My son, Gabriel Weidner, is a wonderful, cheerful 6-year-old who LOVES music. Gabriel is a huge fan of The Rolling Stones, “Paint it Black” is his favorite song, but he also enjoys “She’s a Rainbow” and “Sympathy for the Devil”. Gabriel has autism and cognitive and physical delays, and speech has always been a challenge for him. He loves music in a way my husband and I can’t comprehend.
We’ve been paying out of pocket for Gabriel’s music sessions at Heartstring Melodies for over a year. Our family is committed to continuing to send him to his music therapy sessions, however our insurance will not cover any part of it. As you can imagine, the costs add up fast, so we sought support from Avenues for Autism.
We are so thankful to have been provided financial assistance through The Suzanne Tyner Autism Fund at Avenues for Autism. We are using the funds to help Gabriel’s continue his music therapy sessions at Heartstring Melodies. His sessions have been a huge help in improving his communication skills, executive function, and, most importantly, nurturing his passion for music. Gabriel looks forward to his sessions and uses his tablet throughout the week to talk to us about Ms. Jaclyn and the various things they worked on and did. There aren’t many people in Gabriel’s life that he talks about when they’re not there; Ms. Jaclyn is one of the few. My husband and I aren’t very musically inclined, but being able to provide Gabriel with access to music therapy has been a huge blessing, and we feel fortunate to be able to give him this opportunity. Ms. Jacyln goes at Gabe’s pace and lets him choose what they’re listening to and singing. Gabriel has a unique taste in music (Rolling Stones, Beetles, and Blipps mainly), and Ms. Jaclyn just rolls with it. Thank you, Avenues for Autism for helping provide this amazing therapy to Gabriel!
