The Concert for Autism, a yearly series of shows benefiting the Desert Autism Foundation, will rock again this fall, with the 18th edition spanning four dates and three venues.
On Friday, Sept. 26, the kickoff event will occur at Coachella Valley Brewing Company; on Saturday, Oct. 11, is the lead-up event at The Hood Bar and Pizza. On Sunday, Oct. 19, is the Acoustic Afternoon for Autism at Coachella Valley Brewing Company; and the main event is on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Big Rock Pub. (Full disclosure: I will be performing at the kickoff event.)
Not only does the concert series raise money for the Desert Autism Foundation; it provides sensory-friendly concert experiences for people on the spectrum. Local musician Josh Heinz, who runs the event, has autistic children of his own, and he makes it a priority to feature performers who raise awareness for autism, who have someone in their life on the spectrum, or who are on the spectrum themselves.
Local singer/songwriter Derek Jordan Gregg has performed at the Concert for Autism for many years. His brother Angus is on the spectrum.
“It started to become apparent that there was something (about Angus that was) a little different,” Gregg said during a recent phone interview. “He did not talk until he was about 4 or 5, not a word. … It was strange to not be able to get to know my own little brother. I always wanted a sibling who I was close to; my sister was a runaway, and that affected me a lot, so I wanted a chance to connect with a family member. His condition was rather drastic compared to what you see sometimes, and it took him quite a while, with the right amount of schooling, to get on the right track.”
Gregg has witnessed firsthand how autism awareness has changed over the years.
“Angus is at that perfect age that, when he was a kid, nobody knew shit, and nobody knew anything about autism,” Gregg said. “It was frustrating. People would be like, ‘God, I hope your brother gets cured.’ It’s not a disease; it’s a spectrum—and he is brilliant. There’s nothing to cure. What has to happen is the world needs to get awareness.”
Gregg is extremely thankful to Josh Heinz for what the Concert for Autism has accomplished in raising awareness.
“People would be like, ‘God, I hope your brother gets cured.’ It’s not a disease; it’s a spectrum—and he is brilliant. There’s nothing to cure. What has to happen is the world needs to get awareness.”
Derek Jordan Gregg on his brother, Angus
“People know how to talk to autistic people because of things like the Concert for Autism,” he said. “I’ve done quite a few of them, and it’s crazy to watch it go from a single event at a brewery, to something takes over a month and goes through almost every city in the desert. … If you consider everybody who’s working hands-on with that, and also watching the show, it raises the awareness of autism in every one of those people.”
Angus continues to inspire his brother, and the pair recently collaborated on a music video.
“He’s thriving now,” Gregg said. “He’s 23. He’s gotten really into editing. He’s going to … film school in Hollywood, and he’s a freaking little badass. I’m just inspired by him, and we’re just such good friends now. He directed the music video for ‘Blue,’ one of those songs from my most recent album. He and I collaborated, and he directed it; he edited and shot it, but he also storyboarded the entire script for the actual video itself, which is quite dark—and I found it to be very satisfying as another dark person.”
Gregg has witnessed how the Concert for Autism is a safe space for people on the spectrum.
“I see other people who are on the autistic spectrum get really passionate at these shows, listening to speeches by people who Josh has up, and also for the music,” he said.
Gregg appreciates the structure of the events, featuring soft rock and acoustic acts at most of the concerts, with the heavy and loud punk-rock bands—with music that can be difficult for some on the spectrum—performing at the kickoff event and toward the end of the night at the main event.
“It’s definitely not blast beats all day,” Gregg said. “When it’s heavier, it’s at the end of the night, when there are probably not as many people on the spectrum there.”
A local musician on the spectrum who has performed at the event in the past, is and performing again this year, agreed to speak to me about the experience. The Independent agreed not to use their name, as they’ve experienced discrimination based on their autism diagnosis.
“I got diagnosed as an adult, later in life,” they said. “I’ve always felt very different and alienated since as long as I could remember, in any social setting. It didn’t occur to me to potentially get diagnosed for autism until I was an adult, because of a lack of education surrounding what constitutes being on the spectrum. I had this idea of what autism is that was based on misconceptions. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m certainly I’m not that’—but turns out, I was that.’”
The performer is thankful that awareness levels for autism have increased throughout their life.
“There’s a lot more talk online about what qualifies as autism, which is good,” they said. “Some of that can kind of backfire a bit. Some people misdiagnose, but for the most part, (the online awareness is) a good thing, and I think people should continue to talk about the less-talked-about aspects of autism.
The local musician would like to see more discussion about the difficulties adults with autism face.
“It’s very difficult for an adult to get diagnosed with autism,” they said. “A lot of the institutions and things out there are meant for children with autism, but the unfortunate reality is that a lot of parents and people miss the subtle cues of what makes their child autistic, and a lot of people go undiagnosed for years, and they wonder what’s wrong with them. When the moment comes when they finally want to get diagnosed, it’s hard to get that diagnosis, because it costs so much money, and it’s rare to find places that diagnose you, so you end up having to pay out of pocket for private institutions to get your diagnosis. It can be really difficult for people who suspect they’re autistic and don’t have access to those resources or the money.”
When the musician previously performed at the Concert for Autism, they shared their thoughts on the issues faced by adults on the spectrum.
“I really appreciated the concert, because it allowed me an opportunity to speak my mind on autism,” they said. “I got onstage, and I talked about ‘masking’ and being someone you’re not, which is something autistic people have to deal with all the time. I really appreciated that Josh put on that show to allow me to speak my mind, and allowed me to do this interview. … He’s providing people on the spectrum, like me, an opportunity to talk about (our) experience.”
Another difficulty, the musician explained, comes with entering the workforce as an autistic adult.
“The world is not really built for us,” he said. “We have a lot of sensitivities to sight, sounds, smells, people, and the average workspace is not really meant to accommodate people on the spectrum. As a result, a lot of us have a very hard time working, and a very hard time making ends meet. Some jobs have accommodations—but if you don’t have that diagnosis, we can’t get those accommodations, and you end up having to mask and deal with all these sensory stimuli, and it’s exhausting. We deal with burnout much quicker than the neurotypical person would, and that leads to depression, anxiety and sometimes suicide. Sometimes they resort to drugs to cope with it. Our brains are hardwired to be very sensitive to things, and as a result, it’s very hard for us to function in this day-to-day life.”
Heinz has been working with Visit Greater Palm Springs to get local business trained and certified to better serve people on the spectrum. He also personally helped the local musician.
“Josh helped me find resources for autism and getting diagnosed and workplace accommodations,” they said. “He sent me a bunch of links, and I was really appreciative of that. He’s doing a great job.”
The local musician urged everyone to treat each other with kindness.
“Neurotypicals tend to not be able to empathize with people on the spectrum as much—and also vice versa, because there’s a huge communication difference,” they said. “People on the spectrum are a lot more direct. They don’t really follow social cues very well, and they don’t really understand those unspoken social rules. Neurotypicals live by these social rules, and as a result, there’s a lot of miscommunication, and people tend to think a lot of autistic people might be rude or have bad intentions when that’s not the case. … I would say for people to just not assume that autistic people, or anybody, is having bad intentions, if they’re coming off in a way that might not be polite.
“I just wish people would communicate better. Our symptoms get mistaken as character flaws or behavioral issues like anxiety. We’re told to just ‘push through’ and ‘get over’ discomfort and sensory triggers when our brains don’t work like that. Our environments need to be changed to suit us, and we need more recovery time than a neurotypical person would.”
The Concert for Autism kickoff event takes place at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 26, at Coachella Valley Brewing Company, at 30640 Gunther St., in Thousand Palms. The lead-up event will take place at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, at The Hood Bar and Pizza, at 74360 Highway 111, in Palm Desert. The Acoustic Afternoon for Autism will take place at 1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19, at Coachella Valley Brewing Company. The main event will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Big Rock Pub, at 79940 Westward Ho Drive, in Indio. A donation is requested at the events. For more information, visit concertforautism.com.
Edited to fix a location error.
