In June 2020 The Music Man Project released a video for my new song 'Have You Ever Stopped to Think'. It featured beautiful photographs of our musicians as babies. In this series of blogs, I delve behind the pictures to reveal the stories behind the babies...
Here is Thomas' story, told by his mum...
Thomas was a very quiet baby. When he did not seem to make any progress in terms of his speech, we saw our GP and went through hearing test after hearing test. We were told he was deaf. I didn’t believe this as he could hear the rustle of a biscuit packet at 100 yards with the door closed!
When he started to stand in front of the TV looking into it, as if he was trying to see what was in there, and began lining up his trains in perfect lines, that was my “lightbulb “ moment. I suspected Autism.
With a lot of discussions, we eventually got to see a Paediatrician. The words Social Communication Disorder were mentioned. Being a pushy Occupational Therapist, I pressed, and it was narrowed down to ‘moderate to severe Autism’.
Then came the kicker!! I was encouraged not to expect much. It was likely he would not speak, read or write and would be in nappies. I needed to prepare that he would need care all of his life.
It has been a fight all of his life to get appropriate therapy and special education for him. It has taken time, frustration and bucket loads of patience to teach him to read, write, tie his laces (7 years of practice on that one). He is never going to be Einstein or hold down a job, but I would not change him for the world.
He has always liked music and we have had many car karaoke sessions. The Music Man project has given us all so much pleasure. He has a lot of friends, some who sing, some who sign, and they have a brilliant time.
So, for my little boy, who is now 6 ft 2, to have sung a solo in front of 3000 people at the Royal Albert Hall is a huge achievement!
What have I taken from this:
Never give up.
Don’t take no for an answer.
Accept and celebrate all the achievements but keep striving for more.
