Atherton, Manchester – Martin Finn,22 is autistic, non verbal and loves to go on holiday to Benidorm. The Irish Examiner met with Martin and his parents, John and Norma, while on holiday there.
John and Norma Finn tell of how their son loves music and the paper reports that:
“He is no longer rocking, but fixed by the music. Martin doesn’t have a command of the English language, but he is singing songs he first heard a couple of days ago, in Spanish. He’s hitting the same notes, keeping the same timing, mimicking the Spanish lady.”
John describes how music is part of Martin’s life and is built into his every day routine.
“If Martin likes a song and he has listened to it a few times, he can sing on top of the artist.”
John 64 and Norma 67 are full time carers to Martin and they voiced their worry about what would happen to him if they became ill. They explained that Martin would have to go into care and that this would be very frightening for him as he would not understand why.
Martin has headlined gigs in the local area and has been on BBC3’s Autistic Superstars .John also adds that if Martin could make a CD of his music then this might help him when they are are no longer around.
John’s final words are:
“You know, if someone told me they have a son or daughter at home with autism that can go from an extreme of disability to ability, I’d say to myself: ‘I’d like to meet that guy. Cos that’s a special kind of person’,”
Here is a recording of Martin’s singing at the Town Hall in Manchester Saturday night for the launch of St Patricks week. He begins just after the 4.30 sec mark and sings three songs. The last starting at 10 minute mark is wonderful.
The original article by Robert Mulhern in the Irish Examiner can be read here