Singer Devansh Chandra, Diagnosed with Autism, Wants to Build a Career in Music!

Devansh Chandra is a now 15-year-old boy who was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old. He lives with his parents, Shweta and Divakar, in Delhi. Chandra is very passionate and shows great love for singing, as he has performed in several places when he was young. 

When he started performing at numerous stages, he realized that he wanted to build a career in music when he grew up. His family was very supportive and loving of their son singing, and they showed this by guarantying that he would become an independent person who will be able to take care of himself despite of his disability.

“In Patna, there were no good therapists. An autism diagnosis for our son was something very shocking. I did not understand or know what his requirements were. It was my fault that I was completely unaware about autism. There were times when we thought autism was a disease that could be cured. We were running around and looking for doctors. It was like finding key to a lock. During that time, my husband got shifted to Delhi for work. Everything fell in place then”, says Chandra’s mom to New Hook.

His parents travelled long hours to get Chandra the best treatment possible, and never complained. They remained very strong-minded since day one in order to make it work. Chandra’s mom later explains that it was one of the best decisions she has ever made for her son.

Chandra’s mom was very determined to learn everything she could about autism and how to help her child. She attended workshops where she learned how to do therapies at home with her son. She started doing occupational therapy which has a major positive impact on Chandra. “There were many hurdles, but all that was ok to me as long as he started learning things”, says Chandra’s mom to New Hook.

Chandra was non-verbal when he was two years old, but his mom used to hum him songs. Since then, he loved listening to music, and that was the only thing that would keep him busy. He was able to learn songs pretty fast, so in his therapy sessions when he was 4 years old, he was already singing more. From this time, he enjoyed and had an amazing time playing hand-drum and that’s when his parents noticed his love for music.

He plays by himself, without any training in music, but even then he has performed in multiple places. Last year he was invited to play at the ‘Aaj Tak’ conclave which was an amazing and unforgettable experience for him. Lastly, he also was in the talent hunt which was organized by a national event called All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where he won first place.

Now, Chandra is studying in class 7 at Balwant Ray Mehta School and is part of the exclusive group for children with special needs.

“We hope that Devansh can build a career in music because that is what he is best at doing. He also hopes to pursue that in future”, says Chandra’s mom to New Hook.