Travel and autism Concert will fund trips for children and adults with special ... - The Hudson Reporter
When Charu Suri was a girl she had very little interaction with other children.
"I was just playing the piano for 9-10 hours a day," she said last week.
Although she wasn't officially diagnosed with autism while living in India, she had great difficulty understanding people and reading their cues. To this day, she struggles with these issues, including understanding emotions and sharing sympathy.
"Travel helped me in meeting more people and getting me out of my comfort zone and my shell," said Suri, who has become a world-traveler.
Suri began playing the piano at age 5, and started giving recitals by age 9 in Chennai, India. When she was 14, she won an international piano competition, then was voted "most promising performer" five years in a row by visiting professors from the Trinity College of Music, London.
"We want to increase awareness of autism." – Charu Suri.
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On Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m., Suri and other world-class musicians will hold the first "Autism Benefit Concert," an evening of classical music, to finance trips for children and adults with special needs.
The concert will be held in Weehawken, at Park United Methodist Church, 51 Clifton Terrace. "We want to increase awareness of autism, and raise funds to enable those who want to come on our trips, come for free," said Suri.
Travel and autism
Suri and her husband have created a company called Sensory Travel Network that plans and organizes trips for autistic children and adults.
The company plans one-day and weekend trips around the tri-state area to parks, beaches, and farms. At parks, like Harriman State Park, Bear Mountain, or the Shawangunk Mountain Range, they organize hiking lessons with the rangers to observe local fauna and flora. They get close to the water, with cautious supervision.
"Water is very therapeutic," Suri said. "Participants have complete supervision, a ratio of two to one," she added.
At farms and petting zoos, they interact with horses and other animals and pick veggies and fruits. "Animals are very calming to autistic kids and adults," she said. "We'll need to be careful when encouraging them to pet the animals, because some can have extreme sensory processing difficulties, so our initial recommendation will be to just visit and see the petting zoos."
Suri said it is good to start with small trips and not do too much too soon.
"Long trips bring discomfort and changes make them very nervous, so it has to be gradual," she said. Participants receive detailed itineraries and photos of the precise location of activities so they can become acquainted with where they are going. "Each person should bring their own food, as most [autistic persons] have a particular diet," said Suri. She also provides snacks and refreshments.
The trips intend to help participants socialize and make friends. They also introduce different ways of learning.
"Autism is characterized by repetition and inflexibility," said Suri. During the trips the participants are presented with other ways of learning by hands-on experience, rather by linear learning, memorizing facts, and repeating words from textbooks.
The performers
Suri will be one of the performers at the benefit. Other performers run the gamut of musical disciplines. Erika Dyer, mezzo soprano, has a degree in voice performance from Boston University. Sonia Montez is a singer and guitarist who began her career at age 6 at "El Coro de los Niños de San Juan." Sun Young is an autism music therapist who earned her bachelor's degree in composition and her master's degree in Music Therapy at New York University.
The Brandy String Trio will also perform. It includes Eric Cooper, cello; Pedro Vizzarro Vallejos, viola, and Audrey Lo, the violin.
"One in 110 people have autism across the United States," Suri said. "We are doing this benefit to help them. There are a lot of residents in the area with autism. This is a way to help friends and family to raise awareness so that they know they are not alone, that we understand them, that we want to make them feel an active part of society."
For additional information about the benefit, call (201) 867-9161. The benefit is free of charge, but donations are encouraged.
For more information about the trips, you can go to www.sensorytravelnetwork.com. For donations and volunteer opportunities, you can contact Charu Suri at (917) 825-8399.
02 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFQorfFMIQqrUunE0sKqpuwgScWhg&url=http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home/15853795/article-Travel-and-autism-Concert-will-fund-trips-for-children-and-adults-with-special-needs-?instance=weehawken_story_left_column
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