Nate

Nate has had significant challenges in his life, having been diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic condition called T9M when he was just 4 months old. T9M meant that Nate’s family was given a prognosis of a severe intellectual disability and considerable delays in communication, social and physical development.   

While his condition is extremely rare, Nate’s family shares many similarities with the other Raukatauri families: traumatic births, extended NICU stays, significant and ongoing medical issues, frequent flyer stays at Starship, severe developmental delays, and the continual flurry of ongoing medical and therapy appointments.   

Nate is now 9 years old and has had weekly music therapy sessions at Raukatauri for over 6 years.  For Nate’s whānau, Raukatauri is a place where he is among friends, giving him the confidence to truly show how capable he is. Not only is he walking, talking and growing in his learning every day, he is also a passionate musician.  Nate loves singing, dancing, playing the drum set, harp, piano, and electric guitar – and particularly enjoys playing Bradley Cooper to his music therapist’s Lady Gaga. Both his family and his therapist believe that at Raukatauri, Nate is entirely at his best, wholly engaged in the moment, truly happy and realising his true potential through the power of music!