Progress Seen Through an Elvis Song

Every December, our son’s school has a holiday concert where parents are invited to hear their children sing.

Two years ago, we sat through all the songs but Kai never came out to sing. He had had a meltdown and we found him after the concert with his school therapist, still visibly upset as he sat without a shirt, having tattered the one he had worn to school.

This year, Kai sang several songs along with all the other students at his school. I couldn’t attend, but my wife recorded all the songs with her iPhone. I could see that Kai sang nice and loud.

The school's music teacher is from Chicago’s venerable Old Town School of Folk Music, and Kai has spoken many times about how much he enjoys his music class. Watching the concert, you could see that he was not the only child to feel that way.

The highlight of the concert came when any student who wanted to sing solo was given the opportunity to sing the chorus of Teddy Bear, the song made famous by Elvis Presley. Kai was among the many who raised their hands.



I’m pretty sure that several kids who volunteered to sing solo, including Kai, were receiving speech therapy. So it was quite heartwarming to see them so confidant and wanting to sing in front of an audience.

For us, the contrast from two years ago was stark.

Who knew that Teddy Bear could be so meaningful to us?