As Paul McCartney belted out "Carry That Weight" at Minneapolis' U.S. Bank Stadium, I wrapped my arm around my son Aiden's chest and felt his heart beating so fast, it seemed like it could burst.
Aiden, 14, is obsessed with the Beatles. To know that feels like a miracle.
Aiden has autism and apraxia, a neurological condition that affects a person's ability to plan and coordinate movements. It can make it difficult for him to smile on cue for a picture, for instance, or write with a pen. It also means that his brain knows what he wants to say, but he cannot speak.
With a lot of time and practice, he has been able to learn to communicate by slowly pointing to one letter at a time on a letterboard to spell out his thoughts. It's something he's been working on since he was 6 years old.
"For years I couldn't express my feelings with words. But I had so many feelings inside of me," Aiden spelled recently. It was one of several spelled-out insights Aiden offered for this story that, all combined, took him an hour or two to complete.
"The Beatles' music was so inspiring, so joyful, so hopeful," he continued. "It expressed how I often felt, or aspired to feel, before I could express it myself."
A few years ago, Aiden expressed that the artist he wanted to see perform live, more than anyone else, was Paul McCartney. It finally happened Oct. 17, an unforgettable experience that, Aiden spelled, "was more than a dream come true."
I have been privileged to see a lot of special concerts as the music reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. This one, with Aiden and the rest of our family, was right at the top.
And as we watched McCartney perform for some 50,000 fans, I was amazed knowing that the man on stage was a fan of my son.
One of Aiden's most treasured possessions is a hand-signed, personal letter McCartney mailed him in September — complete with a cute doodle of a face — along with a personalized autographed copy of "Let It Be" on vinyl.
McCartney's letter warmly welcomed Aiden as a new host on SiriusXM The Beatles Channel. Aiden is the youngest host in the channel's history. Aiden and his co-host,Elizabeth Bonker,are the first nonspeaking hosts on SiriusXM with their monthly radio show, "We Want To Tell You," sharing their commentary using text-to-speech technology.
To borrow the title of a Beatles song, Aiden and our family have been on a long and winding road to get to this point.
MORE:I'm Dad to a teenage nonspeaker with autism and Beatles Channel host. Here's what that's like
A diagnosis, uncertainty, and a breakthrough
When Aiden wasn't talking by the time he was 2½, my wife suggested we have him evaluated by a developmental pediatrician. Christy and I left the appointment with an autism diagnosis for our son, but no next steps ‒ just a folder of paperwork and the relentless pull of wanting to help but not knowing where to start.
So we tried the next best step, then the one after that.
Aiden spent years working with a speech therapist, but the words never came out. In school, he was given an iPad with a communication app, but he could only impulsively tap buttons.
As we looked for ways to help Aiden communicate, we found other ways to connect, through play, dancing, reading and sharing adventures with Aiden and his younger twin sisters, Ava and Mia, now 12.
Music, especially, was a great connector, and later we learned that Beatles' songs infused some of Aiden's fondest memories: being swung around to the Beatles' "Birthday" each year on his birthday, or hearing "Here Comes The Sun" at the end of the Milwaukee Public Museum's planetarium program.
We kept looking for ways to help Aiden communicate, learning and discovering alongside him as he grew. When Aiden was 6, Christy found a blog written by a young nonspeaker who communicates by spelling out words. That led us to discover theACE Institute in Green Bay,which teaches letterboard communication.
Aiden first went to the institute in October 2017. When he returned for more practice the following April, he spelled out his very first sentence, in response to a question about his thoughts on the weather: "Sky in May has mostly nice sun."
A month later, Aiden expressed his feelings for the first time, spelling, "I love Mia and Ava."
For years, Christy and I felt lost, not knowing how we could help our son communicate. With the letterboard, a fog lifted.
"It was still exceptionally hard to control my body, to keep my eyes focused, to guide my hand," Aiden recently spelled. "But at my first try, I managed to spell a few words. I made more progress that day than ever before."
"I knew this would be the breakthrough. I knew this would change my life."
Through the letterboard, Aiden shows us who he is
About a year after Aiden spelled his first sentence, we understood for the first time what Aiden thought of Aiden.
"Can't find anything bad about myself," he spelled out. Christy and I were so proud. Nothing would diminish his determination ‒ or ours.
Aiden practiced spelling on a letterboard every day. Slowly but surely, his capabilities expanded, from short stories and poems about stars and Mars, bears and rain, to profound and complicated thoughts and feelings.
We also learned how Aiden wanted to devote his life. He aspires to be an advocate for nonspeakers with autism, to ensure that they are better understood and get an age-appropriate education ‒ as he has done for himself.
When Aiden started school in kindergarten, he was placed in a self-contained special education classroom. For years, teachers covered lessons like the days of the week, over and over.
Because Aiden cannot speak, school staff assumed he couldn't learn.
From the start, the burden was always on Aiden to prove that he could, even when we told them he understood everything.
By the spring of 2024, late into his seventh-grade year, Aiden's communication had expanded enough that he could make his voice truly heard. He decided to go on strike from school until he could attend general education classes.
Using his letterboard, he wrote to school administrators with determination and clarity: He was smart, he wanted to learn, and he deserved better. He's been in general education classes ever since.
"There is more work to be done to help other nonspeakers," Aiden wrote afterward in a letter to his best friend Moritz, a nonspeaker with autism in New Zealand. "But this first step fills my heart with joy."
Now Aiden's crusade to show the world what nonspeakers can do is getting a little help from the Fab Four.
After Aiden shared his love for Paul McCartney, The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM became our go-to radio station in our minivan.
One segment we heard often was "My Fab Four," where people talk about four of their favorite Beatles songs.
I asked Aiden if he'd like to send in a submission for "My Fab Four." His eyes lit up.
He spent days working on his song choices in late 2023, spelling what he wanted to say. I converted what he wrote to audio using text-to-speech technology and sent it to the station.
In July 2024, Lou Simon, the vice president of music programming at SiriusXM, emailed me, asking for a Zoom meeting. He loved that Aiden had a unique perspective to share as a young Beatles fan and as a nonspeaker.
But Lou didn't want to air Aiden's "Fab Four" segment. Instead, he wondered if Aiden wanted to host his own show.
We were in our living room when I broke the news. Mia and Ava screamed. Aiden spun around in excitement. Christy's face filled with pride. A wave of gratitude washed over me.
Aiden's years of hard work were paying off. He was being heard. His advocacy dreams were coming true ‒ and in the coolest way possible.
Writing back to Lou, Aiden spelled, "Thank you SiriusXM for recognizing that nonspeakers have a place on the radio."
A love for the Beatles becomes an unbelievable dream
For months over Zoom, Lou met with our family; Aiden's speech therapist who works with him on spelling and typing on a keyboard; and Elizabeth Bonker, who is one of Aiden's heroes.
We shared insights into autism, apraxia and how a radio show with nonspeakers as hosts could work. Lou also invited Elizabeth, an advocate for nonspeakers with autism through her nonprofitCommunication 4 All,to be the show's co-host, making an unbelievably exciting opportunity for Aiden even more thrilling.
Then the work began ‒ fun work, but hard work nonetheless. Aiden and Elizabeth put together a demo, plotting out song selections and spelling out their thoughts, which we converted to audio through a text-to-speech program using voices they've selected themselves.
The voice Aiden picked, friends have said, actually sounds like a younger me, bright and a bit nerdy in tone.
Last November, Lou presented the demo to the board of directors at the Beatles' record label, Apple Corps. They not only gave their approval for the show, but Paul McCartney sent Aiden and Elizabeth an email.
"Wow! This is amazing," McCartney wrote. "Their personalities are so cool and it makes for great listening. Please let Aiden and Elizabeth know that I love it and look forward to hearing their show."
To Aiden, no one was cooler than Paul McCartney. Now McCartney knew Aiden, heard his words, and thought Aiden was cool.
Christy and I were giddy reading and re-reading McCartney's message, knowing how much it was going to mean for our son. When he got home from school, I read it to him.
He leaped off the couch and jumped all over the house. He spelled that he needed 30 minutes to calm down before spelling a response. A half-hour later, he asked for another hour ‒ then after an hour, asked for an additional 13 hours. It was all just too much for him, and for us ‒ wonderfully too much.
The long and winding road we've been on has transformed into a magical mystery tour.
Aiden is "having the time of my life" picking themes and songs for episodes and spelling out his commentary.
Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison (the late George Harrison's wife), and several fans of the show have sent him touching messages of support. Aiden is in virtual clubs ‒ centered on poetry, books and music ‒ with nonspeaker friends who shared how excited they are about the representation and awareness this show offers. Some have even shared ideas for their own podcasts.
"Anything really is possible," Aiden wrote in one of his thank you messages, to Paul McCartney. "The Beatles' music and story helped me to believe that."
The first episode of "We Want To Tell You" aired Sept. 24. Our whole family listened to it live, driving around in our minivan. Hearing my son's words on the radio, surrounded by the people he loves most and who love him most in the world, I was a mess of emotions: wonder, beautiful disbelief, overwhelming pride and joy beyond measure.
"I am the luckiest person in the world," Aiden spelled afterward.
Knowing how happy he was ‒ being able to know how happy he was ‒ I felt exactly the same.
3 songs that made Aiden a huge Beatles fan, in his own words from the first episode of 'We Want To Tell You'
"All You Need Is Love": "I don't remember how old I was the first time I heard it, but I remember it was the first time I felt a connection to a song's lyrics, the first time I realized a song can make people do good and see the good. How we should live is right there in a few minutes of perfect songwriting. It seems so simple and yet it is so profound."
"Yellow Submarine": "I remember hearing this for the first time, I was maybe 4 or 5. At the time I wasn't able to communicate yet on a letterboard. But listening to that song, my imagination would flourish. I felt so transported. It gave me happiness and hope at a confusing time. I am now so happy that I can express my feelings about this song."
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds": "Another reason I'm a Beatles fan is also thanks to the Beatles Channel. Aside from the awesome music I am obsessed with all the shows about the making of the music, especially Dennis Elsas' show 'Say You Want An Evolution' about the making of a Beatles song. And his episode about 'Lucy,' hearing all those early takes, understanding how such an imaginative song took shape, was beyond fascinating and so inspiring as a poet and creative writer myself."
New episodes of "We Want To Tell You" premiere on SiriusXM The Beatles Channel (Channel 18) each month, with episodes reairing throughout the month. Visit siriusxm.com/thebeatleschannel for the latest schedule. Episodes are also available on the SiriusXM app by searching for "We Want To Tell You."
Contact Piet Levy at (414) 223-5162 orplevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him atfacebook.com/PietLevyMJS.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:How my son, a nonspeaker with autism, became a radio host on SiriusXM