Kidz Bop Saved My Life
When my wife was 19, she was in a very serious car accident. Along with a broken hip and series of fractures, she had significant nerve damage. Thankfully, she wasn't paralyzed in any way, but she does have nerve issues on the left half of her body, not unlike a stroke victim. Being so young, she was able to adapt very well, and you can’t tell anything’s wrong by looking at her. However, along with a litany of lifelong medication, she was told she could never bear a child. Now, this happened before I met her, so I was aware and accepting of the fact when we got married. In 2008, after three years of marriage, we were shocked when some routine blood work came back showing that she was pregnant. Her periods were always very irregular due to her health issues, but she was already three months along. The doctors were very careful not to be optimistic, and prepared us for the worst, but my wife carried to term and we had a healthy baby boy, who we named Donald. Donald's physical development was ahead of schedule, but mentally, he seemed to develop slowly, and he spoke his first word much later than most. By age three, Donald was diagnosed with autism. I won't sugar coat anything: it was very difficult and frustrating to raise a child with autism. Donald never spoke more than a few words a day, and would often seem to be in his own bubble apart from our universe.
Last year, Little Don changed . When Kidz Bop would come on the radio, Little Don would focus all his attention on it, even if he was in the middle of something. This had happened before, usually with music that had very soothing noises, but Donny seemed to hear Kidz Bop in a way that he couldn't hear anybody else. When I would listen to Kidz Bop on my old transistor radio, Little Don would come into the den and listen with me in silence, leaving when the song finished. As I said before, Donny never spoke much. He'd occasionally get a slogan or catchphase in his head, telling my wife and me for weeks on end that everyone loved McDonald's. So it was amusing, but not out of the ordinary, when he shouted "By kids for kids!" when Kidz Bop came on the radio. His infatuation with Kidz Bop was more extreme than any of his previous episodes, as he started rattling other phrases like "A part of millions of families" "change all the words" and "tens of thousands of kids' first concert experience!" In six months, he'd spoken more than he had in his entire life. We sat down with his special education teacher to talk about it. While Mrs. Tyson was telling us that anything that got him to come out of his shell should be encouraged, he approached us and said that we will no longer listen to songs with profanity in them. From that day, Donny began progressing dramatically. We listened to every Kidz Bop album, and my son would always ask me follow-up questions, showing that he was actually comprehending the content. The symptoms of his autism shrunk away.
When Kidz Bop swept the 2017 Grammys, Donny seemed completely normal. His teachers had never seen anything like it, and after much debate, we decided to enroll Donald in a regular class this year. It's only been two weeks, but he is doing wonderfully. And despite our biggest concern, Donald is socializing and interacting with the other children very well. My wife actually burst into tears when Donald told us he made a friend at school. So, Kidz Bop, I don't know what you did, but I know I owe you so much more than my hard-earned money. You've given my son a chance at a normal childhood, and you've given me a sense of control in my life once again.
Thank you so much Kidz Bop, and remember: "By Kids, For Kids!"
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Χαλκίδα: 58χρονος από την Αλβανία κρεμάστηκε έξω α
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