Music

Music is a great tool for people with Fragile X Syndrome!

It helps them relax and calm down if they are in a bad mood! Our children love Shania Twain, her voice seems to relax them, and help them to be able to focus, learn and sleep!

We discovered the "Shania magic" when our children were just babies. The boys didn't sleep and cried a lot at nap or bedtime, nothing seemed to console them. For some reason when Shania would come on the radio, they would calm down. Eventually we caught on and bought the "Women in Me" CD. It was magic from there! We had to play the CD all night long. If it went off for any reason, they would wake up and cry!

As the boys got a little older they began to recognize her on TV and stop whatever they were doing and get as close to the TV as possible to see and listen to her. They would dance and clap and make happy noises. As soon as her video was over, they would cry, wait for more for a few seconds and then give up and go back to doing something else, not paying any attention to whomever else was on TV!

As the years went on, their love for her grew, we had and continue to have her tapes and CD's in the house, car and anywhere else we are going to, so that we always have her incase of a behavior incident, long period of travel, reward, etc. Their speech and language was severely delayed and they learned some of their talking through singing her songs, some of their fine motor skills by desperately wanting to spell her name. Their teachers have used it at school as a reward, and to help them with speech and language development especially the correct SH sound pronunciation as they have trouble with speech. Also, teaching them to print, using her name as a tool to get them to work independently! We love it as they focus their full attention on her and we can get some much cherished time to relax or get things done around the house, as nothing else seems to hold their interest quite as much and they are very busy children!

Our daughter, loves her too. Her speech and language are excellent and she knows almost all the words to all of Shania's songs. Zachary is her biggest fan in our house and carries around her picture covers up her belly button and talks about her and her music all the time! He almost died when she didn't put anything new out for a few years and was thrilled when the "UP" CD came out! He got to see her in concert in December 2003, and was awed and amazed with her being live and seeing her perform! He even braved the crowds at Rexall Place in Edmonton, at a sold out concert to see her! He did very well, I was more nervous as a trip to Wal-Mart can be a bad experience for them, never mind 10,000+ at a concert! He wears his concert T-shirt proudly, I have to sneak it when he is in the bath to wash it because he wears it constantly and doesn't like to take it off!

He saw Shania in June 2004 when she came back to Edmonton. We got a very generous donation from a young boy with disabilities, who is a major Shania fan too and his family. They had two extra tickets and had read the Edmonton Journal Article and gotten our address by looking in the phone book. They sent the tickets over with a note and a courier, the man dropped it off and then gave Zach $50.00 to buy something at the concert. We went on the local news to thank the generous people and received another anonymous letter and they preferred not to be known. This was one of the most incredible things that has ever happened to us, Zach loved the concert, he wears his T-shirt so much that he has worn holes in it! He also got a program with pictures in it of Shania, and he keeps it safe and looks at it very gently. Connor and Taz went with their Grandma and Grandpa, managed to get tickets when more seating opened up, they also loved the concert. Zach's only disappointment was that he wanted to go on to the floor seating and try to get her autograph and they wouldn't let him. He was disappointed by didn't freak out, he just went back to some closer seats and kept singing!

Words can not express how thankful we are for Shania and her music for helping us during difficult times and for jump starting something inside them that nothing else could reach, to help in teaching them to learn, speak, dance and be calm and content enough to sleep peacefully and let my husband and I have some much needed peace! I encourage any and everyone to invest in a music and video library of Shania Twain as, she really touches these children in an amazing way!

THANK YOU SHANIA TWAIN, KEEP GIVING US THE WONDERFUL GIFT OF YOUR MUSIC!

They do like other music now; Taizsia likes Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. They all like Shakira and the mambo #5 song. We put on their Shania favorites, Wiggles and Mambo #5 song when we clean the house, as they will only cooperate with this combination! The boys like some alternative music but really base driven loud stuff drives them crazy and irritates them! So long story wrapped up, music is a great tool and female singers seem to be the ones that work the best, their voices are soothing and work great as a reward tool! We encourage everyone to buy the Shania's music!

 All three children have discovered the Wiggles now and the boys are big fans of them. We went to their concert in March 2005 in Edmonton and both boys were dancing and singing and having a blast! They watch a Wiggles DVD or the TV show everyday and sing along with their music. We take their DVD's in the Van with us when we go anywhere! They are pretty entertaining and appeal to a variety of age ranges, they teach a lot of good things and use a lot of repetition in their songs and teaching, which is an excellent learning tool for all children.

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