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People with mental retardation love Dream Theater!


muel

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That is NOT a dig at DT; just a sensationalized way of drawing attention so I can share a wonderful experience with you.

 

I'm teaching a music appreciation class for a group of adults with developmental disabilities, and last week showed them that anybody can play drums, and anything can BE a drum.

 

I used the drum solo from the second DVD of Live at Budokan, where Portnoy twice takes Japanese guys from the audience up on stage and plays a single drum with them. The participants in the class were given bongos and instructed to answer Portnoy the same way the audience members onstage did. Most of them kept up, and it was also a lesson in music as a universal language, as Portnoy was communicating with these Japanese audience members even though he speaks English and they speak Japanese. What a great experience!

 

They were amazed by how fast he plays, by "how many drums he plays at the same time," and by the way he kept playing by hitting the stage floor with his drumsticks as he approached the audience.

 

As soon as I get a DVD copy of the "Stomp" special from HBO we're going to use that to continue the "rhythms are everywhere and anything can be a drum" theme.

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Originally posted by Anderton

Music can indeed transform people...

 

 

Absolutely! We had one guy in class who used to complain that he didn't like "popolo music." "Popolo" is Hawaiian pidgin for African American, and in this context was derogatory. However, he LOVED Elvis, so since we had a session on Elvis scheduled for the following week, I opened the class by playing Big Mama Thonton's original version of Hound Dog for them, and asked if they recognized the song. Naturally, they said Elvis "wrote" the song, which opened the door for explanation of how Elvis made it big by performing "Popolo music" for white audiences, and how he grew up listening to African American gospel and rhythm and blues.

 

Then each one picked an Elvis song to sing with our Karaoke machine. "Jailhouse Rock" had them tongue tied, and that opened the door to a later lesson on fast beats and how it can be hard to play and sing fast.

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Originally posted by Mr. Botch

Man, I came in here with guns ready to blaze.
:(
Cool story, Meul!

 

No need for the sad face! It's like the opposite of trolling: put up a header that will get people riled enough to look and then hit them with a feelgood story.

 

I'll try to bring back stories from the class on at least a semiregular basis. There are plenty.

 

When we've done karaoke it's been really interesting, because some of them are totally uninhibited, yet have no pitch whatsoever, and they do tend to prefer cheesy popular music, which is no surprise since that's what the media condition us to hear.

 

One woman with Down Syndrome LOVES Celine Dion and tries to match her dynamics, which means she's REALLY loud. Yet somehow I actually look forward to hearing it.

 

We also get a "funny song of the week," and we've done some Weird Al, "Fish Heads" (they LOVE fish heads), and some Frank DeLima (a local comic). We explore the reasons why a song is funny, and mostly just have fun wth a laugh to open the class and loosen everyone up.

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Hopefully everyone will read the feelgood story, instead of shooting from the hip... ;)

 

Yep...I was ready to do battle too, having raised a "special" daughter.

 

My hat is off to you, sir! Keep up the good work!!!

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Originally posted by Tedster

Hopefully everyone will read the feelgood story, instead of shooting from the hip...
;)

Yep...I was ready to do battle too, having raised a "special" daughter.


My hat is off to you, sir! Keep up the good work!!!

 

Thanks!

 

How old is your daughter? Is she out of school yet? Does she receive any community based services or supported employment?

 

Just curious. I may have a tip or two on trends in services for individuals with DDs and how best to access them. We have also put together an informational and support group for the families and natural supportes of adults with DDs.

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