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Pianist, 18, with autism performs at Dix Hills school

BY CHRISTINA HERNANDEZ | christina.hernandez@newsday.com

2:32 PM EST, November 28, 2007

As the boys and girls of Forest Park Elementary filed into the Dix Hills school's cafeteria yesterday, Brittany Maier played "Piano Man" softly on a keyboard onstage, smiling, swaying back and forth and singing quietly to herself.

Hundreds of eyes gazed up at her, but behind dark glasses, Maier, who is blind and autistic, and has a brain impairment, focused only on the music.

Maier, 18, of Huntington, can play hundreds of songs on the piano, but she rarely speaks. She is on the low-functioning end of the autism spectrum but her musical ability, including two albums and several original songs, makes her a savant, her mother said.

"To her, music is a language," said her mother Tammy, who added that her daughter has played at Shea Stadium and on television shows.

Brittany Maier performs engagements about twice a week, her mother said, and can play just about any song she's heard a few times, including "My Favorite Things" and "Ave Maria." And she makes her favorites, like "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter, obvious by smiling wide and rocking extra fast, her long, dark ponytail flying.

Maier played several songs during three assemblies yesterday, while her mother educated the school's approximately 680 students about her daughter's travails and triumphs.

Maier was born four months premature, her mother said, weighing about one pound. She lost her sight at three months and her autism was diagnosed at age 6. That same year, she started poking at a toy piano.

By 2000, she was performing in schools. She released her first album at age 12 and in 2005 she and her mother moved to Huntington from South Carolina to pursue her career as an entertainer.

"There aren't many celebrities who have a developmental disability," Tammy Maier said. "I think she makes a difference in the world."

Forest Park Assistant Principal Sally Curto said yesterday was Brittany Maier's first visit to the school, which is part of the Half Hollow Hills school district. The district educates more students with autism than any on Long Island, according to the most recent state data. A district official said there are 169 students with autism in Half Hollow Hills.

The message of yesterday's program, Curto said, was that despite human weaknesses "we can still follow our dreams."

Teacher Michelle Gill said she hoped the performance showed students who don't have autism that their peers with the disorder, despite social difficulties and unusual behaviors, can achieve greatness.

During the assembly, a boy with autism led his classmates in a sing-a-long of "It's a Small World" while Maier played the cheery notes on the keyboard.

Students clapped, sang along and did the wave while Maier played songs by The Beatles and Green Day, and seasonal classics like "Jingle Bells."

"I thought it was really cool how she memorized notes and songs," fifth-grader Matt Fattibene said after the show.

"It was nice," said fourth-grader Alex Gillman, who is also on the autistic spectrum.