Welcome to The Kingdom of Should: A Special Story for Children on the Autism Spectrum and Their Parents
The Kingdom of Should is an audio story with a therapeutically designed musical soundtrack and several kid-friendly songs for and about children on the autism spectrum. The story shows that one's apparent limitations can be turned into strengths. It also addresses issues like bullying and gluten-free diet as it relates to autism spectrum behaviors. The Kingdom of Should was created by a schoolteacher, a developmental music therapist and a behavioral optometrist.
Broomall, PA, April 24, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Welcome to The Kingdom of Should
Land of Can LLC is an exciting new enterprise dedicated to providing quality products and resources for children with autism and their families. They have just released their first selections, The Kingdom of Should - a captivating 2 CD audio story with a therapeutically designed musical soundtrack and wonderful songs - and Dreaming in The Land of Can - a music CD designed to help children on the autism spectrum fall and stay asleep.
Land of Can was founded by three people who all struggled with autism spectrum challenges throughout their lives and who between them have over eighty years of experience working with children on the autism spectrum as well as those with all types of developmental, neurological and learning related challenges.
· Joe Romano is a musician, teacher, songwriter and developmental music therapist. Joe composed, arranged, produced and performed all the songs and music for The Kingdom of Should and Dreaming in The Land of Can.
· Joan Raina is a teacher, director, performer and head writer for The Kingdom of Should. Joan has taught young people, including many with special needs, for over thirty years and directed many plays with her students.
· Dr. Steve Gallop is a Behavioral/Developmental Optometrist with over twenty-five years of experience working with children on and off the Autism Spectrum dealing with learning and developmental challenges of all kinds.
Joan Raina explained, "Every person involved in this project has direct connections to people on the autism spectrum, either by being on the spectrum themselves, having a family member on the spectrum, or through the work they do."
According to Dr. Gallop, “The Land of Can team decided to make The Kingdom of Should an audio experience because children have plenty of opportunities to engage with the computer screen. We wanted to create an experience especially designed to stimulate the imagination and creativity of special needs children.” Their interactive website (www.KingdomofShould.com), which is wonderfully done, includes a free downloadable coloring book with pictures related to the story, which we were told is intended to help occupy children with purposeful visual-motor activity to help reduce the tendency for self-stimulating behavior common among children on the autism spectrum. The website and story also include a great deal of informative content for adults still learning about the complexities of the Autism Spectrum.
The Kingdom of Should is an engaging story, for and about children on the autism spectrum and their families. As Joan Raina said, “We very much wanted to honor children who are the least likely of heroes in our culture - those with special needs. We wanted to impart the message that one’s so-called limitations are often gifts in disguise. We also felt it important to draw attention to the issue of bullying, another underlying theme in our story."
The Kingdom of Should is woven with music designed to positively affect attention and behavior. The story was also designed for parents to listen with their children, as it is not only a beautifully crafted tale but also educational for parents. The story is informative for parents new to the world of Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as those with more experience. Those just beginning to look for interventions for their children will find several important issues addressed. Many otherwise experienced parents will likely be learning about Behavioral Optometry and Developmental Music Therapy for the first time.
According to Joe Romano, "We decided to make The Kingdom of Should an audio story because we believed, and many parents are beginning to understand, that children have more than enough opportunities to interact with screens, especially children on the autism spectrum. Little is left to the imagination when everything is right there in front of you. An audio story gets children away from the screen, at least for a while. It helps stimulate the brain’s visual and creative processes in a very different way. You get to make the pictures in your head - for yourself. We thought it would also be good to stimulate the brain with music I designed specifically to enhance focus and listening."
According to Oliver Sacks, renowned neurologist and author, in his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, "for virtually all of us, music has great power, whether or not we seek it out," adding, "we humans are a musical species no less than a linguistic one." The musical score for The Kingdom of Should was created based on the clinical experience of Joe Romano, who works with children on the spectrum as a developmental music therapist. Developmental music therapy in itself is unique due to its integration of vision, movement and the brain through the universal language of music.
The story’s young heroes are children on the autism spectrum: Frankie displays significant autistic behaviors as well as a subtle visual development issue (very common for children on the spectrum), Lester struggles with Asperger’s syndrome and a crossed eye and Didi has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD is commonly misdiagnosed when there is in fact an undiagnosed visual development issue). The adult heroes are based on providers of two therapies – Behavioral Optometry and Developmental Music Therapy – that are not well known to many in the autism spectrum community, but have excellent track records with the autism spectrum population.
Through his work as a developmental music therapist, Joe Romano realized that before he could start many of his sessions, he had to help children and/or adults slow down their heart rate and brain activity so they could focus their minds in order to learn and develop. He did this using specific tones and rhythms, sometimes specially designed for a particular individual. This idea grew into much more. Joe began to use certain notes and rhythms not only to prepare people for therapy, but as an integral part of the therapy itself. According to Dr. Gallop, “Joe Romano is the only person I know of who is currently practicing this kind of developmental music therapy, which greatly differs from any music therapy we have been able to find because Joe incorporates movement and visual-spatial processing, using music as an anchor.” Joe Romano has been invited to speak at several behavioral optometric conferences, because of the uniqueness of his approach and his ability to help children many others gave up on.
Joe Romano also created the music CD, Dreaming in The Land of Can, an exceptional and innovative therapeutic tool to promote deep, restful and relaxing sleep. This music is also based on Joe's work with children on the autism spectrum. It is quite common for children on the spectrum to have sleep-related issues. Joe has been working on helping children on the autism spectrum for many years and has had success using music to help these children relax and in many cases, to sleep.
Land of Can LLC has partnered with Developmental Delay Resources (DDR), co-founded by Patricia Lemer, M.Ed. Ms Lemer has over twenty years of experience providing educational resources and advocating for families of children on the autism spectrum.
You can find much more information on The Kingdom of Should, Dreaming in the Land of Can and the creators of these very special products as well as resources for parents and activities for children at KingdomofShould.com.
Media Contact: Martin Uniacke
(610) 361-8697
LandofCan@gmail.com
Land of Can LLC is an exciting new enterprise dedicated to providing quality products and resources for children with autism and their families. They have just released their first selections, The Kingdom of Should - a captivating 2 CD audio story with a therapeutically designed musical soundtrack and wonderful songs - and Dreaming in The Land of Can - a music CD designed to help children on the autism spectrum fall and stay asleep.
Land of Can was founded by three people who all struggled with autism spectrum challenges throughout their lives and who between them have over eighty years of experience working with children on the autism spectrum as well as those with all types of developmental, neurological and learning related challenges.
· Joe Romano is a musician, teacher, songwriter and developmental music therapist. Joe composed, arranged, produced and performed all the songs and music for The Kingdom of Should and Dreaming in The Land of Can.
· Joan Raina is a teacher, director, performer and head writer for The Kingdom of Should. Joan has taught young people, including many with special needs, for over thirty years and directed many plays with her students.
· Dr. Steve Gallop is a Behavioral/Developmental Optometrist with over twenty-five years of experience working with children on and off the Autism Spectrum dealing with learning and developmental challenges of all kinds.
Joan Raina explained, "Every person involved in this project has direct connections to people on the autism spectrum, either by being on the spectrum themselves, having a family member on the spectrum, or through the work they do."
According to Dr. Gallop, “The Land of Can team decided to make The Kingdom of Should an audio experience because children have plenty of opportunities to engage with the computer screen. We wanted to create an experience especially designed to stimulate the imagination and creativity of special needs children.” Their interactive website (www.KingdomofShould.com), which is wonderfully done, includes a free downloadable coloring book with pictures related to the story, which we were told is intended to help occupy children with purposeful visual-motor activity to help reduce the tendency for self-stimulating behavior common among children on the autism spectrum. The website and story also include a great deal of informative content for adults still learning about the complexities of the Autism Spectrum.
The Kingdom of Should is an engaging story, for and about children on the autism spectrum and their families. As Joan Raina said, “We very much wanted to honor children who are the least likely of heroes in our culture - those with special needs. We wanted to impart the message that one’s so-called limitations are often gifts in disguise. We also felt it important to draw attention to the issue of bullying, another underlying theme in our story."
The Kingdom of Should is woven with music designed to positively affect attention and behavior. The story was also designed for parents to listen with their children, as it is not only a beautifully crafted tale but also educational for parents. The story is informative for parents new to the world of Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as those with more experience. Those just beginning to look for interventions for their children will find several important issues addressed. Many otherwise experienced parents will likely be learning about Behavioral Optometry and Developmental Music Therapy for the first time.
According to Joe Romano, "We decided to make The Kingdom of Should an audio story because we believed, and many parents are beginning to understand, that children have more than enough opportunities to interact with screens, especially children on the autism spectrum. Little is left to the imagination when everything is right there in front of you. An audio story gets children away from the screen, at least for a while. It helps stimulate the brain’s visual and creative processes in a very different way. You get to make the pictures in your head - for yourself. We thought it would also be good to stimulate the brain with music I designed specifically to enhance focus and listening."
According to Oliver Sacks, renowned neurologist and author, in his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, "for virtually all of us, music has great power, whether or not we seek it out," adding, "we humans are a musical species no less than a linguistic one." The musical score for The Kingdom of Should was created based on the clinical experience of Joe Romano, who works with children on the spectrum as a developmental music therapist. Developmental music therapy in itself is unique due to its integration of vision, movement and the brain through the universal language of music.
The story’s young heroes are children on the autism spectrum: Frankie displays significant autistic behaviors as well as a subtle visual development issue (very common for children on the spectrum), Lester struggles with Asperger’s syndrome and a crossed eye and Didi has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD is commonly misdiagnosed when there is in fact an undiagnosed visual development issue). The adult heroes are based on providers of two therapies – Behavioral Optometry and Developmental Music Therapy – that are not well known to many in the autism spectrum community, but have excellent track records with the autism spectrum population.
Through his work as a developmental music therapist, Joe Romano realized that before he could start many of his sessions, he had to help children and/or adults slow down their heart rate and brain activity so they could focus their minds in order to learn and develop. He did this using specific tones and rhythms, sometimes specially designed for a particular individual. This idea grew into much more. Joe began to use certain notes and rhythms not only to prepare people for therapy, but as an integral part of the therapy itself. According to Dr. Gallop, “Joe Romano is the only person I know of who is currently practicing this kind of developmental music therapy, which greatly differs from any music therapy we have been able to find because Joe incorporates movement and visual-spatial processing, using music as an anchor.” Joe Romano has been invited to speak at several behavioral optometric conferences, because of the uniqueness of his approach and his ability to help children many others gave up on.
Joe Romano also created the music CD, Dreaming in The Land of Can, an exceptional and innovative therapeutic tool to promote deep, restful and relaxing sleep. This music is also based on Joe's work with children on the autism spectrum. It is quite common for children on the spectrum to have sleep-related issues. Joe has been working on helping children on the autism spectrum for many years and has had success using music to help these children relax and in many cases, to sleep.
Land of Can LLC has partnered with Developmental Delay Resources (DDR), co-founded by Patricia Lemer, M.Ed. Ms Lemer has over twenty years of experience providing educational resources and advocating for families of children on the autism spectrum.
You can find much more information on The Kingdom of Should, Dreaming in the Land of Can and the creators of these very special products as well as resources for parents and activities for children at KingdomofShould.com.
Media Contact: Martin Uniacke
(610) 361-8697
LandofCan@gmail.com
Contact
Land of Can LLC
Steve Gallop
610-356-7425
www.kingdomofshould.com
Steve Gallop
610-356-7425
www.kingdomofshould.com
Contact
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