“And the winner is…” This was it. I was shaking in my chair, sitting in front of my computer wearing my nicest button shirt. I was in the Zoom waiting room. Whoever won Best Film for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge would be brought on live to get their reaction and say a few words. It wouldn’t be me, would it? I didn’t even know how I had gotten this far. Out of 87 amazing films, I had … [Read more...]
Co-Writing as an Autistic Songwriter
I was shaking as we neared the address where we were all supposed to meet. What if I froze up? What if they overlooked my ideas? Or worst of all, what if I had nothing to contribute? I was heading into my very first team songwriting experience and I had no idea what to expect. How did I get here? Well, back in 2019, before Covid-19 hit, my worship leader was talking about how our church was going to start … [Read more...]
Relative Pitch Vs. Perfect Pitch- The Story of Two Autistic Musicians
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.Sunny Cefaratti Jennifer: Hi everybody, I would like to introduce you to Sunny, who I met years ago. I remember I was at a conference, an … [Read more...]
Sia’s New Movie ‘Music’- An Autistic Adult’s View
The most controversial scene in Sia’s new movie Music is where Zu, played by Kate Hudson, restrains her half-sister Music, played by Maddie Ziegler face down (prone) in the middle of a park. The moments leading up to the restraint show Music hitting herself and making vocalizations as if going into a meltdown. If you have the stomach for it, you can watch the clip here. Although at the time of this … [Read more...]
Life as an Autistic Songwriter – Jennifer Msumba
Hi! My name is Jennifer Msumba and I am an autistic musician, writer and filmmaker from Florida. I am excited to be a new writer for The Musical Autist blog. I will be bringing you content about songwriting, recording and how to get your music out to the world. Sometimes, as autistic artists, we get overlooked or underestimated when it comes to our work. We are often labeled an “inspiration”- as if we … [Read more...]
Call for Autistic Guest Bloggers!
TMA Co-Founder Sunny makes a call for guest bloggers for the TMA website! Learn more about what we're looking for in the video below, and contact us at themusicalautist@gmail.com if you're interested in sharing your voice with us this fall. Read our latest guest blog post here: https://themusicalautist.org/guest-post-music-therapy-as-an-autistic-music-therapist/ … [Read more...]