Music has always been known to have therapeutic and healing powers. From the Biblical records of young David’s harp that soothed King Saul to Greek physician and Father of Modern Medicine Hippocrates playing music for patients with mental disorders and even the use of music to convalescing soldiers in Army hospitals during the World Wars, history is riddled with proof of music’s ability to calm minds and transform lives.
Taking that power a notch higher is music as therapy for children with special needs including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia. That is where NAD School of Music comes in.
The Bengaluru school, registered under the trust, Mended C[h]ords, and dedicated to helping children with special needs through music, is one among a few that seeks to make a difference. Founder and principal Wesley Newton says: “When I conceptualised the idea of NAD School of Music, I wanted to have a music school that would have a culture of honour, love, service and excellence at the heart of all it did. In today’s extremely competitive and commercial music education industry, we wanted to serve people by giving our students top quality music education from caring professional musicians at affordable prices, and focus specifically on children with special needs in our programme.”
It is with that vision that a handful of musicians came together to share the gift of music with children whose lives can be transformed through it. “Special credit goes to my dear friend, Kamal Singh, a certified music therapist in Bengaluru, whose mentoring, workshops and advice really helped shape how we as a school work with children who have special needs,” acknowledges Wesley.
The faculty currently comprises Noel Aiyar on keyboards, Jonathan Reuben on guitars and vocals, John Jeban on keyboards and vocals, Jesvin Mathew on drums and Wesley on drums and music therapy. So what inspired him in this endeavour? Wesley says they wanted to extend their services to students with special needs, because they have always been excluded. “We wanted to let them know that we genuinely cared about them and accepted them as they are, and that they can always get help from us either through therapeutic music sessions or through music instruction in a completely non-judgemental, loving and encouraging environment. I am deeply grateful to have highly respected, professional musicians working with us who have hearts that are big enough to work with these precious children.”
Daniella, who is preparing to be a specialist with children with special needs, brings her 14-year-old cousin Reuel for piano sessions to the school, and says he enjoys spending time surrounded by music. “He loves coming here. He enjoys music. He has been happy since day one. He is very comfortable and you can see the happiness on his face. He is also paying more attention when we play the piano at home now. We can see how music is helping him.”
Piano coach Noel, who spends time with Reuel, talks about his experience at the school. “Working with autistic children and helping them explore communication through music has been very fulfilling. I can see it happening. As professional musicians, we are all the while trying to communicate with our audiences and make them feel something. And here, within a half hour session, we can see an exchange of emotions. That is the fruit of our labour – to see the smile on their faces at the end of the session and help them in inter-personal communication and relationships outside the sphere of music in the future. Right now, as an autistic child, for one of them to be comfortable around a stranger is itself remarkable.
That is possible because they are in their comfort zone listening to music around them. Maybe later on, they will be able to communicate with more people with the confidence music gives them.”
Guitar instructor Jonathan says he quit teaching in other places and joined Wesley because he found the vision for this school very special.
“The simple act of bringing children with special needs the joy of music goes beyond any other sense of accomplishment in the music world.”
The goals for a child with special needs are most often not related to learning an instrument, Wesley points out. “We, however, use music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals for the child.
“For instance, in the case of a child with autism, (we have 16 autistic kids among a total of 52 students across all departments) some of their biggest problems are impaired social interaction, communication and restrictive or repetitive behaviours.
“Through the use of music therapy, we help the child develop appropriate social interaction by building trust and improving their confidence and self-esteem for the purpose of self-expression.
“We use familiar songs sometimes to help them verbalise. We video record all our sessions so we can show parents the progress their child is making from month to month.
“By God’s grace, we only have happy clients, and we hope we’ll get to help a lot more people in the days to come.”
Wesley has a message of positivity. “You are special and beautiful.
“You can make a difference. Never give up on your dreams, and never let anyone tell you that you can’t be all that you were meant to be, because you can and you will.
“I was an extremely insecure, depressed, educational and musical failure about five years ago, and a lot of people told me that my life would amount to nothing.
“However, all that I am today in terms of my musical and entrepreneurial success is because I chose to never give up on myself!
“I kept striving to improve myself, despite my many mistakes, failures and haters, and I hope I’ll never stop striving to be the best I can be. I encourage you to do the same.”
NAD School of Music is located at #13, 188/1, 2nd Floor, 9th Street, Prakruthi Township, Babusapalya, Kalyan Nagar and can be contacted on 9902292482 or on www.facebook.com/nad schoolofmusic.
