Tuesday, 17 November 2009

• Carmen

  My younger brother Carmen is one of the most musically gifted people I know. He has a singing voice that is out of this world, and some would speculate that he has perfect pitch. He is so in touch with music, that he spends all his free time listening to it--and when he's not listening to it, he's singing it. He sings his own songs based on his emotions. He has distinct ones he sings when he is upset, when he is angry, and when he is happy. They are all amazing and beautiful in their own right, and fascinating to hear at any time.
  
  Of course, we have been unable to hone his musical gifts as he is almost entirely non-verbal and severely autistic.
  
  But still, there isn't a moment that passes that we are not made aware of his outstanding amount of musical ability. One example that comes to mind is the day that he started singing I-IV-V chord progressions out of nowhere. It was as though he intuitively understood how popular such progressions are in the music he listens to, and was able to extract the pattern from popular music. Of course, nobody in my family understood the implications here as they are all hopelessly unmusical (sorry guys, but you know it's true!). I don't think any amount of explanations from me would make it clear to them, either. 
  
  Not too long ago, my dad was working for a family whose daughter attended Ohio University for music therapy. This was exciting, not only because we had that in common, but my father knew a little about music therapy from Maureen. When he got to speak to Bonnie, he told her all about Carmen and she urged him to let her give him music therapy. For the past year or so now, he has seen her once a week for these sessions. 
  
  Now, those of you who know me, also know that Carmen has struggled a bit recently. Over the spring and summer, he had an increasing number of seizures, and he is very easily upset these days. Most days, he returns from school upset and crying (singing his "unhappy" song). We have been at a loss for what is causing this, or what could help. It is so painful and frustrating for our family, because we have no way of reaching out to him to offer comfort or peace, or no way of understanding what is truly bothering him.
  
  However, on Wednesdays he has music therapy... and those days he usually always smiling and happy during his sessions with Bonnie. I have been amazed to hear the difference in his attitudes on these occasions. It has always been a source of pride that he is performing so well, and this has only increased tenfold over the past couple sessions.
  
  Bonnie has been working on the piano with him. She started by asking him to repeat patterns that she would punch out on the keys. This turned into a game with him. He loved having HER follow HIM as he created patterns of his one, usually involving only one key. Very recently she decided to show him music, and she was teaching him how to choose different keys to make different notes in a song. She would write out the letter names of notes and play them while saying the note name to him. At first, he seemed totally uninterested, but that all changed.
  
  Yesterday during his session, Carmen sat down and played a series of notes all by himself. Bonnie wrote out a small group of note letters, and he found each one in the correct order. Of course, he was only hunting and pecking, as he will does not understand how to play specific rhythms or how to use both hands and all that. But the fact is, he is beginning to understand how to read music. Even if he is unable to learn how to read the staffs, he can identify note names and find them correctly on a piano.
  
  I almost broke down into tears upon hearing this. It is such an amazing story, and I still can't believe that the only main thing with which Carmen seems to identify is music. It was one of those moments that I will never forget for the rest of my life and I wanted to share this with some of my more musically inclined friends as further example of how deeply profound music therapy and music education can be. I have told some of you before that it is watching my brother that makes me feel as though nobody could ever deny the existence of God--it as though Carmen was brought to my family to give us hope that there is something moving way beyond what we can grasp on this plane, something pure and beautiful and healing.

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