03-10-2006, 07:44 PM
Daughter's autism inspired Coquitlam entertainer
By Simone Blais
Move over Raffi - Zany Zack is moving into music.
Known to birthday boys and girls in the Lower Mainland as Zany Zack the magician, Coquitlam resident Tony Kazoleas says he's tapping into his first love - making music - in the children's entertainment industry.
"I just want to share happy songs, as corny as that sounds," he says. "We're not eccentric enough in this life, we're way too serious. We need to realize that it's OK to be eccentric, it's okay to be silly. It's an endorphin rush."
A children's entertainer who has performed at birthday parties and festivals for 15 years, Kazoleas says the profession is addictive.
"Once you become a children's entertainer, you really see a different side to life," he says, "and after that, you can't have it any other way. You see things through their eyes, and the way things really should be."
That innocent perspective on life is what the Coquitlam resident has tried to encapsulate in Music, Magic, Rainbows and Me - a 14-track CD of songs written, performed and produced by himself, along with two friends who helped with background vocals and percussion.
While songs like Slimy the Snail and Please Take Away My Peas are pure, unadulterated fun for kids, there is a serious side to the album.
The lyrics for Everything You Are and We All Need Friends explore themes of acceptance and understanding - themes which Kazoleas says have become his philosophy thanks to his daughter, Shayla.
"I've learned understanding and complete acceptance because of my daughter. I was pretty patient with children before, but my daughter has taught me that 100 per cent acceptance of who you are as a child and an adult is paramount."
It was five years ago when Kazoleas first noticed there was something amiss with his two-year-old.
"Being around children all the time, I can tell when a child is behind developmentally," he says, recalling how Shayla was delayed in learning to speak. "At three and a half, she had less than six words.
"I was told over and over again that everyone in my family is a late talker, that my dad was a late talker. But it just didn't quite sit right with me."
After watching a documentary on autism, Kazoleas and his wife, Penelope, decided to consult a pediatrician for advice. After two days of testing by a panel of specialists, Shayla was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder NOS (not-otherwise specified), which falls under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorders.
"Early on after the diagnosis, it's extremely typical to feel the following emotions: absolute bitterness; confusion; resentment of, not your child, but but any higher power you believe in; and self-pity," Kazoleas says of the process he and his wife went through. "But at some point, you realize that your child was created the way they should be. You can't change them because then that wouldn't be your child."
The family began using the therapy services available to autistic children under six years, which include working with a vast array of specialists.
"Our house is a revolving door of therapists," Kazoleas chuckles, "but it's all positive. It's for her benefit."
Now seven, Shayla is in school, taking regular classes instead of a modified program.
"Autism manifests more as a social disorder. It's been called an invisible disorder because there's no physical clues that there's something wrong with the child," he says. "But then flipside to that is that children with autistic spectrum disorder are often very good at certain things. For Shayla, she loves to write. I have this stack of stories she's written, and they've got everything - character, plot, setting, rising action, the whole thing. She writes about things I had no idea she knew about or was interested in. It's like a window into her world."
Kazoleas says it was after one particularly bad day with his daughter that he wrote Everything You Are as a way of releasing his frustration, and the process inspired him to write more songs.
"It's a song about accepting and celebrating children with special needs and, as parents, loving the child exactly as they are," he says. "I was shocked when I finished the song. It came out so easily that I instantly wanted to write more. By the end of the week, I had five songs and a month later, I had a CD worth of material."
Because his wages come from the magic shows on weekends, Kazoleas decided his debut CD would be used to help an organization that helped his family.
"Fifteen per cent of the CD sales will go directly to the Autism Society of B.C. It's my little gift back to them," he says. "It's a really good organization that offers places to go and resources ... They put us in touch with the local group, and we go to their meetings.
"It's very inspiring to talk to other parents and find out what works and what doesn't with autistic children."
But, he admits, his artistic muse will always be Shayla.
"She loves music. She has memorized all the songs. She used to be a big Charlotte Diamond fan, but now Charlotte Diamond, Fred Penner, they're all collecting dust on the shelf," he says with a quiet smile. "I've learned how to be a better human being because of her. My daughter is my best friend in the whole world."