Rex by Cathleen Lewis

Rex BY Cathleen Lewis is a book about a mother (Cathleen Lewis) and her young son who was diagnosed with Autism and being blind at a very young age. Cathleen talks about her struggles and journeys throughout her son's life. The book started off with Cathleen telling her story of her and her husband trying to have a baby. They had been trying for months and were so excited to find out that they were pregnant with a baby boy. When her and her husband found out that her son was blind and having major medical problems, it put a lot of stress on the couple. They ended up getting a divorce when Rex was only a year old. Cathleen had to be a single mom with a child with a disability. All the doctors and therapist doubted that Rex would make it far in life. They put him in a school for blind children. They didn’t believe that he was making any development. But Rex proved them all wrong when he started walking and talking like a normal child, Sure it took him longer to develop these things but he did it. And he did it with the help of Music Therapy. Music would always calm down Rex whenever he was having a fit.

The book was a very interesting story but it didn’t explain a lot about how music therapy worked in a child. The story talked about the struggles and how music helped Rex to overcome so many things, but not about how therapy helped him. It did educate you on what blind and autistic children have to go through everyday of their lives. I agree with how they said that something in music stimulates the brain to do certain functions.

I believe that music therapy can help children to develop. When a child with a disability hears a certain sound and picks up on it, their brain becomes stimulated and helps the brain grow and understand things. It can help in all sorts of ways. Not only metal, but social and emotional as well. Music that has certain emotions can give of what kind of emotion a person is supposed to have. Upbeat songs make you happy and mellow songs make you said. Children understand that and with music it is easier to understand. It also helps social because you may have to work with a group witch would cause the child to have to deal with people and become more social in an environment. Music therapy is a great things that help children with disabilities learn!

Lewis, Cathleen. Rex. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008. Print.