The medical community may define autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder, a spectrum of developmental disabilities that affect learning, communication and interactions with others.
But for John O'Neil, it meant watching his 2-year-old son, James (now 14), change from a cheerful toddler into a child who had trouble speaking and playing. It was, he said, as if James were "falling down the well."
O'Neil, an editor at The New York Times and father of three, put that phrase on paper five years ago. It is now part of the chorus of Diagnosis, one of 14 songs on a new benefit album, Songs of the Spectrum, out April 6 in tandem with Autism Awareness Month.
The album features O'Neil's lyrics set to music by family friends Deena Shoshkes and Jon Fried (husband-and-wife indie-pop duo The Cucumbers) and recorded by artists such as Jackson Browne, Teddy Geiger and Dar Williams, some of whom will perform at the release concert in New York on April 7.
The album's proceeds will go to a variety of autism organizations, and those who download it at SingSOS.org can choose which one their purchase will benefit. During April, the download will be available for a donation of $1 or more.
The songs, Fried says, explore "a whole range of experience."
While House on Fire touches on the strain a child with autism can place on a marriage, the song Understanding features lyrics that go: "There's a boy inside/Who's having fun/Maybe of a different kind."
"It's an understanding that life forevermore is not going to be normal," Fried says. "But you begin to realize it's not necessarily worse."
This "respect for the variances in autism" was what attracted singer/songwriter Kelly Flint to the project.
The song she performs, Hide and Seek, includes lyrics like "The boy was here and then he's gone/No more games for him and mom." Flint's 8-year-old son, Benjamin, has autism.
"It's not about fixing or changing him," she says. "It's about embracing his particular perspective on the world, which is really unusual and beautiful."
O'Neil didn't have to search far for one of the collaborators: His oldest son, Chris, co-wrote the song Afraid (My Brother's Cries) with Fried. The song, performed by Teddy Geiger on the album, explores the struggles of the siblings of children with autism.
"It cuts right to the core of the thing," Geiger says. "The lyrics are 'I'm afraid that he'll live his life alone behind walls.' It hit me hard."
As for the album's inspiration, James O'Neil is in middle school, making friends, navigating cliques and working on his writing. His poem, My Perspective, is the album's final track. It begins with the lines "You always have me hearing your side/But I don't think you can hear mine."
"I've listened to the album several times," James says. "I thought the songs were amazing and they really touched me. Every time I listen to them over and over again, they really seem to touch me."
John O'Neil hopes the album and James' performance on it will emphasize the need for the early intervention and extensive therapy James received.
"To me it's very fitting that the album starts with a parent's despair and a 2-year-old's diagnosis and ends with that same child speaking for himself," O'Neil says.
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