autism who finished his senior year of high school and transitioned into a vocational program. Like many individuals with autism, this young man is very prompt dependent and rarely initiates conversations with others. His parents were concerned that in a workplace setting (which offers less direct supervision than a classroom setting) he would complete a job task and then just sit and wait until a supervisor noticed.
So, the objective of this song is to teach the client when and how to initiate an interaction with a supervisor. The when is after a job task is finished. The song provides multiple methods for the how. For individuals with speech difficulties a short phrase from the lyrics such as “I finished” or “what’s next?” may be the best solution. This particular client has gravitated to the most repeated line in the song: “I am done with my work, is there something else to do?”
Unfortunately, I am not able to work with this young man at the job site, however we practice during music therapy sessions in his home. I give him various tasks (sorting, puzzles, alphabetizing, writing an inventory list of the instruments I’ve brought, putting the instruments into my backpack, etc.) and then wait for him to announce that he’s done and ask for more work. If he does not respond independently, I can usually get a prompted response by asking questions using phrases from the song lyrics: “Did you finish your job task?” “Did you do what I asked?” “Are you done with your work?” The more we practice, the more independent he becomes at initiating.
Download includes:
- 2 songs [mp3 audio files]
- Done With My Work
- Done With My Work (instrumental)
- lyrics [PDF]
- lyrics & chords [PDF]
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