Vico's Story

From Moira:
This journey began for us back in December of 1999. At the recommendation of our pre-school we took our 2 ½ year old son for an evaluation by a psychologist. What he said, we never expected to hear.

We were concerned about Vico’s language development since it seemed that all the other kids were talking a lot more than he was and were able to tell their parents what had happened to them during the day. Vico’s language was limited to only his basic wants and needs — “milk", "cracker” — just single word demands. This wasn’t always the case. Vico had developed normally and was either on target for his developmental milestones or slightly ahead. There was a gradual withdrawal and loss of language. Our pediatrician at the time told us that we were pressuring Vico to speak and that he was being stubborn. Perhaps his version of the “terrible twos.” He no longer pointed at objects and asked us “what’s that.” He even stopped reciting the alphabet.

Thankfully, our day care was staffed with extremely caring teachers who had an excellent grasp of childhood development. They were the ones that felt some of Vico’s behaviors were cause for concern, and they were worried, as we were, about his language development. They pointed out to us that he had yet to reach out to his peers, which would be a typical phase of development at 2 ½.

That brings us to the psychologist’s office. I was 5 months pregnant with our daughter and we thought we were the luckiest people in the world. A beautiful boy and a little girl on the way. Life was good.

Until December 14, 1999.

The psychologist evaluated Vico for an hour and a half and we asked him at the end of the session what his thoughts were.

“Your son is autistic.”

We were stunned. I tried to ask intelligent questions, but soon dissolved into tears. Michael voiced what I had been thinking. “When you say 'autism', I think ‘Rainman’. You’re going to have to help us out here. What do we do?”

The psychologist was not quite prepared to deal with our questions, but gave us a sentence that I clung to like a life preserver on the Titanic. “With early intervention there is an extremely good possibility that your son will be mainstreamed into first grade with perhaps only a classroom aide.”

And so began our journey into the world of early intervention.

Our first stop was Speech Therapy. We were extremely lucky to be assigned an excellent Speech Therapist who Vico bonded with right away. Lorraine Priceman was the only therapy Vico got consistently for months – we were so new to the world of Special Education and with a baby on the way, it took us a little while to get our bearings.

As we got to know Lorraine we talked about Vico and the things he liked. We mentioned that Vico had always liked music and responded very well any time we would sing songs. Lorraine soon found out the reason for Vico’s love of music was directly related to his father. Michael not only has a great appreciation for music, but is also a musician himself. Lorraine suggested that we record some children’s songs for Vico, but at a slower pace since speech delayed children have difficulty with songs sung at a normal speed.

We were excited to do something that could possibly help our son, so we attacked this project full force. In our enthusiasm, we went to the extreme. We misunderstood Lorraine’s suggestion and recorded several children’s songs at an extremely slow tempo. They sounded like funeral dirges. When Lorraine heard them, she kindly suggested that we try something just a little slower than normal pace, but not so slow as to be lifeless.

At this point Michael let inspiration take hold. He thought about all the children’s music we had heard and decided that it was all very dull and watered down - as though kids would be unable to enjoy real Rock and Roll. This didn’t make sense to us. Our son loves Rock and Roll – just like we do. All kids love Rock and Roll; it’s the music of youth. Wouldn’t it be nice for adults to enjoy the music their children force them to listen to in the mini van? Wouldn’t this be a great opportunity for a family to share something fun? Let’s face it, most music directed towards children is barely tolerable for adults.

We decided to change that.

Powerful bass, heavy drums, crunchy guitars. Just like REAL Rock and Roll, but sung at a tempo that Vico could really hear and understand the lyrics.

With the help of our talented friends, David Wholihan, Sandra Booker and Nick Rozakis, we got to work. Initially we started recording these songs to help Vico learn to speak. We soon realized that it could help other speech-delayed children.

A wonderful side benefit we discovered was that other parents our age loved this music, too! We had a hit on our hands.

The resulting CD is a collaboration of people that we call Team Vico. Actually, Team Vico encompasses more than those that are featured on this disk. We feel that anyone involved in Vico’s intervention is a part of Team Vico.

At this point we need new members of Team Vico. We want to get this disk out there so that perhaps other children like Vico can be helped. This isn’t a cure, but in the world of Autism this is a door. Autistic children are locked in their own worlds. Early intervention is all about going into their world and leading them out into ours. Whatever connection you find with these children needs to be exploited. For our son, it is music. We can get him to interact and use language by singing and dancing. Vico asks for these songs by name now. The fact that he asks for them and wants us to participate with him is nothing short of a miracle. A miracle we would like to share.

This disk could represent a doorway into a child’s world, but we would also like it to be more than that. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this CD will go towards helping Vico and children like him and to fund research to find a cure for autism. Help us make this dream a reality.

— Moira Giammatteo

From Michael:
This project wasn’t originally intended for release. It started at the suggestion of Lorraine Priceman, Vico’s speech therapist. Upon learning that I was a musician, she’d asked me to record some children’s songs at a slow tempo, as she felt that commercially available children’s CD’s were sung too fast for speech delayed children to understand the words. I discussed the idea with my writing partner, David Wholihan. We recorded four tunes with Sandra Booker handling the vocals. The results were successful in the sense that Vico was able to understand the words and even started to attempt to sing along. But, musically, they were too slow and lacked energy. Okay, let's face it - they were awful.

David, Moira and I decided that what the songs needed was a blast of rock and roll. But real rock and roll, not the watered down music found on many children’s CD’s. So, having recruited guitarist Nick Rozakis, the first batch of tunes was recorded and mixed like modern rock – big, punchy drums; deep, booming bass; and loud, crunchy guitars. Much attention was paid to making sure the words were understandable. Vico loved it! He jumped, danced, clapped and, most importantly, sang!

A few more tunes were recorded and copies were given to ten families who had children with Autism. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Over time, what we learned was that children who could tolerate music (and some children with Autism cannot) seemed to respond very well to what was now being called the TeamVico songs. To our delight, we found that non-Autistic children loved the CD as well – as did their parents. No longer did they have to be trapped in the minivan listening to sickeningly sweet “children’s” CD’s.

Most everyone wanted to know just when this CD was going to be offered for sale. With the vocal help of Moira Giammatteo and renowned jazz songstress, Sandra Booker, sixteen tracks were completed.

The project came to the attention of international recording artist Marino, and the good people at Angels on Earth Foundation. With their generous help and support this CD came to be.

This CD was truly a collaborative effort & I need to thank all of the talented musicians who donated their time, energy and enthusiasm. Nick was there at the beginning & established the “groove” that ran through the rest of the project. Moira was the “mother” of the project. She served up helping after helping of support and fun (as well as a spot on B52’s impression). Sandra was the soul of the project and, who knew, a closet punk princess. I did my best to infuse a sense of humor into the songs. But, most of all, David made them ROCK!

A great big thank you to David. He and I worked together every step of the way, from concept through completion. And, on two thirds of the songs he is the sole musician performing.

— Michael Giammatteo