It was exactly a year ago that Action 4 News had the privilege of meeting Sammy Martinez.
A middle schooler back then, Sammy reluctantly went on camera to talk about his life as an autistic student and opened our eyes to his gift of composing music.
His family was worried about the backlash of exposing Sammy's autism to so many people especially his peers, but Sammy says they embraced him.
"They told me a lot of good stuff like rock on."
He's now a 9th grader at Sharyland High School and although he's not as involved in his music as a year ago because he’s letting his “brain juice up”, music is still what helps Sammy relax and forget about the world around him which sometimes can seem to be moving way too fast.
It's been a little tough transitioning from middle school to high school since the students are not familiar with him or autism.
He's hoping his music will help them understand.
“I want to have fun with it, see what I can come up with."
He's come up with a musical piece that caught the attention of Jasper Steed, a game developer and film editor who also happens to be autistic.
Steed is going to use Sammy’s music in an upcoming educational racing game for children.
Aside from the opportunity to have his music heard by people outside of the valley, Sammy wants to strike a chord with the community which may not be so sensitive to autistic children.
"Many people don't know about it and they misjudge us as weird and I believe they should know about it and get enlightened."
He's on cloud 9 right now as his music prepares to take flight into the gaming world spreading his talent and, more importantly, his message around the world.
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