Tuesday, November 28, 2006

She must be a musician

She is. Priscilla Dunstan was recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and talked about the language babies use to let you know they're hungry, uncomfortable, have lower gas, need to burp, or simply, are sleepy.

You can watch the video here.

The musical connection: (via www.dunstanbaby.com)
"Already an exceptional violinist by the age five, [Priscilla] could hear a piece by Mozart once, then play it back in its entirety, note for note. Her father, Director of the Educational Testing Centre at the University of New South Wales, found that his young daughter had an eidetic memory - a rare photographic memory for sound.

"During her teenage years Priscilla toured throughout Europe and Australia as an accomplished concert violinist. Priscilla then spent more than 10 years exploring the world of opera, where her talent as a mezzo-soprano deepened her understanding of sound produced by the human voice.

"When Priscilla gave birth to her son Tomas, her instincts as a mother and musician led her to believe that a baby’s cries had to be something more than just random sounds. Noting combinations of sounds in a journal, Priscilla explored various settling techniques and observed Tom’s reactions. Eventually she was able to recognize patterns, and identify how specific cries had a distinct need attached to them."

4 comments:

aiyana's mom said...

i don't catch much Oprah, but I DVR'd this one! i couldn't wait to tell my km families about it. i had intended to find out more on Oprah's website, but it slipped my mind! thanks for the reminder, molly! my families will thank you for the info too!

Anonymous said...

This was *AMAZING*! Thanks, Molly!

Miss Sunny said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Miss Sunny said...

Thanks for sharing this! It ties in perfectly with my focus on language/communication for my Nov. blog. I can't wait to share this especially with my Village families!