Cole … Cole Márquez
Just a fun, quick story for today!
A teenager, who I have had the pleasure of work with for several years now, gave me permission to share some of his story. He asked that I call him, “Cole Márquez” (as in Dora the Explorer’s father). He has gone through some hard times and misunderstandings in his life, which I will share in future posts, but for today, I wanted to keep it light and share one of my favorite stories about him.
Cole loves the Plain White T’s, and especially Tom Higgenson, the lead singer. If you are unsure who they are, they sing Hey There Delilah, 1-2-3-4 and Rhythm of Love. I have come to love this band and Tom as well, for so many reasons!
In 2020, Cole and I spent a few months working on a project around this special interest. Using Google Slides, we captured all the Plain White T’s TV appearances from 2006 to the present, adding images and hyperlinks from YouTube or Idobi for each one. This included a wide range of performances such as their Hey There Delilah performance in 2007 on Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve, their 2009 cameo on One Life to Live, and their rendition of Hey There Delilah Letter T Mix on Sesame Street in 2010.
In the process, I learned a lot about the Plain White T’s, and Cole engaged in an activity that taught him how to navigate Google Slides, gave him practice organizing and sequencing events, and offered the opportunity to both perspective take and compare and contrast while sharing his knowledge and interest with a less knowledgeable communication partner (me!).
For example, when I used declarative language to say, I’m wondering how their performance of 1-2-3-4 on The Bonnie Hunt Show in 2008 is different from their performance of 1-2-3-4 on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 2008.… Cole could answer no problem, with pride and musical expertise.
As we wrapped up our slide show in January 2021, I asked Cole if he might be open to sending it to Tom himself. He was!
We then engaged in research together as we tracked down the name and email address of Tom Higgenson’s agent, and Cole and I wrote the following letter together:
Dear Craig,
I am a speech language pathologist working with a young autistic man named Cole. Cole really IS Tom's biggest fan, and he and I made this slideshow of Tom's TV performances from 2006 to the present in our virtual sessions over the past 2 months. As you can imagine, Cole’s brain is pretty amazing and he knew all of them! We wanted to share it with Tom as we think he may like it. You'll see we have hyperlinked each song video. We hope you enjoy Cole's slideshow and take care!
Sincerely,
Linda and Cole
Then, here is the best part!
Craig Newman, Tom Higgenson’s agent, wrote back to us!
So nice to hear from you and Happy New Year! This is a lovely, thoughtful sentiment that I will pass along to Tom. Wishing you the best and as always, thank you for all you do to make the world a better place!
Craig
So, why do I tell you all this?
So, you too can smile now when you hear Hey There Delilah playing (or maybe even put it on your playlist!), and so that you know it is worth it to let go a little and get creative out there.
Reach for the stars (literally!) and realize how many meaningful, life skills can be practiced and developed, when working with and embracing an individual’s special interest.
Have a great week!
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