In Her Room: How Music Helped Me Connect With My Autistic Daughter

During the early years of his daughter Emily’s life, James noticed that she was strangely taken by strong colours and patterns around the house, and that at times the only way to calm down her piercing screams would be a slow, repetitive song.

As the other children in their NCT group began to outstrip Emily, James began to suspect that she wasn’t simply a ‘late bloomer’ (as he and his wife would tell friends and family). At the age of two, Emily was finally diagnosed with non-verbal autism, a severe form of autism that hinders her mental and physical development, and may have affected their relationship forever.

This is an extraordinary and heartbreaking story of a father trying to connect with his daughter in the face of a life-changing disability, and how music helped bridge that divide.