Rachel Starritt - Blind Aspie Pianist

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Rachel Starritt, from Brackla, Bridgend, the first blind student to study a music degree at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama , passed grade eight piano aged 14 and A level music at 15.

The 23-year-old can memorise symphonies by ear, has performed to sell-out audiences and was one of just three UK musicians picked to play in a band made up of artists with disabilities from around the globe advertising TV coverage of the 2016 Paralympic Games .

But while her musical talent has brought happiness and acclaim, Rachel often finds day to day communication with others stressful and difficult.

She and her family believed this was largely because of her blindness.

It was only when she was due to go and study in Barcelona as part of her RWCMD music degree that her mother worried about her inability to organise herself and communicate easily with other people - both of which would be essential for life abroad without family and familiar surroundings.

When the diagnosis came back positive Rachel, who is half way through two terms studying at the renowned Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona, said she had a sense of relief.

“I have been happier since the diagnosis because I understand myself more.

“I think Asperger’s gives me the intense focus for music.”

The 23-year-old hopes sharing her Asperger’s story may inspire others with the condition, saying it is nothing to be scared of.

“I feel I can communicate through music rather than verbally, particularly through jazz because it is improvised and in a group. It is so spontaneous and it alleviates stress.

“With Asperger’s I would say just keep going with your interests and see where it leads. Asperger’s can have benefits in terms of making you focus on one thing.”

A fluent Spanish speaker, Rachel finds that language easier to converse in than English because she finds it relies less on implied tones of voice and phrases which is hard for people with Asperger’s to decipher.

Her mother Andrea admitted that for years she suspected her daughter might have Asperger’s but as she was already coping with being blind did not want to suggest dealing with another diagnosis and condition.

Rachel, who returns to Barcelona this week, says she loves the city, its language and culture.

Living in student accommodation in the city she takes the metro to college each day, has taught herself to live independently.

“I love Barcelona. I feel at home there,” she says.

When she returns to Wales at Easter the young pianist , who counts Charlie Parker and Beethoven among her favourite musicians, has one term left of her four year music degree at the RWCMD . After that she hopes to continue with post graduate study and a career in performance and teaching.