This past weekend, for our Pragnya Social Session, we tried something a little different….
Music is a beautiful form of expression. For Pragnya especially, music is important and purposeful because it can serve as a bridge between the neurotypical and neurodiverse communities. It is something that we all enjoy and connect to not only individually, but as a larger community.
On Sunday’s social session, we set up five stations. At each station, the kids got to learn a new instrument or sing some songs. The session was fun-filled, teeming with organized chaos. The kids were clearly enjoying themselves, whether it was playing the keys, strumming the guitar, banging on the drum or playing the Mridangam or even swaying and singing to Bruno Mars.
The allies were able to bond with the kids in a unique way during this session. It could have been because we, ourselves were learning something new alongside the kids. It could have also been because this session allowed us to hangout and have fun with more allies and kids. It could have been because of anything, but in the end, it was the experience and the music that brought us all together. A great example of this is an experience I had while helping out with the vocal station. Some of the allies had found that the kids weren’t very interested in singing the song or they had difficulty picking it up. The allies each found their own way to make the activity exciting for the kids. A couple of the allies had the kids play the maracas to the beat. Some had their kids clap or stomp. One very creative ally even went so far as to do magic tricks to keep her child excited and sing along the interlude parts.
Overall, the session was fantastic. The kids and allies, all of us had a blast and got to experience something new and exciting. An as ally, I hope that there will be many more musical sessions moving forward. It is not without reason that we say at PRAGNYA that after each session, we all leave with a "Song on our lips... and a dance in our step"!
Blog By:
Preethi Edara
Megana Arunarthi