Jason's Family
An Ear for Music At A Place Called Home
Science shows us that listening to music, together, creates a connection of trust and social bonding between people. For Gino, it was through the sharing of his love of music that has created a special bond between him and Jason, who joined his home through LifeShare, in early 2024.
Gino turned Jason’s ear towards music by going to record stores with him and talking about his favourite musicians. He has even gifted him his record player.
Gino and Jason now drop into record stores, with some regularity, to talk about the music greats and see if there is a new acquisition for Jason’s growing record collection. Musicians such as Billy Joel, REO Speedwagon and the Rolling Stones are just some of the music ‘greats’ who now get a spin on the turntable.
LifeShare, to Gino, is like having a guest who ends up staying.
“They became part of the house, just like any other guest, and then end up staying.”
He adds, it is all about just about having someone else in the house. He said the best way to start is by having a couple of weeks’ trial basis to see how everyone interacts with each other.
“You find your balance and you adapt to different routines,” he says, adding. ‘There is a bit of a transition period but it is about accepting someone into your home and sharing experiences with them while also learning from them.”
Their household has found its new rhythm with the addition of Jason.
“Wherever I go, he goes,” says Gino. And by saying ‘going’ – he means that they lead an active lifestyle that includes lunches together, shopping, the record store, using the pool or going to the beach in the summer or looking for games for Jason’s Super Nintendo. And they take advantage of the many restaurants and coffee shops by going out for lunch - especially Chinese food, pizza, poutine and subs.
Each member of the family spends time with Jason. How do they respond to people who ask who Jason is?
“We have a new family member,” says Gino.
If you ask Jason about what makes it feel like home, he answers with: “I live with them, I listen to my albums, play video games and go in my swimming pool and go out with my Dad (as he referred to Gino).”
Everyone in the house has found their routine, now. Jason still visits his family members, both locally and in southern Ontario.
In addition, Jason has two support workers who alternate in taking him out, biweekly. CLA provides support to the family, as well.
The Naccarato’s family’s rural setting, in Gros Cap, is a sharp contrast to the residence located at the hub of city activity, where he lived with another family for the previous 16 years.
“It is nice and quiet out here,” says Jason. “There are no cars and not a lot of people.”
How Gino came to learn about LifeShare is closer than a six degrees of separation type-of-story. After nine years of providing CPR instruction to CLA staff, he’d often heard about the different ways to provide support to people with developmental challenges, like LifeShare. Following a conversation, one day post-training, it was a phone call from a CLA manager who reached out to him and asked if he would be interested.
“I had already been hearing about this program, for years, and it came down to when the timing was right and then that call came and set it in motion,” he says.