"Here in My Heart" - Lessons Learned from an Unusual Young Man and His Family

Stephen Lepotakis has been studying piano with me for almost a year. He enjoys my Steinway grand, which gives him 88 keys as compared to his smaller, electronic keyboard. At his lesson, he glides his hands up and down the piano in long glissandos and gleefully plays fast sequences of notes down in the bass. It’s those exuberant, percussive sounds that lead his mother, Sheila, to lovingly refer to him as "her little Choppin.”

Stephen loves music and numbers and telling time. Appropriately, among his favorite songs is the Chicago classic, “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is.” Or the theme song from Rescue Rangers, the TV cartoon.

Stephen was diagnosed with autism early in his life. Sheila explained how the first clue was in his verbal expression, which stopped developing at age 1 ½ . Stephen has just turned 21. In our lessons, he communicates more through music than through language. Sheila has said, “If we could put to music everything he needs to learn, he would absorb it all quickly. He would surpass so many of his deficiencies.”

Each time I see Stephen for a lesson, I’m impacted by the love Sheila has for him. It’s a warmth that permeates my home and my heart. She’s that rare person who always has a kind word to say, and means it. She oversees the local Special Olympics and fundraises for many other causes. Sheila and her husband were advised early on that they should resist changing their lives to accommodate their son’s--that he should adapt to their routines and grow in that. And yet, the love Sheila has for Stephen comes from a place that’s deep and natural. The same is true for Stephen’s father, Neil. He said to me recently, “I wonder what’s inside him, what he would express If he could tell us.” They are an unusual family.

Stephen expresses through music some of what he can’t convey through language. He has a wonderful sense of rhythm and is capable of subtlety and nuance. As we improvise together at the piano, we play strongly, softly—I only need to give simple suggestions and he’s right there with me. It truly is a duet! You’ll easily hear those qualities in this audio clip of a piece we recently recorded at Chocolate Springs Café in Lenox, MA.

Coda
Another song Stephen loves is the #1 Chicago hit, "Here in My Heart." It's sung by 28-year Chicago veteran, Bill Champlin, who's an acquaintance of Sheila's, and who is now pursuing his solo career. Stephen played that song so much he wore out the tape. The theme perfectly expresses the effect that Stephen and his family have on those of us who are fortunate to know them!