Totally agree Mac. A close friend in the Shetland islands lost her father a couple of years ago. He was suffering from dementia. She'd visit him in a home several times a week. They'd have folk going in and giving the patients a tune & a song. One woman never spoke the rest of the time would sing to her hearts content.

A close friend of mine visits Brazil with his band every year and he often plays at nursing homes in the afternoon. One resident in particular never utters a word the rest of the year but every time he visits she chats like there's no tomorrow.
How many autistic children & adults communicate through music ? I've seen lots of programmes on TV where severely autistic people have major difficulty communicating. They can hear a tune once and play it note perfect. Maybe they should look at music as a way of entertaining old folks over here in the UK. All too often nursing homes rely on the good nature of musicians to give up their time free, sadly it's not always possible as we have families to feed too.

Graham............

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