Grand Rapids Singer Writes A Special Song For His Sister Who Was Diagnosed With Autism

His name is Chas Burtchett, and I first met him and heard him sing at the Autism Support of Kent County Walkathon a few weeks back at Kuiper College.  I've been hosting the event for the past 5 years or so.  Chas was telling me and some of the others, about his sister who was diagnosed with Autism.

See Autism is one of those things where not much is known about it still.  Sure there are statistics like, 1 in 88 children have been identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, according to the CDC.   ASD's are reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.   ASDs are almost 5 times more common among boys (1 in 54) than among girls (1 in 252).  But those are just numbers.  There are real people behind those numbers and Chas wanted more people to understand that so he wrote a song about his wonderful sister.

Chas told me the reason he wrote this song was to cheer his sister up and show God's Love for her. Then when Autism Speaks got a hold of it he realized that it could touch peoples hearts throughout the world  and could spread Autism awareness. My goal since that day has been to spread Autism awareness all around the world.  He says he's had the great opportunity to sing at the palace of Auburn Hills, Notre Dame, he also opened for Hunter Hayes as well as Remedy Drive.  Chas says he is so thankful where God has lead the song.

In the near future Chas is going to New Jersey to sing the song at the Autism Radio Concert.  Autism Speaks is going to do a Public Service Announcement with the song and there are also talks of a commercial with Converse.

Chas says while all of these things are wonderful the real reason for the song was to spread awareness and try and touch peoples hearts and show people with Autism that they were made by God's hand and they  too are so important and special.

A little more about Chas' song, Grammy recognized Producer and Songwriter Dave Carlock, known for his work with multi-platinum artists P!NK, Blink-182, Foo Fighters and Eric Clapton, has come on board to produce and mix the song in his Benton Harbor recording studio.  The Verve Pipe and Chas were in the studio a couple weeks ago cutting the finished product of Cristy's Song and were finishing up the  vocals. T he Celebrities backing the Song are Annette Kelly, Heidi Sheer, The Verve Pipe (Drummer and Bass Guitarist), P!nks Producer, Autism Radio (New Jersey), Autism Speaks, and Celebrities Against Autism.

In the video you will see P!ink's producer and Chas doing the song. Chad is also on Facebook if you'd like to reach out...http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chas-Burtchett/109996742412350