Music for Autism in the U.S. Announces Fall Concert Dates in Affiliation with the Mount Sinai Adolsecent Health Center
Joshua Stein and Lisa Splitlog, posted October 7, 2007.
Music For Autism (M4A), a charity that originated in the UK, has successfully launched a partnership with the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center (MSAHC). The Center, located at 312 E. 94th Street, New York City, is the largest adolescent health center in the United States and will be the first home of Music for Autism and its interactive concerts for those with autism in the U.S.
During the fall, several interactive, professionally performed concerts will be held in the Center’s gymnasium, providing a unique experience for the New York community. The partnership allows M4A to help fill a major psychosocial void faced by the many families touched by autism spectrum disorders.
To kick off the combined work of M4A and the MSAHC, a celebratory day of music took place on Thursday, October 4, for all patients at the Center. This was the first public performance, featuring several musicians who will return to the Center as volunteers at autism friendly, interactive concerts in the future. The musicians featured on October 4th were: Charity Wicks (piano), who is currently one of the pianists of Spring Awakening on Broadway; Ryan Gardner (trumpet); Jessica Lee (violin), who is a Concert Artists Guild musician; Alexandra Snyder (cello), who is a member of the Junior Board of Directors of M4A; Tanya Bannister (piano), who is a Concert Artists Guild musician, Serena Chin (piano); Lauren Thomas (soprano); and Stephen Buck (piano). The first of the autism friendly concerts will be held on Saturday, November 17 at 1:00 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Charity Wicks and Ryan Gardner will perform.
To facilitate the concerts, a piano was generously donated to M4A by Karen Ryan. In turn, the piano was donated to the MSAHC for M4A concerts and other musical programming at the Center.
“These families can now attend a high quality performance in a safe, comforting environment geared to their needs, enabling those with autism to experience music in their own terms,” said Robert Accordino, Executive Director, Music for Autism, and medical student at Mt. Sinai.
M4A and the Center will also work together to improve screening for high functioning autism in the Center’s primary and mental health care populations and recruit those with autism from lower socioeconomic areas of New York City to access the Center’s free medical and mental health services.
“By having the M4A concerts at the Center, those with autism who attend may feel more comfortable there and thus be more likely to come back to the Center for care,” said Accordino. “For years, researchers believed that autism discriminated on socioeconomic status. We now know that this antiquated finding was purely an artifact of how autism is diagnosed and who is most likely to receive services. M4A and the MSAHC will work to address the disparities associated with this equal opportunity disorder. It is a tremendous honor to be able to work with Dr. Angela Diaz and the terrific staff at the MSAHC on our combined work.”
Earlier this year, Dr. Angela Diaz became a board member of M4A in the U.S., and is chairing the board’s sub-committee on equality of service provisions.
About the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center was established in 1968 as the first primary care program in New York specifically designed for the health needs of adolescents. The Center provides confidential comprehensive medical, mental health, family planning, and health education services to young people between the ages of 10-21. The mission of the Center is to help each adolescent grow up happy, healthy, and well-educated – with hopes and opportunities for the future – by preventing disease and promoting health.
