4 features The Beacon Monday, April 11, 2011

Volunteers at Christ Fellowship lead a class of people with special needs in a music. Since people with special needs cannot communicate as many people do, they use music, affection and

Through their
association in attempts to be heard. Sarah Nicastro / contributing photographer

looking glass

Meaghan Phillips, now a sophomore at PBA, is pictured with her brothers Wesley and Taylor. Wesl
was born without a pulmonary artery which left him at the level of a 2-year-old. Wesley passed aw
this past summer, and his sister continues to be an advocate for those born with special needs.
Photo courtesy of Meaghan Ph

Program gives voice to

those with special needs
from Music ministry, page 1
heard.
“It’s really neat to see their individu-
al personalities,” Knebel says.
Tracey Jones, a Grace Fellowship
member, echoes Knebel’s observa-
tions. She is the mother of 9-year-old
Janai, with cerebral palsy.
“Music is the primary way that she
learns,” says Jones. “As a parent, I’m
always focusing on her strengths, one
being music auditory…she always lis-
tens well.”
“Music is very healing for [people
with special needs] and very expres-
sive,” says Briley.
Briley has been in special needs min-
istry for 17 years, and had an autistic
son who passed away in 2009. She just
resigned as the “joy lady” at Graceview
church in Tomball, Texas, where she
ran the special needs ministry for ba-
bies through adults along with training
churches all around the U.S.
affection that people with special needs
are able to give through her brother
Wesley. Phillips and Wesley both knew
Briley through her ministry in Texas.
“If you started singing to him, he
would just grab and cradle you,” she
says.
Wesley was born without a pulmo-
nary artery, which led to a number of
heart surgeries, leaving him at the level
of a 2-year-old. He suddenly passed
away this past summer at the age of
28 because his heart simply could not
work any longer.
Wesley loved when his Dad sang to
him before bed and his music toys that
his family always bought him. Along
with his love for music, his affection is
what Phillips treasures most.
“The first thing I think of when I
think of Wesley is hugging and loving.”
Phillips says that the nurses that
were with him before he died saw
something special in Wesley in the way
that he showed love, even to them.

For people with special needs, music is a way they can express themselves. “You start to AFFECTION ASSOCIATION
have an actual connection with them…you miss them when you’re not there one week,” says
Tina Knebel, the head of Grace Fellowship’s special needs program.
Meaghan Phillips, a sophomore at The rejection and bullying that
Sarah Nicastro / contributing photographer PBA, has personally experienced the normative people receive cannot be