Alexander (right) supports Shehzad Muizzuddin.
Direct support professionals (DSP), those who work with individuals with physical or developmental disabilities, were spotlighted Sept. 9 through 15, during Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. One such professional is April Alexander of AHRC Nassau, an agency that provides services and supports to those with disabilities.
Every Thursday, Alexander takes Shehzad Muizzuddin, a 62-year-old Pakistani immigrant who relies on organizations like AHRC Nassau for support services, to the Farmingdale Library so he can play his sitar in a jazz ensemble onstage in the library’s performance room.
Muizzuddin learned to play sitar as a young boy, and his passion for the string instrument has only grown. Visiting senior center members dance and clap as he strums his 42-inch sitar with palpable energy alongside other players in the ensemble.
“When I first started working with Shehzad, [he was] very quiet, made very little eye contact. Always nice, but just really quiet,” Alexander explained. “What’s very special is over the time that I’ve worked with him, he’s become someone [who will] talk with people, he’ll make eye contact. He’s really become quite confident in himself, he’s become very outgoing.”
Much of Muizzuddin’s newfound confidence can be attributed to, of course, Alexander’s support, but also to his passion for playing the sitar. On stage, Muizzuddin mentally travels to a place where it’s only him and the melodies he strums for all to hear. Bi-weekly, he travels to New Jersey to receive sitar lessons.
“He’s not shy here [at the library]. He just loves [playing the sitar], so if we can get him out more and more to play the sitar, we’re going to do it. He wants to go out and play, that’s his passion and he shows it on his face,” said Alexander, who has received requests from Muizzuddin to call senior citizen centers in the hopes of playing his sitar for them. “Shehzad has a real passion for playing for the senior citizens, so he loves coming down here [to the library], and the people have been really responsive to him.”
Just as Muizzuddin has gained from Alexander care, support and the opportunity to do what he loves in a public setting, Alexander has gained a wealth of knowledge about the sitar and Pakistani culture.
“I learn much more from my people. They have taught me how to be patient, they’ve taught me how to smile during adversity,” Alexander explained. “[Shehzad has] taught me about things I would never have known if I didn’t work with him. This is the gift that God gave me. It’s evident to me that this is where I need to be.”
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