Autistic Vancouver boy gets to meet his Idol
Credit to Author: Denise Ryan| Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2019 21:50:42 +0000
Billy Idol superfan, 12-year-old Nico Boffa has his own fan: Billy Idol.
On Saturday, Idol Tweeted out Postmedia reporter Nick Eagland’s story about how Boffa, who has autism, learned to play Rebel Yell in just three days.
Idol retweeted the story with these words: “Magic. See ya soon Nico!”
That same day, his team reached out to Nico’s mother with a special request. Idol wanted to meet Nico in person.
She said Nico whooped and screamed Billy-Idol style when he heard the news. “He was overjoyed.”
Nico wore a Billy Idol T-shirt to the meet and greet, which took place before Saturday night’s concert at the PNE.
“I was so star-struck that I didn’t know what to say,” said Nico.
But when Billy joked that Nico should join the band because he has perfect pitch, Nico was ready to take him up on the offer.
“He’s one of my favourite rock singers of all time,” said Nico.
Idol was down-to-earth, unassuming and friendly backstage, said Boffa, and even posed for a photo with his trademark sneer, which delighted Nico.
Nico, who didn’t speak until he was three due to autism, has been captivated by music since he was a toddler, said his mother. His unique talent became apparent when the piano teacher commended Nico for practicing — except that he wasn’t.
Nico had the uncanny ability to recognize music and play it by ear.
When his mom finally got a piano at home, Nico did begin to practice. “He would play a note over and over again and just listen to it. We got headphones.”
Nico could hear the amplitude of a note, explained Boffa, their wavelength and frequency. When his mom took him for a walk in the woods whatever he heard was like music to him.
“That sound of you stepping on the rocks is a B flat,” he would tell his mother. “He would pick out the notes in every day life.”
Now Nico wants to become a musician.
Meeting Idol was amazing, said Nico. “His music is super-fun, it’s entertaining, I love the beat. He’s a pretty good dancer. I love his moves.”
Nico has been wearing the Billy Idol T-shirt every day since the concert, and he plans to wear it to his first day of school on Tuesday.
Over the years Nico has worked hard to cope with the challenges of autism, and has been actively involved in educating his friends and classmates on what living with autism is like for him.
“Since Grade Three he has been presenting to the class his own version of what autism is like for him specifically, how he is the same as his peers, and what are his differences,” said Boffa.
When the boy whose differences allow him to hear the musical notes in every day life goes back to school on Tuesday, the same as all the other kids, he will have a new story to tell — and when he does, he may just have to add a flourish he learned from Idol: a rebel yell.