Tapping the potential of special abilities
by Bob
October is disability awareness month, and in Milwaukee County, we’ve given this month a special theme: Tap the Potential. I love that theme because it speaks to what we miss if we don’t engage people with autism and other disabilities in mainstream society. We miss their talents and abilities, and there is so much there that we could benefit from.
Derek Paravacini, for example. He’s 32, from the United Kingdom, and such a talent. He is blind and lives with autism, and he played to a sold-out audience in London recently. People describe him as the “human iPod” — you play him a tune, and he plays it back perfectly.
A story about Paravacini on the ABC News web site reported that people with autism often show a particular affinity for music. The story quoted Lori Warner, a psychologist and the director of the HOPE Center at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan, describing the way music can open a pathway to emotion and communication that might otherwise be closed to people with autism. “It’s a way to connect without the use of words, but still get that emotion, that feeling,” she said. “It’s especially appealing if your ability to use language is somewhat limited.”
The story also mentioned that Paravacini is a big Gershwin fan. Seems appropriate that a man without sight would be drawn to the rhythms of Gershwin.
I guess as we continue to learn more about the human mind and assure people with autism and other disabilities that they are truly a part of our community, we can tap more potential. It would be ‘S Wonderful don’t you think?
I’d love to hear the special abilities that someone you love with disability has. Tell us.