Pride of Australia: Daphne Proietto setting children with disabilities free with music

CHILDREN with disabilities too often typecast by the things they can’t do are being set free by Daphne Proietto.

Daphne Proietto has been nominated for an Inspiration Medal for giving children with disabilities free piano lessons. Children who take her classes, which she takes at her home after her full-time job as a music teacher, show remarkable progress. Daphne with Marco Orkibi, 8, on the left, who has Autism, and Aban Bazldjou, 7, on the right who has Cerebral Palsy. Picture: Alex Coppel.

CHILDREN with disabilities too often typecast by the things they can’t do are being set free by Daphne Proietto.

With a piano and a patience that knows no bounds, the Melbourne grandmother is unlocking hidden talents of kids with special needs and changing their lives through music.

“I think the one thing I’ve done is raised the expectation,” the 63-year-old said.

Welcoming children into her home with love like they were her own, Mrs Proietto calls her “treasures” up to the piano to perform feats long thought impossible.

While specialists and doctors tell parents of the things their children will never do — never talk, never do VCE maths, never be a ballerina — Mrs Proietto has opened the door to a world of possibility.

When she met Aban two years ago, the girl, 7, had severe cerebral palsy and couldn’t even move her fingers.

Now, her little hands dart along the keys, creating music that fills a room.

“If you pulled the blinds down and just listened, you’d never know,” said Mrs Proietto, who has been nominated for the Inspiration Medal in the Pride of Australia awards.

Aban has even started ballet lessons, despite her lack of ­balance and the things the ­doctors said.

It’s a similar story for Marco, 8. Before the boy with autism started lessons, he barely engaged with other children.

Now, he sits at the piano, his feet propped up by two telephone books, and calls out Aban’s name.

For 12 hours each week, Mrs Proietto welcomes children and their families into her Bulleen home for free lessons after a full day’s work at Presbyterian Ladies’ College.

It’s been this way for 15 years, since she was asked to teach a boy with autism, the brother of a girl from school.

He is still her student, so too are 25 other children with special needs. And she expects no payment.

Rather, she’s horrified at the thought of taking money for her time.

Because the joy that comes when she sits at the piano with a child who thrives when it’s assumed they’d fail — that’s priceless.

“It’s the happiest time of my day,” she said.

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