This week's news: music therapy, Dj Blind Mikey, around the world
| 11:06 UK time, Friday, 5 August 2011
News stories connecting disabled people with music often focus on one of two subject areas - either celebrating music as a form of therapy or highlighting the talents of a disabled musician. Both are represented in the news this week.
On Tuesday, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ reported on a study conducted in Finland which investigated the use of music therapy as a treatment for depression.
Seventy-nine patients with depression received the standard treatment of counselling and medication but 33 of them were also given 20 sessions with a trained music therapist, which involved activities such as drumming.
After three months, patients receiving music therapy showed a greater improvement in scores of anxiety and depression. There was no statistical improvement after six months, however.
Commenting on the noted successes in the trial, Professor Christian Gold from the University of Jyvaskyla, where the study took place, said: "Music therapy has specific qualities that allow people to express themselves and interact in a non-verbal way - even in situations when they cannot find the words to describe their inner experiences."
In other music related news, Mikey Hughes, the blind guy who almost won Big Brother 9, has been
Following a claimed 5,000 hours of practise, DJ Blind Mikey is due to appear in front of more than a thousand people at the Arches nightclub in Glasgow this Saturday night.
Brian McIver from Scottish paper The Daily Record, reports on Mikey's innovative plan to keep his set running smoothly.
"Accompanied on stage by sighted support worker William Hill, Mikey has prepared his CDs in order of play, and will place them in one pocket of his cargo trousers. Once he has mixed one, he puts the disc in his other pocket to keep them separate."
Elsewhere in the news:
A study finds dyslexia makes voices hard to discern (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News)
Charities 'hit by funding cuts' (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News)
When suicide was illegal (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News Magazine)
Around the world:
Whilst it's been quiet on the news front in the UK, the same can't be said for the rest of the world. So this week we're bringing you some global highlights too.
Iran: man sentenced to blinding for acid attack pardoned
The US: and
Check back each Friday for a roundup of the week's disability news.
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