Thanks guys!!!!(Had to listen to some music) Catspaw--the kick in the tailfeathers is sorely tempting to respond to your previous post to katlaughing and myself about anatomy, but I guess I won't. I think I've gotten to the page I want to be on for this thread. When I left the nursing home I did homecare for a while with a variety of patients..adults, children, Hospice with a wide variety of needs. By then, I was purposefully making sure music was in the homes....and continued to be witnessing some amazing results. The problem I'm having is being able to articulate what I'm seeing now...but every night when I get home my brain is racing with questions about what happens in the brains of my current patients. Because the brain, at the level I'm refering to, is an inexact science, we're left with trial and error. The exhaustion comes from my attempts to stay "in tune" and hopefully a bit ahead of the fast, frequent change in directions. (Musicman-thank you for sticking with this one!) I need to give them identities so... K. is 50: her brain damage was caused by Encephalitis when she was eight years old and since then she has perfected the fine art of total withdrawal and is often so deep inside herself, we can't get her out. And sometimes when she does come out, was having violent outbursts. She also has a seizure disorder as well as a condition in her brain that causes her entire body to freeze. (I've been told that there's a Robin Williams' movie showing similar medical conditions but haven't seen it yet.) She also has severe Aphasia (inability to speak). When I started working with K., a year ago, I would take her to the seashore and just sit with her and play my Bill Staines tapes (which by then I had learned produced some dramatic responses in patients). (And yes, I bought them directly from the performer!!-see other thread) It took a while to hit the right song, but we did. I can guarantee now that if I play Bill Staines' version of "Home On the Range", she will come out- once she comes out, she stays out and is a delight! She is one of the two "Autoharp students". The other, L., has a severe seizure disorder, Cerebral Palsy and has been diagnosed as "retarded" a label I have come to mistrust from seeing misdiagnoses previously. She's in her thirties and is TOTAL music, very verbal and my star Autoharp player. I had not found any other singer up until a month ago that effected patients as Staines' music does...until Bill Crofut's version of the "Garden Song" played on the radio. Both K. and L. repeated parts of the chorus immediately and I've learned to jump when opportunity presents itself, otherwise...the "link" in the brain seems to disappear. Crofut's voice has the exact same tonal quality (I think) as Staines. So, I almost concluded that its something in the baritone? But then, I played Staines composition "Alaskan Suite"...(no singing) on the stereo, and our third patient- H.27 yrs. old-diagnosed with autism-but verbal-(Animaterra-what is Asperger Syndrome??) suddenly stopped what she was doing and appeared to be visibly hypnotized by the music. That was six months ago, and for four months, every night she would ask me to play the Alaska song....AND demand that I rewind the tape to the absolute beginning for that first looong, low note. She does not allow me to start the tape in the middle...it HAS to be the beginning! I don't know what she hears or where she goes when she listens to it, but it is VERY obvious that it is a calm, peaceful, happy place for her. I think I've probably said enough!!!!!My "instinct" says we're missing something really important here with regard to specific brain function and that if there was a way to compare notes (in detail) as musicians, we may be able to be more purposeful in the songs and music we choose to play in these settings and may have a unique body of knowledge for a scientist to draw upon. What is of deep concern to me, is that in my current profession, if its NOT documented, it DIDN'T HAPPEN! SOOOOOOOO..........I was thinking......what better place to beg than the mudcat.......for those of you who sing/play/perform in Nursing Homes, Hospices, Hospitals, at home with infirm loved ones-and have suffered through reading ALL of the above.....would you be willing to DOCUMENT?? How? Damned if I know...but I'd bet Musicman and Don and some others would. I do know that before the music starts, there is a specific atmosphere that can be documented, a specific demeanor of an individual patient that can be documented. I do know that there is a very visual transition, regardless of its subtlety, and that there is a very different atmosphere during and after the music stops! And, puhleeze, if you feel this is inappropriate for Mudcat forum, let me know! THIS WEEK'S MUSIC:- we played Clementine....a major success with K.; Home On the Range.... success with K. and L.; Michael row the Boat Ashore ....great with K., L., and to my surprise-H. all singing. You Are My Sunshine didn't work well--not sure why. K. and L. also both got VERY serious about learning to PLAY the Garden Song and because of the limitations of each, THEY decided that K., will do the strumming and L. will do the chord bars. K. also independently sang "Happy Trails".....THANKS for listening......Catspaw-make some room in the litter box...I'm staying in my corner now for a while!!!!