News Story
Overcoming autism, spreading hope through music
By Liz DeCarlo, Chicago Parent magazine
Monday, July 12, 2010
When a new family walks through the doors of Easter Seals' school
for autism in Chicago, Maurice Snell can tell if the parents have
lost hope. He's heard the story of when his own parents, Willie and
Jennifer, walked through the doors of what was then the Michael
Reese Developmental Institute with him. He was nonverbal, he didn't
socialize, he was completely lost in the world of autism.
Maurice's parents were desperate to help him find a way out, but
autism was a relatively new diagnosis in the early 1990s, and no one
could tell the Chicago couple what the future held for their child.
All they knew was the experts' assessments were grim; one doctor
told them to prepare for Maurice to be institutionalized.
"It was a very bad point for all of us; we didn't know what to do.
He wasn't even 5," Jennifer remembers. "I was so afraid. I didn't
know what would happen."
So now when Maurice, a charming, dynamic 26-year-old employee of
Easter Seals, greets people at the door, he lets families know the
future is only as limited as you let it be. "When I see new kids, I
see hope," he says. "There is no cure for autism, you're stuck with
it, but I'm not ashamed and I tell this to many of the families. I
give them stories of hope."
When Maurice began school at Michael Reese, it marked a turning
point. He began talking and socializing. By high school he was doing
so well, he transferred to the local Chicago Public School into
regular classrooms.
"I considered myself like everybody else," Maurice says. "I liked
meeting new people and hanging out with friends." Maurice joined the
band and the Marine Corps JROTC program.
His parents didn't push him, but they didn't hold him back either.
Still, Jennifer and Willie weren't sure how things would go when
Maurice said he wanted to go to college. He attended St. Xavier
University in Chicago to study liberal arts. It wasn't easy, both
Maurice and his parents agree, but he didn't consider quitting.
"I stayed confident throughout my life, with the help and support of
my family, so I tended not to give up," Maurice says. He graduated
from college, found a job at Easter Seals and joined a band with
another young man with autism. He began speaking at autism events
and in 2007 was selected to be the Easter Seals adult
representative, traveling on his own to New York City, Dallas and
San Francisco.
The band plays autism events, with Maurice on the synthesizer and at
the microphone. "We've had performances where people say they're
waiting for the band with autism to play, and even autism experts
didn't realize it was them," says Kari Christiansen, who along with
her husband Craig helps manage the band.
Maurice now has his sights set on a graduate degree.
His mom remembers back to those early, dark days.
"Professionals are not always right. Keep searching until you find
the place that is best for your child, the doctor that is best for
your child, the support group best for you," Jennifer says. "Then
support them and let them grow. You don't know how far they're going
to get."
