Music is the food for soul and when it comes to autism and other disabilities, music has a much deeper meaning in most of the cases.
It is always a great pleasure for people when inclusion is provided for their dear ones who are living with disabilities. It leaves many parents and caregivers happy and thankful to see how their children are able to enjoy the activities like others because we as mainstreamers do not even think twice about the privilege we have of being able to sit through a movie, concert, lights and noise without having sensory overload. When I found out about the Dallas symphony hosting a sensory friendly concert, I signed up for it right away. It was a free event!! The people booking me on the phone were so awesome, made the experience very easy and followed up with me on the email if I needed anything else. This showed me how genuinely the whole DSO community was on same page to help people like us. Our son who is on the spectrum and loves music (not a surprise) looked forward to the event the whole week!
Great time we had! We cherished our 16 year old sitting and being himself just as I am sure a lot of others around were enjoying their special ones. The concert had tons of accommodations for people with sensory needs – the lights were brighter and the volume adjusted; there was a quiet room in case someone wanted a break. Prior to the concert there were fun booths offering “instrument petting” along with informational booths. After the concert, during the casual reception couple of friendly orchestra members were taking “requests” for patron’s favorite notes! They played Hellelujah from Shrek for us.
The concert was conducted by Jaap Van Zweden who is touched by autism. He is a world renown music figure and his performance was so much meangingful to this special audience– it for sure matched with our son’s heartbeat and internal rhythm. He came out very happy.
So thankful to the DSO for being a wonderful community partner and providing the Dallas auties and families with great afternoon! Not to mention it was a free event. Already looking forward to next spring!
