Ben’s Music, and Joy, Returns

Nothing, but nothing, sums up the joy of vaccinations more than the resumption of Ben’s music therapy sessions. He just had his first one.

Ben’s weekly hour of music therapy with Julie was a genuine highlight of, not just his week, but his life. And then came covid.

Actually, Ben’s done pretty well with this whole pandemic ordeal, thanks in large part to the exceptional people who work with him. And things like increased frequency of van rides and walks have helped replace the loss of his day program. But there’s simply no replacing the hour of keyboarding and song sheets, of tambourines and maracas, of game song sing alongs and Here Comes The Sun.

And our poor Benny boy (er, Benny man) has lived for exactly one year without it. Any of it. It all disappeared along with his day program and even, for awhile, seeing us — loss after loss after loss. He’s heard us say, “We’ll be able to do [this or that] again once the virus is over,” more times than we can count. And he’s rolled with it. He seems to get it, and the fact that his Mommy-Daddy-time regimen has maintained the required doses of Five Guys, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Luna Bakery… well, Half Price Books can wait.

But we knew music therapy was among the things Ben missed most.

As time passes, his love for music only deepens. Raffi, Joel Frankel’s Don’t Sit On A Cactus, and (OMG), even Mary Poppins have become rare requests, replaced by Sam Bush’s Late as Usual, his album with David Grisman (Hold On, We’re Strumming), and, especially, Bela Fleck’s Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Volume 2: The Bluegrass Sessions. Those are mainly instrumental albums, and Fleck’s is a flat-out masterpiece clocking in at 70 minutes, to which he listens straight through. Add to that Chris Thile and Nickel Creek albums and over time, we have miraculously been weaned from that fuc…, I mean, that danged Raffi. (OK, Ben still requests Disney Channel Holiday every time; Keke Palmer’s “Home for the Holidays” is his favorite track, plus we get BOTH Miley Cyrus and her Hanna Montana alter ego, but at least that CD has catchy ear candy aimed at tweens and teens instead of the pre-school crowd. With autism, one learns to count one’s blessings.)

Karen describes his love and appreciation for music as Ben’s savant-like skill. Lately, besides those albums I’ve already mentioned, he’s been enjoying Thelonious Monk, Mike Marshall & Darol Anger, Bach, The Dirty Bourbon River Show, Tony Rice, and on and on. His tastes are more eclectic than most people I know, and he listens with full attention. Often, when we park, he puts his hand on my arm to let me know he wants us to remain in the car until a track is over.

Ben comes by it honestly. Music is a big deal in the Royko family, nuclear and extended, with professional and semi-professional musicians all over the place — aunts, uncles, cousins, his Dad, his brother Jake — and if you happen to be whistling a movement from a Beethoven symphony, his Mom will tell you which one it is. Go genes!

Speaking of Mary Poppins, when Julie arrives to begin a session, she has a big satchel from which she pulls one thing after another, Mary Poppins-like (and it’s a movie scene Ben likes). We can only imagine Ben’s delight when each object reappeared in his bedroom and his life.

Julie’s email describes it better than I can:

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Today’s session with Ben went great! He jumped right back into the schedule. He had little smiles throughout, and let out an “Everyone is special!” half way through. I’m so glad we are back to music. Making music with Ben was truly one of my top, “I can’t wait ‘till we can _____” activities. Thursdays just feel right again. I hope you enjoy the pictures of Ben hard at work.

Some of Ben’s smiles were during:
-his instrument choice: kokoriko is a favorite;
-playing a piano app on the iPad (he also did amazing with an unexpected wait time during this!);
-playing the piano with letter coded music;
-singing some of his favorite songs — Here Comes the Sun had a whole new meaning today.

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I’ll say.