[Source: San Jose Mercury News]


Lawrence Wang used to hate the shrill sounds of the flute. He'd clamp his hands over his ears to drown out his sister's piano playing. During music lessons, he'd fidget and fight with his teacher.

On Saturday, though, he tapped his feet while blowing happily on his saxophone, a member of an unusual band of special-needs performers.

Those who love Wang and his peers are thrilled to see how music calms their autistic nerves and becomes a unifying force in a world where they often don't easily fit.

"Don't ever give up on your children,'' said Lawrence's mother, Anna Wang of Fremont, who through her son, now 20, has become a prominent Silicon Valley autism activist. "You've got to open them up to possibilities. We so often write them off. It doesn't do our children justice. God has gifts for everyone.''

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