Music by the Neotypicals for FREE!

I Want to mention that all Autism Awareness Month Giveaways are open until May 1st, so please enter to win any and all that you would like.

Long before we knew Matthew had any serious problems, my husband and I had decided to send him to a Music Together class. He loved it. I took him once a week to the class where we listened to music and he could interact with the other children and get up and “play” with the music. He was to learn how to audiate the music and lyrics in his head. We played the songs at home and in the car. He loved it and responded so well that we kept him in the class for at least eight cycles. I truly believe that his appreciation of music is one of the reasons Matthew learned to speak and why he continues to respond to music of all sorts. Music has a way of touching our souls unlike any other medium. We are connected to music and often we fiercely defend our choice in music preference. It is primal. It is Godly.

I was lucky enough to find The Neotypicals. They are Angela and Christopher Skillern, and they are the parents of a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Like many of us with children on the ASD, Angie and Chris struggled to bring their child back into the world. They successfully recovered their son and decided they wanted to give back to a community that they knew all too well. Angie decided she needed to put her experiences into song and Chris took up the challenge. Together they produced their first CD, Tales from the Spectrum. It contains ten original songs about what it means to be a family dealing with Autism and biomedical approaches. I personally love the lyrics to His Wings. It reminds me so much of Matthew and where he was just a few years ago. My Biggest Hero reflects exactly how I feel about Matthew and the fact that he has to work harder than most children I know. How he perseveres and how he gains ground. He really is amazing. But I also want to mention the song I See You, because although Matthew is our child that has an ASD, Nico must live with it too. Nico is “normal” and he doesn’t require all the extras that Matthew does. But it doesn’t make him any less special, and like other siblings of ASD kids, Nico needs to know that “I See You”.

I am really excited about today’s giveaway. Chris and Angie of the Neotypicals have offered a copy of their CD to one of my readers.

Mandatory Entry: Take a minute to go check out the Neotypicals, back here and leave a comment telling me what song speaks to you most. Please remember to leave a valid email address, your blog address or some way to contact you if you win.

Extra Entries: You can earn extra chances to win just by doing any or all of the following. Leave a comment for each of the things you do, but you MUST fulfill the Mandatory Entry first.

• Add Matthews Puzzle to your Twitter and Tweet the contest. Leave your Tweet Link!
• Blog about the contest – add a link to Matthews Puzzle and the Sponsor
• Add Matthews Puzzle button to your site OR add Matthews Puzzle to your blog roll.
• Follow Matthews Puzzle publicly – see Follow button in left sidebar.
• Go to Generation Rescue, read a bit about Autism and then come back here and tell me something you learned.
• Go to Age of Autism, read an article and come back here and tell me something you learned.

Contest Ends May 1st at 11:59 PM EDT. If the prize is not claimed within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen. I will email the prize winner and also post winners names here on this post. Winner will be chosen at Random – I will use Random.com to select the winner. Contest is open to US residents only.