At 18 months of age, Josh Cochrane was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a diagnosis that came with a prescription – music and dance lessons.
Now, at the age of seven, it is hard to tell Cochrane is living with autism spectrum disorder.
Cochrane is inspiring people in his hometown of Yarmouth, N.S. with his amazing singing voice and performance skills. But it wasn’t always that way.
“Josh wasn’t sitting up at 18 months yet. He wasn’t walking, obviously if he wasn’t sitting up, he couldn’t support his weight,” says his mother, Ann Harrington.
He also wasn’t talking.
When doctors diagnosed him with autism spectrum disorder, they suggested dance lessons as a form of therapy.
Dance instructor Deanna McCarron works with at-risk youth and children with learning disabilities. So Harrington signed her son up for McCarron’s class.
“Josh would come into the class and stand in the middle of the class and he had a pleasant look on his face and he wasn’t afraid…and my helpers would come out and he would participate, but as soon as they dropped his hand, he would just stand there,” says McCarron.
At first, McCarron offered a refund, but then agreed to work with Cochrane. Slowly, he came out of his shell and started expressing himself through dance, music and even theatre.
“It was something that got his brain activated and triggered him and got him to develop,” says McCarron.
Just this month, Cochrane stood up in front of a packed crowd in Yarmouth and belted out Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah to much applause and a standing ovation.
The inspirational performance has been watched online by more than 4,500 people around the world.
“They make you proud. It’s just awesome, because you thought your boy wouldn’t go anywhere, or do anything and then you see your child go so far, in such a short amount of time,” says Harrington.
“Just find the strengths and push their strengths instead of their weaknesses and they’ll go far.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl
