Tina said she wants to open up the world for Kodi and allow him to actively experience what is all around him. Throughout his life, Tina has made a point to continually challenge Kodi and make a normal life possible for him in as many ways as she can. That was my answer, and I knew now how to help him through music … he was a born entertainer.” As he sang, Kodi’s eyes were filled with pure joy and happiness, she said. One of the band members noticed his ability to keep the rhythm and asked him to sing with them. She said Kodi had always loved music, but during a trip to Disneyland, Kodi started drumming on his wheelchair to the beat of a nearby acapella group. Tina shared a pivotal moment in their lives, when she discovered that music would be her son’s main outlet. Her perseverance became even more important when Kodi was diagnosed with autism at age 4. This led to years of beginning to teach Kodi the skills he needed to navigate the world without his sight, thanks to the help of an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instructor who encouraged Tina to not “baby” Kodi and to challenge him and motivate him to move forward. “He carried me, and even to this day, sometimes I don’t even know how I got through a lot of it, but I know that He carried me through the hardest times.” “I fell to the ground and I got on my knees and said, ‘OK, God, I completely give up and I’m going to put everything in your hands because I don’t know what to do,’” Tina said. At 3 months old, Kodi was diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia and Tina was told her son would be blind for the rest of his life. As a baby, Kodi didn’t squint when he was in sunlight and displayed other unusual tendencies, and Tina said that she was personally in denial that there was something wrong with him. Later on, Kodi and his mother, Tina, sat down for a discussion about Kodi’s diagnoses in his early childhood and the journey that led him to the AGT stage. Kodi sang and played the keyboard, accompanied on acoustic guitar by his music teacher. Kodi opened the Convocation with three songs: “Way Down We Go,” by KALEO “Ruin,” by Shawn Mendes and “Counting Stars,” by OneRepublic. An overarching theme of living life to the fullest with disabilities was on full display in Friday’s Convocation with the appearance of Kodi Lee, the blind and autistic musician who became a viral sensation when he appeared on TV’s “America’s Got Talent” last season and was later named the winner.
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