this is an email i got today from mr. howell and it made me happy...it's good, read it
I want to tell you about something wonderful that happened at our school
yesterday. "Sam" (not his real name), is a 10 year old boy in our Life Skills
program. These are kids who need special care during school. Sam was born
with a number of birth defects. He is also autistic. I see him every morning
when he gets off the special bus that brings him to school. Someone has to
hold his hand to get him into school. He can walk, but he doesn't look where
he's walking- his head is always tilted up and to the right. He can say a few
words, but he rarely speaks. He never smiles- just walks around with his
little mouth wide open like a little bird waiting to be fed.
He has always touched my heart. I have wondered what God's purpose for this
little boy is. What kind of life does he really have? Sometimes it makes me
very sad. Last week, he got off the bus, and when he went by me with his aide
(someone must always be with him), he looked at me and smiled. He stopped, and
came over and hugged me. No sound, just a giant squeeze.
That really set me to thinking!
His teacher is a friend of mine- I've had her kids in orchestra and private
lessons. She called me yesterday morning and told me that someone had given
her a set of handbells- 8 of them, in the key of C. Sam was watching her as
she took the out of the box, rang each of them and put them in scale order.
These are for children, so each is a different color. She played Mary Had a
Little Lamb for him, and began to put the bells away as he seemed uninterested.
As she got a few bells in the box, Sam said, "More!" So, she let him have the
bells. He rand each one and lined them up, but not in scale order. He then
played Mary Had a Little Lamb for her- perfectly! Perfect rhythm, no missed
notes- perfect! She was astonished, and picked up the phone to tell me. We
decided that she should talk to him to see if she could get any clues to his
obvious relationship with music. He said a word that sounded like "piano."
She brought Sam to my room so he could sit at my piano. First, she put out the
handbells on the piano bench. Sam immediately arranged them in his preferred
order. I think he does this by color. I asked him to play for me, and got a
nice rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb. I asked him if he wanted to play
the piano. He climbed up on the bench and opened the piano himself. He just
looked at me, waiting for permission to play. I told him to go ahead and play
for us.
He played a one hand melody. I couldn't figure the song out- it wasn't
current- wasn't a nursery rhyme. Then it hit me- Sam was playing the old
Beatles song- Let It Be. What a poignant moment! He played it over and over-
I don't think he would ever stop. We asked him if he could play Mary Had a
Little Lamb on the piano. He played it- perfectly!
This is a little boy who needs help all day long to accomplish the most mundane
of daily tasks. Yet, he has this music in him! This is God's Hand. We don't
know what His plan is. We don't know what he has in mind for any of us. But,
I will never again make any judgement about the quality of life or life's worth
of anyone! This has taught me a valuable lesson.
So, what are we going to do about Sam? I spoke to our music teacher, and she's
going to give him piano "lessons". She's never worked with a kid like Sam, but
she's going to show him as much as possible. We want to see if he can play
with two hands. No telling what a little two part harmony might awake in his
little brain! I never use the piano in my room, so it's going to the Life
Skills room today so Sam can play it any time he wants.
I'll let you know how my newest protege progresses!
Joe
Joseph D. Howell
Orchestra Director
Grangerland Intermediate School
yesterday. "Sam" (not his real name), is a 10 year old boy in our Life Skills
program. These are kids who need special care during school. Sam was born
with a number of birth defects. He is also autistic. I see him every morning
when he gets off the special bus that brings him to school. Someone has to
hold his hand to get him into school. He can walk, but he doesn't look where
he's walking- his head is always tilted up and to the right. He can say a few
words, but he rarely speaks. He never smiles- just walks around with his
little mouth wide open like a little bird waiting to be fed.
He has always touched my heart. I have wondered what God's purpose for this
little boy is. What kind of life does he really have? Sometimes it makes me
very sad. Last week, he got off the bus, and when he went by me with his aide
(someone must always be with him), he looked at me and smiled. He stopped, and
came over and hugged me. No sound, just a giant squeeze.
That really set me to thinking!
His teacher is a friend of mine- I've had her kids in orchestra and private
lessons. She called me yesterday morning and told me that someone had given
her a set of handbells- 8 of them, in the key of C. Sam was watching her as
she took the out of the box, rang each of them and put them in scale order.
These are for children, so each is a different color. She played Mary Had a
Little Lamb for him, and began to put the bells away as he seemed uninterested.
As she got a few bells in the box, Sam said, "More!" So, she let him have the
bells. He rand each one and lined them up, but not in scale order. He then
played Mary Had a Little Lamb for her- perfectly! Perfect rhythm, no missed
notes- perfect! She was astonished, and picked up the phone to tell me. We
decided that she should talk to him to see if she could get any clues to his
obvious relationship with music. He said a word that sounded like "piano."
She brought Sam to my room so he could sit at my piano. First, she put out the
handbells on the piano bench. Sam immediately arranged them in his preferred
order. I think he does this by color. I asked him to play for me, and got a
nice rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb. I asked him if he wanted to play
the piano. He climbed up on the bench and opened the piano himself. He just
looked at me, waiting for permission to play. I told him to go ahead and play
for us.
He played a one hand melody. I couldn't figure the song out- it wasn't
current- wasn't a nursery rhyme. Then it hit me- Sam was playing the old
Beatles song- Let It Be. What a poignant moment! He played it over and over-
I don't think he would ever stop. We asked him if he could play Mary Had a
Little Lamb on the piano. He played it- perfectly!
This is a little boy who needs help all day long to accomplish the most mundane
of daily tasks. Yet, he has this music in him! This is God's Hand. We don't
know what His plan is. We don't know what he has in mind for any of us. But,
I will never again make any judgement about the quality of life or life's worth
of anyone! This has taught me a valuable lesson.
So, what are we going to do about Sam? I spoke to our music teacher, and she's
going to give him piano "lessons". She's never worked with a kid like Sam, but
she's going to show him as much as possible. We want to see if he can play
with two hands. No telling what a little two part harmony might awake in his
little brain! I never use the piano in my room, so it's going to the Life
Skills room today so Sam can play it any time he wants.
I'll let you know how my newest protege progresses!
Joe
Joseph D. Howell
Orchestra Director
Grangerland Intermediate School