“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― R. Buckminster Fuller
For as long as I can remember, music has been my passion. With a successful career in music spanning 20+ years, in 2006 my personal life dramatically changed when my youngest son Dominic was diagnosed with autism. My business goals began to reflect a shift in autism awareness and education in ways I would never have imagined. My career composing music for film and television was expanded to include independent projects in autism-related film, mixed media and music productions to support those goals in autism acceptance and education.
After working for a few years with several pre-eminent autism experts, I began to better understand how music and other creative arts in film, movement, drama, painting, etc., positively impacted autistic people’s lives. When I first met Dave Royer and saw the global impact of his creative works, I knew his was a story that needed to be told – and I wanted to tell it. Here was a man, whom despite autism’s many challenges, forged a successful career out of his passion and genius for music and engineering. Could my young son Dominic – now 11 – also have a meaningful and fulfilling future? How did Royer get to where he is?
It was not long after principle photography for A Sound Paradigm began that I began to see the “how”. Royer’s mother Georgine had always supported her son’s dreams, talents, and uniqueness in a family that held high expectations despite autism. At a time when parents were all-too-often told to institutionalize their autistic children, Dave was encouraged to explore his talents. As an adult, his mother provided hands-on support and administration to the start-up of his business ventures.
Through the incredible interviews we captured with Dave’s mother and his business partners, it was evident A Sound Paradigm was emerging to be far more than the story of just one unique man. The Dave Royer story – also a story about autism – includes the story of a committed and dedicated team of people who believed in Royer’s vision. It is also a story of connection, community and futures that will surely inspire other autistics and their families far beyond what we had originally set out to capture when we began filming.
As an example, during initial interviews, we discovered that Royer’s business team went to therapy with him to learn more about the nuances of autism. At the same time therapy helped Dave to better communicate with his business partners. Joint therapy is a startling and brilliant concept even by today’s standards in autism futures.
Today, millions of people with autism are aging out – that is leaving high school at age 18 (or up to 22 for some) only to find they are completely unemployable. A proclamation cited on the United Nation’s Website estimates that more than 80% of adults with autism around the world are unemployed (2015). There are any number of reasons why, including a shortage of vocational training, inadequate support with job placement and pervasive discrimination according to the UN’s website.
Though we are seeing some systemic changes, it is not happening quickly enough to meet the ever-growing demands of adults with autism aging out. It is predicted that even if autism were cured today, the number of adults needing services by 2030 will rise to 600% higher than today. (Autism Society of America Position Paper of the National Crisis in Adult Services for Individuals with autism)
In a system that currently fails to meet the needs of employment, housing, staffing and daily living support for so many, globally, we need to listen louder and create more opportunities for conversations within the non-disabled world to come up with creative ways to support futures for all people with autism and other disabilities.
The Royer story is but one inspirational story with an amazing outcome. Though not all stories will have such positive results, A Sound Paradigm will drive home possibilities for futures, embrace creative ideas to meet growing needs, and be based on the idea that person-centered planning and doing (that is individual planning) is essential to meeting the dire needs of this population. A Sound Paradigm will shift how you see future possibilities in autism.