Pierson To Person

IFUNANYA “NODDY” NWEKE is the founder and executive director of Jazz Hands for Autism (JHFA). The non-profit organization provides platforms for musically inclined individuals on the autism spectrum to explore and express their talent, and helps many of its gifted musicians find steady paying gigs. (35:27)     EPISODE NOTES: There’s no choosing the talents any one of us are born with – nor the challenges. I would love to have a natural talent for music. I don’t. But I also don’t have autism. IFUNANYA NWEKE knows plenty of people who have both. Ifunanya is the founder and executive director of JAZZ HANDS FOR AUTISM (JHFA), a non-profit organization that provides platforms and seeks avenues for musically inclined individuals who are on the autism spectrum to explore and express their talent. As she tells me on her PIERSON TO PERSON episode THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM: “Music is processed differently than speech. It’s processed using almost every single structure in the brain. That kind of processing helps byp