"Throwing the stone farther": how music changed an autistic teenager's life
Marilia Gordinho
7/2/08
Last week was very important for Nicholas Krishnan, a 16 year-old from Michigan. Passionate about music, Krishnan traveled to Boston with his mother, his skills and a lot of courage, to attend a percussion festival organized by the Berklee College of Music. There would have been nothing unusual in that if it weren't for the fact that Nicholas has autism, a brain disorder that limits social interaction and communication and causes restricted and repetitive behavior.
It was the first time ever Berklee accepted a parent to stay in the dorms, although the college has had many other students with disabilities in the past. "Tony DeBlois, for example, has a degree from Berklee. He is severely autistic and a very successful professional piano player," said Dana Acker, Berklee's associate director of enrollment. Acker said that by accepting Nicholas meant the college had to make adjustments to ensure that he would have the same experience as every other student. "It is a case by case situation. Nicholas' mother was convinced that it was going to be a good experience for him so we made the exception of letting her stay with him in the dorms," Acker said.
The main concern they had, Acker said, was that they needed to make sure that his presence wouldn't be disruptive for the other students in the group. "Apparently his high functioning music skills were beneficial to the other kids, as well as to him," he said.
"From the minute I saw him I thought: he is a special person and he is a musician. I have to be a part of it, I want to be involved in this," said Luisa Mariano, a Berklee student and a Resident Assistant (RA), who was the first person to get in touch with the Krishnan family when they arrived at Berklee. Concerned about the way other students would deal with him, Mariano said that the presence of Shari, Nicholas' mother, was fundamental.
"Shari transmits a very positive energy to Nicholas and to everyone around them. When I understood that she was here to help and stay with him during the whole week I was more relaxed," Mariano said.
Nicholas was born with a very special musical gift: a perfect pitch, the ability to identify and name any note or sound, very common in people with disabilities like blindness or autism, according to the Autism Society of America (ASA), but rare in the music environment. "Only musicians understand what that is. The music community deals with autism much better than society," Shari said. To her, anyone who loves music could work with Nick. "It is more important to have people who understand music with him than people who understand autism," she said.
Shari said it is a challenge to get involved in situations that are not familiar. "I'm always afraid to take him to a different environment because his behavior is something that I can't control, and nor should I. It is his life, after all," she said. At the same time, she said she "always throws the stone farther than what he can reach." "Why take him to a high caliber school knowing that he is not as good as the others? To push him and take him to a new level, that's why. And it happens much better when you have people with common interests around him," she said. The joy of being able to contribute to a conversation, even if it is in form of music, is what brings Nicholas to life, Shari said.
Nicholas relationship with music began early in his life. "When Nick was two years old we lost him to autism," Shari said. "It was like he had been in a car accident. From one day to the other he lost the twinkle in his eye, would no longer look at us, and seemed to be incapable of verbally communicating." His parents decided to put him in touch with music, in hope that this might help him develop language. When he was three, he started taking Suzuki violin lessons, and as Shari said, this method helped him with some of his most difficult autism-related behavioral issues. "He couldn't play the instrument until he learned how to control his behavior, and this was an amazing learning experience for him."
In order to be able to talk to him and get some kind of response, Shari said she and her husband decided to learn more about world drumming. "I took some classes in African music during my Master's degree and I learned more about how drums talk. If I could learn how drums talk, I could teach my son how to talk." Shari said "We tapped, he tapped back. We were talking to each other through drums and it seemed like an absolute miracle."
But even though he had shown some response, he still wasn't able to talk. For four years, drumming acted as the only way Nicholas' parents could communicate with their son. What they didn't know was that his relationship with music was helping him develop language, even though he couldn't pronounce words.
When Nicholas was about 6 years old, he spoke his first word. "We were in a plane and I gave him a lollypop. Like always, I asked him what the flavor of the lollypop was, not expecting an answer. To our surprise, after a 20-minute delay, he answered my question 'it is root beer'-- I couldn't believe what had just happened. My husband and I couldn't stop crying and Nick couldn't stop repeating 'it is root beer, it is root beer'. People in the plane might have thought we were crazy," Shari said.
Playing percussion since he was 10, Nicholas has been developing his language and music skills by being actively involved with the music community. The fact that he has absolute pitch, Shari said, has opened many doors of opportunity--he has been in bands, choirs and performance ensembles in his school, which has brought much joy to him. "It has also introduced our family to the reality of how hard it is for others to reach and teach a kid like mine."
The challenge is to try to get Nicholas to learn music while his autism issues play out in the background, Shari said. "It is not that he is a great player. But the nice thing is that, through percussion activities, Nicholas can give something back to the community," she said. "Not only his abilities are well appreciated, but also he gets involved with different people and sees how kids his age socialize with each other in these places," Shari said. "I have also acquired a new motto: never ask someone else to do something with Nick that I realistically cannot do myself." Shari said she is the only one who can understand her son's needs. "His behavior issues are either telling me that he wants something or he wants to get away from something. I need to decipher every sign."
Shari has great plans to Nicholas. After high school, he is to attend a humanities college and may work with computers, once he is "tech savvy," she said. Also, it would be very nice if he could be involved with music in some way, she said. "Music is going to be a part of his life forever, and I'm very proud of what we have achieved so far."
Last week was very important for Nicholas Krishnan, a 16 year-old from Michigan. Passionate about music, Krishnan traveled to Boston with his mother, his skills and a lot of courage, to attend a percussion festival organized by the Berklee College of Music. There would have been nothing unusual in that if it weren't for the fact that Nicholas has autism, a brain disorder that limits social interaction and communication and causes restricted and repetitive behavior.
 |
It was the first time ever Berklee accepted a parent to stay in the dorms, although the college has had many other students with disabilities in the past. "Tony DeBlois, for example, has a degree from Berklee. He is severely autistic and a very successful professional piano player," said Dana Acker, Berklee's associate director of enrollment. Acker said that by accepting Nicholas meant the college had to make adjustments to ensure that he would have the same experience as every other student. "It is a case by case situation. Nicholas' mother was convinced that it was going to be a good experience for him so we made the exception of letting her stay with him in the dorms," Acker said.
 |
"From the minute I saw him I thought: he is a special person and he is a musician. I have to be a part of it, I want to be involved in this," said Luisa Mariano, a Berklee student and a Resident Assistant (RA), who was the first person to get in touch with the Krishnan family when they arrived at Berklee. Concerned about the way other students would deal with him, Mariano said that the presence of Shari, Nicholas' mother, was fundamental.
 |
Nicholas was born with a very special musical gift: a perfect pitch, the ability to identify and name any note or sound, very common in people with disabilities like blindness or autism, according to the Autism Society of America (ASA), but rare in the music environment. "Only musicians understand what that is. The music community deals with autism much better than society," Shari said. To her, anyone who loves music could work with Nick. "It is more important to have people who understand music with him than people who understand autism," she said.
 |
Nicholas relationship with music began early in his life. "When Nick was two years old we lost him to autism," Shari said. "It was like he had been in a car accident. From one day to the other he lost the twinkle in his eye, would no longer look at us, and seemed to be incapable of verbally communicating." His parents decided to put him in touch with music, in hope that this might help him develop language. When he was three, he started taking Suzuki violin lessons, and as Shari said, this method helped him with some of his most difficult autism-related behavioral issues. "He couldn't play the instrument until he learned how to control his behavior, and this was an amazing learning experience for him."
 Media Credit: Krishnan family's archive |
In order to be able to talk to him and get some kind of response, Shari said she and her husband decided to learn more about world drumming. "I took some classes in African music during my Master's degree and I learned more about how drums talk. If I could learn how drums talk, I could teach my son how to talk." Shari said "We tapped, he tapped back. We were talking to each other through drums and it seemed like an absolute miracle."
But even though he had shown some response, he still wasn't able to talk. For four years, drumming acted as the only way Nicholas' parents could communicate with their son. What they didn't know was that his relationship with music was helping him develop language, even though he couldn't pronounce words.
 Nick playing the mallets |
When Nicholas was about 6 years old, he spoke his first word. "We were in a plane and I gave him a lollypop. Like always, I asked him what the flavor of the lollypop was, not expecting an answer. To our surprise, after a 20-minute delay, he answered my question 'it is root beer'-- I couldn't believe what had just happened. My husband and I couldn't stop crying and Nick couldn't stop repeating 'it is root beer, it is root beer'. People in the plane might have thought we were crazy," Shari said.
Playing percussion since he was 10, Nicholas has been developing his language and music skills by being actively involved with the music community. The fact that he has absolute pitch, Shari said, has opened many doors of opportunity--he has been in bands, choirs and performance ensembles in his school, which has brought much joy to him. "It has also introduced our family to the reality of how hard it is for others to reach and teach a kid like mine."
The challenge is to try to get Nicholas to learn music while his autism issues play out in the background, Shari said. "It is not that he is a great player. But the nice thing is that, through percussion activities, Nicholas can give something back to the community," she said. "Not only his abilities are well appreciated, but also he gets involved with different people and sees how kids his age socialize with each other in these places," Shari said. "I have also acquired a new motto: never ask someone else to do something with Nick that I realistically cannot do myself." Shari said she is the only one who can understand her son's needs. "His behavior issues are either telling me that he wants something or he wants to get away from something. I need to decipher every sign."
Shari has great plans to Nicholas. After high school, he is to attend a humanities college and may work with computers, once he is "tech savvy," she said. Also, it would be very nice if he could be involved with music in some way, she said. "Music is going to be a part of his life forever, and I'm very proud of what we have achieved so far."