‘It Doesn’t Matter Who You Are’: ASD Band rocks 2025 Festive Brunch stage
Cheers and applause filled the air as ASD Band’s final chords rang out at Deerhurst Resort.
The Toronto-based alternative pop rock band – its name short for Autism Spectrum Disorder Band – headlined Community Living Huntsville’s 2025 Festive Brunch presented by Tall Trees Muskoka and Deerhurst Resort.
The band’s message? Disability is not a barrier to following your dreams – or making rockin’ music.
“I want people who are listening to our music to know that, whether you’re neurodivergent or neurotypical, you’re not alone in this,” vocalist Rawan Tuffaha told the more than 400 people at the sold-out event. “We’re different, but not less. I want everyone’s takeaway to be: follow your dreams.”
The band’s 5 members – 4 autistic musicians and 1 neurotypical honorary member – performed 2 original songs before wrapping up with their version of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The mini-concert ended with everyone on their feet.
Jennifer Jerrett, event organizer and Community Engagement Specialist for Community Living Huntsville, then led a panel discussion with the band members.
Several of the band’s members shared that music had been an important part of their lives from an early age. Keyboardist Ron Adea noted he feels happy and calm while playing music. Drummer Spencer Murray said, for him, drumming is a way to channel his stimming and get his energy out. And vocalist and lead guitarist Jackson Begley said he wrote his first song in First Grade.
“It was about a girl in my class I had a crush on. Solid rock,” said Begley, to lighthearted chuckles. “I mean, of course it wasn’t very good, but it has led to thousands more songs since then.”
When asked whether the band helped people see autism differently, Maury LaFoy, musical director and bass player for the band, said it did because the band’s focus was on talented musicians creating great music above anything else.
“We set out on this course a couple years ago to make music that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with everybody else’s,” said LaFoy. “We’ve never thought, ‘Oh, we have to write autistic music,’ or, ‘We have to be understood as autistic first.’ It’s just music and that’s the bridge to everybody, including us.”
He said the band loves that people hear and like their music, then find out the band is not neurotypical.
Jerrett asked what the band would say to other autistic people, or people with any disability, who want to follow their passion.
“If there’s something you’re interested in, just go for it,” said Tuffaha. “It doesn’t matter who you are – if you have an interest in something, pursue it. That’s really all it is.”
And the band’s hope for the future of disability inclusion in music?
“I think, realistically, the music industry is already full of neurodivergent people,” said Begley. “For us, though, we put it in our name. We’re openly autistic. So, I think I’d definitely like to see more of what we’re doing.”
ASD Band is on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube as ASD Band Official. The band’s documentary, ASD Band: The Movie, is available for streaming on CBC Gem.
Community Living Huntsville thanks our 2025-2026 Signature Event Partners, including Platinum Partners Tall Trees Muskoka and Deerhurst Resort, Gold Partners Lovegrove Construction and Design, Optimize Wealth Management Dan Willett Financial, Refine Kitchen and Bath Muskoka, Property Prep Canada, Stephenson District Lions Club, and Tulloch, and Silver Partners Hillside Farm, Move It and Maintain It, and the Rotary Club of North Muskoka, for supporting our entire calendar of signature events and making these vital fundraisers possible.
(Photos by Limelight Muskoka)
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Community Living Huntsville is a not-for-profit, registered charity that supports and advocates alongside more than 300 children and adults, and their families, to promote and advance meaningful choice and real inclusion for people with developmental disabilities, so people, families, and our community can thrive. Learn more at clhuntsville.ca and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
