The hardest thing for me was to actually find someone I felt comfortable with. It was also very hard to find someone I can trust.
I guess this is all because I’m very protective when it comes to my brother. I just always want to make sure he gets the best of everything.
A couple of months ago, a woman named Celeste Sanchez took time to get in touch with me. She even went out of her way to e-mail my manager to find me.
Mrs. Sanchez is actually a special music teacher. It was a little hard for us to set up a meeting due to our busy schedule.
It was very nice of her to have offered to just stop by my house instead and see my brother, Doods. I was so nervous they wouldn’t get along because my brother hasn’t really been exposed to people other than his nanny or our other relatives. Mrs. Sanchez, however, decided she wanted to take the challenge in teaching a blind and autistic 18-year-old child who has never really been exposed to education.
And so we decided she would start the following week. Since my brother is not used to being surrounded by a lot of people, Mrs. Sanchez wanted to start him off with home school so she can teach my brother all their activities before he joins her other students.
Mrs. Sanchez has been a music teacher to special children for 28 years now. I was so amazed at the way she handled my brother.
She knew exactly how to control his tantrums and keep their session going even when my brother is already getting impatient.
Tita Celeste has children of her own, and even though all of them turned out normal, she sure has a heart for the disabled kids.
Believe it or not, Tita Celeste has never studied Music Therapy for Special Children.
"I’m a graduate of Bachelor of Music. I started by teaching a group of blind students, and from that time on, special adults and children were recommended to me. I applied my experience as a pianist and singer to my students and found out music and arts are very effective for them, so I continued studying the special children. Then I developed this music therapy," Tita Celeste says.
She goes on, "In 1997, I was invited by the Japanese government to represent the Philippines as a music therapist in an International Music Therapy conference. Music therapists from all around the world were there, and I was requested to speak as music therapist of Asia."
Now, isn’t that amazing? She was probably the only person in that conference who didn’t study Music Therapy.
So, what was it that made her pursue this thing for special children?
Tita Celeste told me about a time when she taught two sisters how to play the piano. Unfortunately, they had a younger brother who was always excited every time Tita Celeste would come to their house. She always saw the excitement and the love for music on his face, but his parents wouldn’t allow her to teach him piano.
Tita Celeste later found out he was a special child and that was why the parents didn’t want to bother teaching him how to play the piano.
This incident was one of the things that left a mark on Tita Celeste’s mind, giving her the courage to teach music for special children so they can also enhance their talents. She also takes time to visit houses of special children who can’t afford to be put to school.
At this point, she decided to put up a small school, the Divine Mercy Mobile Center of Music and Arts Therapy.
Every year, she prepares a recital for all her students called A Recital By The Enabled. This time, it will be held on Nov. 20, 7 p.m. in Phil-Am Theater, UN Avenue.
This will be my brother’s first time to take part in something wonderful, and I’m really excited. I hope to see some of you there.Your support will be very much appreciated.
(You can e-mail me at juliana-palermo785@yahoo.com)