The Musical Autist

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Creating Platforms for Autistic Culture and Advocacy through Community Music Therapy

  • About Us
    • What is a “musical autist”?
  • Elevating Autistic Musicians
  • Blog & Announcements
  • Sensory Friendly Concerts
  • Empowerment Jam Sessions
  • Troupes
Subscribe to our newsletter and blog posts

An awesome first year for The Musical Autist

December 11, 2011 by The Musical Autist 2 Comments

When I first started blogging here, I always wrote in the third person, because my vision for this web address is for it to be run by autistic self advocates themselves. So I feel I should preface now, for the record – this is CJ, and it will continue to be me blogging, until you read otherwise.  Just one of many goals for Musical Autist Academy though, is that my students will grow into these roles of blogging, posting, website running etc.

I am so continually blown away at what has developed in the past year, for the The Musical Autist, which I lovingly refer to as “my brain child.”   Doors opening every direction I turn.  Clear paths, clear ideas.  Right places at right times. I acknowledge and thank God for all this.

Like for example: (1) successfully continuing to pilot foundational concepts and constructs for “Sensory-Friendly Concerts”, over the past eight months… Gaining a Board of Directors (one of whom, has turned into my husband-to-be :^) …. working towards non-profit status…. Autism Society donating us 10 sets of noise-reduction headphones….

(2) being given a website by Aaron Hartland, (thank you Aaron a million times over, you rock!!) where musically autistic people can go to be inspired, and consider the meaning of self-advocacy…

(3) nearing the end of all coursework needed to get my MT-BC (Music Therapist-Board Certified)… being given the grace to commute 2.5 hrs each way, to the closest school where I can get this postgraduate education…

(4) being given the space at my home church (an office, a big room where my kids can bounce around, a nice piano, room for all my bazillion instruments…) for Musical Autist Academy, for my students to learn and grow….

(5) Giving the kids on the spectrum, in my local community, every opportunity to hear good, live music, (in an atmosphere they can tolerate and which gives them respect) from so many fantastic local jazz and classical musicians, and to experience the satisfaction of performing on stage for themselves… getting a grant from Rob Levit and his “brain child”, Creating Communities for the past four concerts….

All of these goals and pure gifts constantly interweave and compliment each other.

I am so thrilled about the Sensory-Friendly Holiday Concert last night!  Eytan Nisinzweig is such a talented gentleman, and his family is an awesome inspiration to anyone who wants to see autistic people thrive in a neurotypical world, utilizing every gift they’ve been given.

The only reason I started this blog and SF Concerts in the first place, is because I searched and searched for things like it, for my students.  For their musical brains to be fed!  🙂  The only thing I could find is Music for Autism, and they are really great, (I’ve met their past president and several people on their Board) but they are also a really a big national production, and they only do concerts in a few major cities.  I have a huge vision to see concerts like this just grow like grassroots.  I’ve got very strong beliefs and values in local community (but more blogs on “thrivin’ it local” later).

The past 8 months of  Sensory-Friendly Concerts have been rewarding, overwhelming, exhilarating, super-challenging, super-emotional (seeing my autistic students receiving applause for the first time in their lives, from 50+ people, trust me it’s a tear-jerker), motivating, inspiring….I could go on….

I already have so many ideas for next year’s Sensory-Friendly Concerts.  We’re going to start again in March, by the way.  Until then, I’m really looking forward to blogging about what I’ve learned in the past eight months.  If you are a music therapist, or a person affected by autism, I would love your feedback.

 .

Share & Comment:

  • Tweet

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Carol Diachenko says

    December 12, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    What a beautifully written blog of what has happened in the past year! It is an honor to be ‘on the inside” and see these miracles unfolding before our eyes! People are being blessed, lives are being enriched and new horizons are being reached! Good job, Christy!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Maven Sponsor Shout-Out! | Music Therapy Maven says:
    December 12, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    […] CJ Diachenko. It just celebrated it’s one-year anniversary (congratulations Ms. CJ!) and has many accomplishments to show for it (including a highly successful Sensory-Friendly Concert series). CJ celebrated her blogging […]

    Reply

Share Your Comments & Feedback: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

elevatingautisticmusicians

11

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Mar 15

Open
Last Main Street Wauchula open mic of the season. Finished it out with a bang @mainstreetwauchula

Last Main Street Wauchula open mic of the season. Finished it out with a bang @mainstreetwauchula ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Mar 12

Open
Do you have stage fright? As an autistic musician I struggled with this a lot. Even neurotypical people suffer from stage fright. Learn how to change your mindset and overcome this in our newest blog article. As always...link in bio.

Do you have stage fright? As an autistic musician I struggled with this a lot. Even neurotypical people suffer from stage fright. Learn how to change your mindset and overcome this in our newest blog article. As always...link in bio. ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Mar 3

Open
How @jennifermsumba turned a quirky little song she wrote into an award winning film! Link in bio. @disabilityfilmchallenge @eastersealssocal @nicnovicki @elevatingautisticmusicians #autisticmusician #filmmaking #songwriting #originalmusic

How @jennifermsumba turned a quirky little song she wrote into an award winning film! Link in bio. @disabilityfilmchallenge @eastersealssocal @nicnovicki @elevatingautisticmusicians #autisticmusician #filmmaking #songwriting #originalmusic ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Feb 23

Open
NEW blog post about co-songwriting and autism, link in bio. “I can hear it.” He said. And he started playing some chords on his guitar as I shyly sang the melody I had been thinking of. From there we took off! Verse and chorus ideas were flowing. I was contributing even more lines from my book and other new lines right on the spot! We were smiling and laughing and singing. When it came time to write the bridge, the melody and phrasing came up through me and we wrote the lines in minutes! What a beautiful moment in time. #songwriting #songwritingsession #autism #autisticmusician @rebrandingautism @elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist

NEW blog post about co-songwriting and autism, link in bio. “I can hear it.” He said. And he started playing some chords on his guitar as I shyly sang the melody I had been thinking of. From there we took off! Verse and chorus ideas were flowing. I was contributing even more lines from my book and other new lines right on the spot! We were smiling and laughing and singing. When it came time to write the bridge, the melody and phrasing came up through me and we wrote the lines in minutes! What a beautiful moment in time. #songwriting #songwritingsession #autism #autisticmusician @rebrandingautism @elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Feb 18

Open
What is our new program Elevating Autistic Musicians all about?
#autism #music #autisticmusicians @elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist

What is our new program Elevating Autistic Musicians all about?
#autism #music #autisticmusicians @elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist
...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Feb 17

Open
Get to know autistic musician Sunny Ceferatti and Learn more about Relative Pitch vs. Perfect Pitch in our newest blog article! Link in bio. 
Photo description: Young Asian woman sitting on a couch chair in front of a fire place. Photo text says- Music has had a positive impact on me. I can’t really articulate the emotions that I feel about when I’m really into a song. My voice gets louder and I guess my emotions would be like passion. And like if the song has really powerful lyrics, yeah. I can connect with them. A quote by Sunny Ceferatti #autism #autisticmusicians #perfectpitch #relativepitch #music #musician @elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist @sunnycefaratti @rebrandingautism

Get to know autistic musician Sunny Ceferatti and Learn more about Relative Pitch vs. Perfect Pitch in our newest blog article! Link in bio.
Photo description: Young Asian woman sitting on a couch chair in front of a fire place. Photo text says- Music has had a positive impact on me. I can’t really articulate the emotions that I feel about when I’m really into a song. My voice gets louder and I guess my emotions would be like passion. And like if the song has really powerful lyrics, yeah. I can connect with them. A quote by Sunny Ceferatti #autism #autisticmusicians #perfectpitch #relativepitch #music #musician @elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist @sunnycefaratti @rebrandingautism
...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Feb 8

Open
Relative Pitch vs. Perfect Pitch- when I was 14 years old, I discovered my ability to play songs by ear. We were visiting my brother at his college, and when we entered one of the buildings and I heard the most beautiful piano music being played. I immediately recognized it as George Winston’s “Joy”. I had always wanted to be able to play his music, but at the time he did not print sheets. So I asked this young man, how did you learn that? And he shrugged his shoulders and said “I just listened to it”. The whole ride home I thought about what he said while listening to GW’s December album on my CD Walkman lol. I said to myself, “I can do that too”. Follow us here and on our website (link in bio) for my upcoming article with the rest of this story. I will also discuss Relative Pitch vs. Perfect Pitch, which one I have, and the differences between them. You can also follow me at @rebrandingautism @georgewinstonpiano #autisticmusician #autismandmusic #perfectpitch

Relative Pitch vs. Perfect Pitch- when I was 14 years old, I discovered my ability to play songs by ear. We were visiting my brother at his college, and when we entered one of the buildings and I heard the most beautiful piano music being played. I immediately recognized it as George Winston’s “Joy”. I had always wanted to be able to play his music, but at the time he did not print sheets. So I asked this young man, how did you learn that? And he shrugged his shoulders and said “I just listened to it”. The whole ride home I thought about what he said while listening to GW’s December album on my CD Walkman lol. I said to myself, “I can do that too”. Follow us here and on our website (link in bio) for my upcoming article with the rest of this story. I will also discuss Relative Pitch vs. Perfect Pitch, which one I have, and the differences between them. You can also follow me at @rebrandingautism @georgewinstonpiano #autisticmusician #autismandmusic #perfectpitch ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Feb 6

Open
An autistic adults thoughts on Sia’s new film ‘music’ which casts a neurotypical actress as an autistic character. Follow our link in bio for the full article. Written by: @rebrandingautism  @siamusic #autism @communication_first #autisticmusician @disabilityfilmchallenge

An autistic adults thoughts on Sia’s new film ‘music’ which casts a neurotypical actress as an autistic character. Follow our link in bio for the full article. Written by: @rebrandingautism @siamusic #autism @communication_first #autisticmusician @disabilityfilmchallenge ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Feb 5

Open
🎹🎸🎤🎧A quote from today’s blog post by @rebrandingautism Click link in bio for the full story written by autistic musician, writer and filmmaker Jennifer Msumba. Follow us here for lots more content to come written by and for #autistic musicians! #autisticmusician #autism #autismacceptance #music

🎹🎸🎤🎧A quote from today’s blog post by @rebrandingautism Click link in bio for the full story written by autistic musician, writer and filmmaker Jennifer Msumba. Follow us here for lots more content to come written by and for #autistic musicians! #autisticmusician #autism #autismacceptance #music ...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Jan 26

Open
Everybody, meet Jade!

Jade Excell is a 12 year old autistic student musician from Maryland. She has been studying with Groove Studios - Ukulele , druming and singing in a disability inclusive music program and at the Academy of fine Arts in Gaithersburg, classical piano. She has been playing in talent shows in her school and community for the last 5 years and in 2020 was accepted to be part of the Maryland Fine Arts office yearly Celebration of artists. Jade was accepted into the Middle School Percussion Ensemble at Mason Community Arts Academy, George Mason University in 2019 to play percussion. Jade released 6 cover songs when she was only  8 on Spotify of her favourite songs. She has since learnt by ear her favourite songs from Nickjr, Disneyjr on ukulele and shared those on her instagram @Jadie_autistic_musician and facebook pages- Autismgirlsandmusic. She loves kid music, R& B music and classical music. Jade you rock!! 🎹🥁🎤 #autisticmusician #elevatingautisticmusicians #autism #musician

Everybody, meet Jade!

Jade Excell is a 12 year old autistic student musician from Maryland. She has been studying with Groove Studios - Ukulele , druming and singing in a disability inclusive music program and at the Academy of fine Arts in Gaithersburg, classical piano. She has been playing in talent shows in her school and community for the last 5 years and in 2020 was accepted to be part of the Maryland Fine Arts office yearly Celebration of artists. Jade was accepted into the Middle School Percussion Ensemble at Mason Community Arts Academy, George Mason University in 2019 to play percussion. Jade released 6 cover songs when she was only 8 on Spotify of her favourite songs. She has since learnt by ear her favourite songs from Nickjr, Disneyjr on ukulele and shared those on her instagram @Jadie_autistic_musician and facebook pages- Autismgirlsandmusic. She loves kid music, R& B music and classical music. Jade you rock!! 🎹🥁🎤 #autisticmusician #elevatingautisticmusicians #autism #musician
...

elevatingautisticmusicians

View

Jan 17

Open
Today we would like to feature Micah @rock_on_micah who is a 19 year old autistic musician. He has had a love for music for many years and he started an all  music YouTube channel in June 2020. Together with his dad they are a two man band called The Positive Autism. Micah is on vocals, keyboards and harmonica. His dad plays guitar and bass. They write and produce original songs, covers and even take requests! In November Micah released his first album of original songs called Autism Rocks! I Am Micah on iTunes, Amazon and all the digital platforms. Way to go Micah!! You can also find him on his YouTube channel Autism Rocks- Music by the Positive Autism. Micah thank you so much for sharing your talent and your story with us 😃 #autisticmusician #elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist

Today we would like to feature Micah @rock_on_micah who is a 19 year old autistic musician. He has had a love for music for many years and he started an all music YouTube channel in June 2020. Together with his dad they are a two man band called The Positive Autism. Micah is on vocals, keyboards and harmonica. His dad plays guitar and bass. They write and produce original songs, covers and even take requests! In November Micah released his first album of original songs called Autism Rocks! I Am Micah on iTunes, Amazon and all the digital platforms. Way to go Micah!! You can also find him on his YouTube channel Autism Rocks- Music by the Positive Autism. Micah thank you so much for sharing your talent and your story with us 😃 #autisticmusician #elevatingautisticmusicians @themusicalautist ...

Follow on Instagram

 

Connect With Us

Want to keep up with everything that's going on at The Musical Autist? Follow us across our Social Networks.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Recent Blog Posts

  • Troupe 2022 Cookout!
  • Support Neurodivergent Musicians!
  • Autism and the Artistic Eye
  • SWAP Autistic Acceptance Compilation Album Blog Post

Copyright ©  2020 The Musical Autist · All Rights Reserved · Log in