Day 53 – Song for the Heart

Today I was with Harry and had a wonderful time in his company. 
 

One of the symptoms of Harry’s autism is that he has difficulty with noise. However, he still likes to listen to music, but certain music gives him discomfort and he will either block his ears, turn the volume down or even turn the music off.

On days I care for him we drive to do his chosen activity and I play CD’s in the car. In the beginning Harry would often turn the volume down or even turn the music off … so much for my musical tastes! … J

Then one day I had a Mormon Tabernacle Choir (MTC) CD in the car and as I turned on the ignition to drive off the music came blaring out of the speakers. Worried about Harry I immediately turned it down, but to my surprise he immediately turned it up again!

It subsequently turned out that he simply loves the MTC, a fact neither I nor anyone else knew.  In fact when we were in the car today I found the volume too much for even me! … but Harry was loving it.

Now I’m not sure if it is the choral music he loves or the subject matter the MTC sings about … whatever the reason it brings peace to his soul and a smile to his face.

Today’s ‘musical hits’ also included:

2 x Gave cash to a charity

1 x Gave cash to a Big Issue seller

1 x Voluntary work as a respite carer

1 x Held the door open for someone
1 x Proactively ‘gave-way’ to a pedestrian
4 x Proactively ‘gave-way’ to another driver

Sub total: 10

Running total: 557

Target: 3000+ in 12months

Commenced 30^th November 2011

Motivation for ‘’My Ten-a-day’

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference for that one.”