Inspired by daughter, woman starts music program for special-needs kids
By Shelby Reynolds, for the Naples Daily News
When the music starts, Camila Chang listens.
The 11-year-old girl, who almost always is wearing a colorfully patterned headband and bright polish on her fingernails, grew up around music. Like her mom, she learned to play piano by ear when she was young, but autism has kept Camila from understanding sheet music. Her attention span is too short for traditional lessons.
Music helps her focus, such as when Marcela Guimoye gently strums a guitar in the hallway as her daughter gets ready for bed each night.
That’s the idea that inspired EndlessBrain, a nonprofit organization that provides music opportunities for children like Camila. The project will become her mother’s life work.
“It will be my life,” Guimoye, 38, said. “This is my passion and my mission. And my daughter needs it.”
Shelby Reynolds 