Autism affects around one in a hundred people in Britain, and those with the developmental disability often struggle to make sense of the mass of people, places and events that surround them. When Samantha Ruderham was diagnosed with autism, her parents were warned by doctors that they might only be able to communicate with Sam through sign language. But they refused to accept that limiting diagnosis and now aged 14, while Sam does still struggle to make herself understood through speech, she’s found her voice to be far more fluent through song. So much so that she’s started work with a vocal coach and has recorded her own CD, called “I Have a Voice.” Music has changed not only Sam’s life, but that of her family and friends, as reporter Bob Dickson found out when he visited her in Edinburgh.
