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href="/web/20060615101801/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13323810/" id="gted" ce="Link-1">Even mild asthma can prove deadly for children</a></span></div><div style="padding-bottom:3px"><span class="bulletRedSmall">• </span><span class="textMed"><a href="/web/20060615101801/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12614674/" id="gted" ce="Link-1">The Reno custody battle: What went wrong?</a></span></div><div style="padding-bottom:3px"><span class="bulletRedSmall">• </span><span class="textMed"><b><a href="/web/20060615101801/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7468311/">Most viewed on MSNBC.com</a></b></span></div></div></td></tr></table><script>pop_pushTabBox('boxB_3053751');</script></div></div></div><div class="CCol w160 fR clrR"></div><div class="mR165"><div><div class="textMedBlackBold">By Kevin Tibbles</div><div class="textMedBlack">Correspondent</div><div class="textMedBlack">NBC News</div><div class="textTimestamp"><div id="udtD">Updated: 9:15 p.m. ET May 26, 2006</div><script language="javascript"> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('632842893428730000'); </script></div></div><p class="textBodyBlack"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" align="left" style="padding:5 15 0 0;"><tr><td><script>getCSS("3159408")</script><div class="box_3159408" style="width:102;"><script></script><table width="102" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="boxH_3159408"><tr><td width="1%" class="boxHI_3159408"><img border="0" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20060615101801im_/http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Test-Dev/donna/msnbc10/Launch images/byline_nbcnews.gif" height="20" width="100" vspace="0" hspace="0"></td><td width="*" nowrap="true" class="boxHC_3159408"><div class="textSmallBold"></div></td></tr></table><table width="102" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="boxB_3159408"><tr valign="top"><td><img border="0" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20060615101801im_/http://media.msnbc.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Bylines/mugs/NBC News/nbc_tibbles_kevin.thumb.jpg" style="border:1px solid #666666;" vspace="0" hspace="0"></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="boxBI_3159408"><div class="textMed"><b>Kevin Tibbles</b></div><div class="credit">Correspondent</div><hr size="1" width="85%" color="#cccccc" align="center"><div><span class="bulletRedSmall">• </span><span class="textMed"><a href="/web/20060615101801/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3689459/">Profile</a></span></div></td></tr></table><table width="102" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="boxF_3159408"><tr><td class="boxFI_3159408"><div class="textSmall"></div></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table>WHEATON, Ill. - When Jason Neurhing's mom wanted him to learn the piano, many didn't think he could do it.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>When Beth Bauer wanted to teach children like Jason, people didn't think she could do that either. She's enjoyed proving them wrong.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"It's what teachers are supposed to do," she says.</p><div class="aC"><div class="textSmallGrey w320"><a href="#storyContinued">Story continues below ↓</a><hr noshade size="1"> advertisement <div style="padding:0 10 10 10;"><script>ad_dap(250,300,'&PG=NBCMSN&AP=1089');</script></div><hr noshade size="1"></div></div><a name="storyContinued"></a><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>But very few can.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Jason has autism. Beth has compassion.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"Music has really unlocked a key that may have kept him silent," says Bauer.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>When nerve damage in her arm cut short a promising performance career 10 years ago, Bauer started teaching children, about 30 so far, many instructors were reluctant to take.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>What does she get out of this?</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"I've found a place where I can make a difference," says Bauer. "I like challenges."</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Like many children with autism, 7-year-old Spencer Hua had trouble expressing himself with other kids — until they heard him play.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"They see him in a different light, and see him as maybe somebody who can be a friend," says Bauer.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>And when Bauer's students perform, they show a genuine sense of accomplishment.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"I react the same way when a student plays 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' as when a student plays a huge Beethoven sonata," says Bauer.</p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Because when a child with autism gets up in front of a crowd, the result is so much more than just music to her ears.</p><div class="textBodyBlack"><i><em>© 2006 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><div class="userRating t1 b f11 c000" style="margin-top:20px;"><nobr> Rate this 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