Why Parents Seek Answers

After reading the article titled "The Hawthorne Effect--Why parents swear by ineffective treatments for autism" (http://www.slate.com/id/2215076/), I feel compelled to respond with an explanation. Parents of autistic children are willing through relentless dedicated effort to try an infinite number of ways to help their children. This is very simply due to one truth--parents love their children and will sacrifice nearly anything to help them.

When a parent eventually realizes and accepts the disability of his/her child, a process that can unfortunately take years, the next step is to seek a cure or at least find ways to alleviate the complex and difficult situation caused by this disability. Each morning, many parents awaken with an emotional mix of optimism, love, and despair that the day will bring some kind of improvement in behavior, learning, and response from their child. What begins as a problem that will be alleviated tomorrow, slowly demonstrates itself to be long-term. Yet, perhaps a change in diet or environment or medicine will be the "magic" cure for the problem.

Even as I write these words, I am conflicted. I know, logically, that the cure for autism will be found by the mathematicians in the laboratories poring through millions and zillions of strands of DNA, looking for those anamolies that cause learning and social problems. Yet I personally cannot contribute to this process due to my lack of experience and training. So instead of waiting patiently for the scientists to tell me what is wrong, I seek to solve the problem myself. I do this by doing what I do best: loving my child and sacrificing everything to help him.

And truthfully, almost anything we do or try does make some kind of difference. In some ways it is a variation on the Placebo effect by proxy. When the parent wants something enough to pay for it, to sacrifice for it, to study it, to make a journey, then it just may happen. This kind of projected desire for improvement often makes its way to the child, resulting in positive improvement for everyone. Unfortunately, it is often short-term growth. Yet, the glimmer of hope and joy is vastly beneficial to the parents of the disabled child.

But before sounding cynical, I must interject that many of the cures are indeed helpful. Good nutrition for one, is always valuable. Vitamins, if used judiciously, are also good for the body. Exercise, breathing techniques, conditioning are all good practices to consider. Behavior modification and rewards for good behavior are standard operating procedure for parents and all efforts at understanding behavior are helpful. So I urge parents to continue to find answers and to try myriad and sundry ways to help their children. In the end, it is all about love and sacrifice. We seek answers because we care, to do otherwise is not an option.

The Common Good--Music

I was asked the other day if I believed denominational separation, was ultimately a thing of the past and that someday all would be one. I answered no partially due to the local autonomy of most churches in communities. This concept of autonomous practice is easily extended, and probably correctly, to all people and our tendency to interpret scripture, worship practices, and even ministry according to our own value system, personality, training level, and many other factors. History demonstrates a somewhat cyclical commitment to church division and sadly, weighty emotions regarding the "right" way to approach religion. I do not see this changing and might even go so far as to embrace some diversity at least globally if not locally.

Yet there are also several efforts to avoid the kind of polarization that can divide families, churches, and yes even nations. These occur in the form of large events found in revivals, rallies, and conferences. Ironically, these same kind of unifying events occur in media through the radio, internet, and television. Given the immense success of religious experiences outside of the traditional church concept, it is no wonder that churches are examining more creative ways to present the Message.

One of the finest ways to bring people together is through music. In the popular music world, I have witnessed over 10,000 people singing Hey Jude together. I have heard thousands of performances of Happy Birthday and the National Anthem. Music is a unifying force that occurs daily in all walks of life. In churches, I have experienced the joys of singing How Great Is Our God or Because He Lives or Holy, Holy, Holy. All these moments were meaningful due to their collective effort and their wide collaboration of people.

The power of music as the glue for wide-spread and ubiquitous joy is infinite. Music as a universal language may be mythical but the properties that make sound a unifying element remain true. Music may in fact be one of the few common goods in existence today, particularly as regards large quantities of people. And sound is free.

This is not to say that all organized sound is without a cost for often the very act of organizing vibrations into systemized patterns results in high costs for everyone, but it is to say sound in its inception is available to all regardless of the socioeconomic level. So by its very nature, sound is common good both in terms of its costs and its results. Music as the ultimate community brings together the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the educated, and the uneducated. How dare music, with all its natural quality, polarize people. It is time for the goodness to unite.