Ghost Voices CD - My son's autism

My name is Dave Ryder, and my son David has autism.
I'm trying to raise a lot of money, but it's not for me: Half will go to Easter Seals , an organization who provides services to help children and adults with disabilities and/or special needs as well as support to their families. They've been helping families for nearly 100 years. The other half will go to Autism Speaks , the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.

I'm 51 years old, and I recently had a heart attack that nearly killed me. I'm on blood thinners, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and statins, and I have chest pain when I exert myself, so I take a lot of nitroglycerin tablets.

It was hard trying to raise my son before the heart attack, now it is REALLY hard (but I love him so much I do the best I can, he is truly an awesome kid). My wife supports us (she is a sign language interpreter for the deaf). I am a musician, I assume everyone knows musicians do not make very much money. We are struggling financially (but who isn't?)

I had an epiphany shortly after my heart attack, worrying about who was going to care for my son after my wife and I passed away: one night my amplifier started emitting static voices in a foreign language, and I thought, "Ghost Voices". All the hair on the back off my neck stood up, and over the next several weeks the music just POURED out of me.

I felt like I was a conduit of a Higher Power.

The songs are all about living as an autistic person, and being a parent with an autistic child, and the stress and worry that goes along with that. The songs are nearly finished: Chris Rose played drums, and I played the rest of the instruments. We are blown away by the results - PLEASE GIVE THEM A LISTEN!

So it's not about AWARENESS (everybody is aware of autism), it's about ACCEPTANCE: accepting autistic people for who and what they are, and trying to find ways they can be productive happy people in society after they grow up, and donating money to an organization that is working towards that goal.

I am in the process of posting songs to SoundCloud so you can hear them. How to describe them? They are painful, heartbreaking, joyous, hopeful, quiet and loud: it is a roller coaster of emotions and song styles. I think it is a journey you will never forget :)

My soundcloud address is
https://soundcloud.com/daveryder

My website is
www.daveryder.com 

Thank you sincerely,
Dave Ryder