Music therapy is a beneficial way for children that have developmental disabilities to communicate.  The healing power of music therapy activities enhances positive behavior changes.  Each music therapy session is carefully planned, carried out and evaluated on a patient by patient basis.  The sessions can include listening to music, creating music, playing an instrument or just moving to the beat.

Music as therapy has a significant and positive influence on children with autism.   It gives them an opportunity to experience non-threatening outside stimulation.  Music therapy for children with autism is tailored to the individual – what works with one child may not work with another and therapists understand this well. 

Music therapy sessions improve socio-emotional development.  When children with autism begin to develop relationships, they can ignore or even reject social contact with others.  The therapy allows them to end social withdrawal because the instrument is presented as a fascinating object instead of a threatening one.  It offers an initial point of contact between the child and the therapist which does not exist with other individuals in the child’s life.

Parents understand the unique difficulties of educating children with autism.  Music therapy opens unique doors of communication between the child and his or her world.  The session will stimulate the mental process of comprehending, conceptualizing and symbolizing.  The therapist can use an instrument to create a communicative relationship between the patient’s behavior and a specific sound.  Sounds make it much easier for children with autism to recognize correct and incorrect behaviors, as sounds are simpler to process than verbal exchanges. 

Wind instruments in particular help children with autism communicate.  These instruments make the child aware of the way his or her jaw, teeth, lips and tongue function.  Playing an instrument mirrors many of the functions required for speech vocalizations.

Music therapy sessions also help children with autism to feel a special kind of emotional fulfillment.  Many of these children lack the ability to respond to stimuli that would otherwise allow them to enjoy emotional changes; however, they respond very well to musical stimuli.  Many music therapists believe this is the case because music provides the child with an emotional environment that is free from fear.  Children with autism are given a safe place to express themselves and learn more about who they actually are.  Children are encouraged to make noise, bang on instruments, shout and jump – anything that lets them freely express themselves and experience satisfaction.

Equally important, music therapy for children with autism teaches social skills.  It improves language comprehension, encourages the desire to communicate and makes creative self-expression possible while it reduces non-communicative speech.  Music therapy has even been shown to reduce echolalia, or uncontrolled instant repetition of words spoken by another person.

Autism is generally discovered in children three years of age or younger, which makes music therapy the perfect treatment.  Children with autism generally have a high aptitude for music and are very talented.  If you have a loved one with autism, consider the benefits of music therapy.  Take advantage of this truly beneficial way to communicate with your loved one.  

Various artists impact the techno scene in many different ways whether that would be trying to lead the way or to make their music something separate from themselves. Richie Hawtin is someone who has imacted (and some would say dominated) the international techno music scene. The Canadian artist uses the alias of Plastikman when releasing his music onto the Detroit techno scene. He has also utilised over five different names when releasing tracks – which could mean that he had the opportunity to experiment without having any fears about what it could do to his reputation if the music wasn’t received too well.

 One major reason why Hawtin finds the world of techno music and electro so appealing is because of how he was brought up in an environment which was rich in the roots of Detroit techno – Ontario. Richies father having a passion for music with an electronic genre, this was also one of the defining things which allowed Hawtin to gain a passion for this type of music as he matured throughout his youth.

Hawtin has always been somebody who has tried to make their own opportunities instead of having to explore the record labels of others. He created Plus-8 (a record label), in partnership with one of his colleagues whilst Minus Records was a venture he initiated for himself. This didn’t mean that he wanted to be completely independent however – like so many techno artists, he found himself drawn to Europe because of how so many American DJs had been drawn to the heavily-advanced German scene of techno music, and because of how he believed that it would give him a quality of life that he might not have been able to have in other places.

In an interview, he talked about this decision further, saying: Berlin is so liberal in so many different ways; there’s an amazing club scene, there’s a great development software tech scene, there are so many resources here.”

Hawtin’s significant releases were under the names of Plastikman, Concept 1 and F.U.S.E. As well as having a direct involvement with the music production elements of the dance industry, he has also commented and has experienced interviews of the direction of this genre for the future. The end of the 2000s saw him shake off some fears that dance music was heading in a direction which would see an untimely demise in favour of other sounds, but he counter-acted this by complementing other artists on raising the quality of their records substantially – in turn boosting the amount of people who felt drawn to listen to the tracks which were available to them.

 He’s got an eccentric and minimalist style which audiences love, his contribution to minimal techno cannot be denied – and he spans through a number of different countries for long weekends performing to the masses, where he is a widely-anticipated act. Without question, Hawtin (or Plastikman depending on what he is performing!) is an act that is heavily in demand – and he is loving the chance to carry on his passion through creating exciting mixes in numerous locations.

Recent Discography:

DE9 Transitions (DVD + CD)           M_nus     2005
DE9  Transitions (CD)           NovaMute     2006
The Tunnel / Twin Cities (12″)           M_nus     2005
DE9  Combined (2xCD, Mixed, Comp)           Third Ear (2), M_nus     2006
DE9  Lite – Electronic Adventures (CD, Mixed, Comp)           Mixmag     2006
Slices – Pioneers Of Electronic Music – Vol. I – A Documentary Film About Richie Hawtin (DVD-V, PAL, DVD) Electronic Beats 2006
KONTAKT RTW (CD, Mixed, Comp, Promo)           M_nus     2006
RA.100 (File, MP3, Mixed, Pod)           Resident Advisor     2008
Sounds From Can Elles (File, MP3, Comp, 320)           M_nus     2008
Making Contakt (DVD-V + CD, Comp)           M_nus     2010

Various artists make their mark in various ways whether that would be trying to lead the way or to make their music something separate from themselves. Richie Hawtin is someone who has imacted (and some would say dominated) the international techno music scene. The Canadian artist uses the alias of Plastikman when releasing his music onto the Detroit techno scene. He has also utilised over five different names when releasing tracks – which could mean that he had the opportunity to experiment without having any fears about what it could do to his reputation if the music wasn’t received too well.

 Some of the reasons why Hawtin finds the world of techno music and electro so appealing is because of how he was brought up in an environment which was rich in the roots of Detroit techno – Ontario. With his father had a strong interest in music and especially elctronica, this was also one of the defining things which allowed Hawtin to gain a love of dance & experimental electronic music as he matured throughout his adolescence.

Hawtin has always been somebody who has tried to make their own opportunities instead of having to explore the record labels of others. He created Plus-8 (a record label), in partnership with one of his colleagues whilst Minus Records was a venture he initiated for himself. This didn’t mean that he wanted to be completely independent however – like so many techno artists, he found himself drawn to Europe because of how so many American DJs had been drawn to the heavily-advanced German scene of techno music, and because of how he believed that it would give him a quality of life that he might not have been able to have in other places.

In an interview, he talked about this decision further, saying: Berlin is so liberal in so many different ways; there’s an amazing club scene, there’s a great development software tech scene, there are so many resources here.”

Hawtin’s significant releases were under the names of Plastikman, Concept 1 and F.U.S.E. As well as having a direct involvement with the music production elements of the dance industry, he has also commented and has experienced interviews of the direction of this genre for the future. The end of the 2000s saw him shake off some fears that dance music was heading in a direction which would see an untimely demise in favour of other sounds, but he counter-acted this by complementing other artists on raising the quality of their records substantially – in turn boosting the amount of people who felt drawn to listen to the tracks which were available to them.

 He’s got an eccentric and minimalist style which audiences love, his contribution to minimal techno cannot be denied – and he spans through a number of different countries for long weekends performing to the masses, where he is a widely-anticipated act. Without question, Hawtin (or Plastikman depending on what he is performing!) is an act that is heavily in demand – and he is loving the chance to carry on his passion through creating exciting mixes in numerous locations.

Recent Discography:

DE9 Transitions (DVD + CD)           M_nus     2005
DE9  Transitions (CD)           NovaMute     2006
The Tunnel / Twin Cities (12″)           M_nus     2005
DE9  Combined (2xCD, Mixed, Comp)           Third Ear (2), M_nus     2006
DE9  Lite – Electronic Adventures (CD, Mixed, Comp)           Mixmag     2006
Slices – Pioneers Of Electronic Music – Vol. I – A Documentary Film About Richie Hawtin (DVD-V, PAL, DVD) Electronic Beats 2006
KONTAKT RTW (CD, Mixed, Comp, Promo)           M_nus     2006
RA.100 (File, MP3, Mixed, Pod)           Resident Advisor     2008
Sounds From Can Elles (File, MP3, Comp, 320)           M_nus     2008
Making Contakt (DVD-V + CD, Comp)           M_nus     2010