From silence to symphony: How a family discovered their son's voice through music

Abu Dhabi: There is a particular kind of waiting that only parents know.

It is the waiting for a first word. For a sign. For some small clue to who your child is and where he is going. For the Al Hashemi family, that wait lasted longer than most. Ahmed began to speak only after the age of six.

Those were years of questions. How do we understand him? How do we reach him? What does he need from us that he cannot yet say?

“We were learning how best to understand him and communicate with him in a way that felt right for him,” his mother, Eiman Al Aleeli, remembers.

Today, Ahmed is 16. He is an Emirati pianist and composer, and a Person of Determination. His music has become the way he speaks to the world. But when Eiman tells his story, she does not begin on a stage or at a keyboard. She begins in the ordinary rooms of family life, in the years when no one yet knew where music might take him.

“With Ahmed, the journey began before we had any idea where music might eventually take him,” she said.

But Ahmed is only one of three stories in this home.

Eiman has three sons, and each has found his own way into the world. Abdullah is a young content creator who has loved animals since before he was five and hopes to become a veterinarian. Eissa creates educational content in French, Arabic and English, introducing others to Emirati culture, traditions and heritage.

Three different boys. One approach.

“I try not to choose my children’s dreams for them, instead, I try to open up different opportunities for them to explore and then pay attention to the things they naturally keep coming back to with excitement.”

Where discoveries happen

Ask Eiman where she learned who her children are, and she does not point to a big moment.

“A lot of what we have discovered about our children has come through the ordinary time we spend together, rather than through big or carefully planned moments.” she said.

Sometimes a conversation starts in the car. Sometimes while the family is out. Sometimes around the dining table. And suddenly a child reveals something new.

The boy who found his voice

For Ahmed, the family did what many families do. They turned to speech and behavioural therapy. But they were determined that therapy would not fill every hour.

“At the same time, we wanted his days to be full of experiences,” Eiman said.

So, Ahmed tried swimming. He joined outings. He went with his family to the mall and the cinema, was included when they bought things for the house and even helped tidy up at home. Every experience taught them something about what helped him feel comfortable.

“We were always looking at what he enjoyed and what we could build on rather than focusing only on the things he found difficult.” she said.

Then, at around the age of seven, something stood out. Ahmed picked up melodies very quickly. He remembered them and kept returning to them. His family saw how deeply he responded to music and how focused he became when listening. They found a piano teacher.

“What began as one small step gradually became a journey that has grown with him year after year,” Eiman said.

There was no single dramatic turning point, she insists. Only small things, noticed by people close enough to see them.

“Music was never a decision we made for him. It was something we discovered with him because we were close enough to notice it at that stage of his life.”

Along the way, the family was learning too. They, and even their friends, came to understand autism better and to communicate with Ahmed in ways that worked for him.

The boy who asked questions

With Abdullah, it started with questions.

Before he turned five, he was already asking them on family outings, in conversations, whenever an animal appeared. How do they live? What do they eat? How should they be cared for?

“At first, you might think it is simply a child’s curiosity but as time passed, we noticed that the interest was not disappearing. It was growing with him and becoming deeper.”

So, the family brought him closer to that world. They visited places and organisations that work with animals, looked up information together and arranged for him to meet specialists and put his questions to them directly.

“For him, these experiences were not only about learning they also became family moments.”

The boy who brought words home

Eissa has always loved to talk, to connect with people and to try new things. As a small child he enjoyed learning new words and bringing them into conversations at home.

When he began learning French, the lesson did not end when the class did. He came home wanting to use it and spoke French to his family.

“We would listen, encourage him and give him the space to try things out in his own way,” Eiman said.

She wanted him to have a safe space to make mistakes, without every attempt feeling like a test. That space later grew into the idea of creating content in French to introduce others to the UAE. And she was careful about one thing.

“It was very important to us that creating content never became a source of pressure. We wanted it to remain something he enjoyed doing, rather than something he felt he had to do."

No comparing

If there is one rule in the house, it is this: the brothers are not compared.

“Each of them has his own personality, interests and way of expressing himself, so I try to give each one the space and time he needs,” Eiman said.

She loves seeing the brothers involved in one another’s experiences, encouraging each other and being happy for one another.

“I want them to grow up knowing that each of them has his own path, and that their differences are part of what makes our family special.”

More than talent

Ask Eiman what she hopes for her sons, and the answer is not fame or prizes.

Humility, respect, compassion, helping others and taking responsibility matter more to her than any achievement. She believes these values are built far more through everyday life than through words: sharing responsibilities at home, seeing how others are treated, being included in family conversations.

Each son has his own version of the hope. For Ahmed, that his talent can express who he is and have a positive impact on others. For Abdullah, that his love of animals grows into compassion and responsibility towards living things. For Eissa, that languages become a bridge, a way of sharing his country and culture with others while respecting theirs.

And when one of them enters a competition or struggles with something new, she tries to keep the focus on the journey.

“We always try to make the experience itself more important than the result,” she says. “Children need to know that our encouragement is not only tied to the result.”

What she would tell other parents

Her advice to parents who are starting to notice a spark in their child is a quiet one.

“Do not rush to turn a talent into an achievement. First, enjoy discovering it with your child.”

Listen. Notice what they keep coming back to. Take a real interest in what they are interested in. Only then, if the interest lasts, offer the right training and opportunities.

“The goal should not be to create a famous child or a child who has to excel at everything it is to help children discover who they are and grow up confident in what they can do and what they have to offer.” she said.

Ahmed, she said, taught her something about this: “Children do not always tell us what they love through words. Sometimes, we discover it simply because we have spent enough time with them to notice.”