ARALIYA Turner is drawing and is singing to herself - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Both verses.

Araliya can also read and recite her numbers from one to ten and she knows every letter of the alphabet.

Pretty impressive for a four-year-old but even more so as Araliya is autistic and had not said a word for years.

However, her silent world has been unlocked thanks to a technique called therapeutic listening.

Araliya's mother Jasmin said her little daughter had shown no signs of developmental problems when she was a baby.

She said: "She was absolutely fine when she was born.

"She spoke certain words and did baby signs. She started to learn to walk when she was only seven-months-old.

"But at ten-months-old, she started to regress.

"She stopped making eye contact and stopped talking.

"I started asking doctors what was wrong but everyone said she was advanced and not to worry.

"Life became difficult. Her behaviour deteriorated and became dangerous. She would scream a lot. She would also climb on everything, even trying to get out of windows."

Jasmin had a professional background in health and social care.

She said: "I suspected Araliya might be autistic. I was upset and worried for her, worried what would happen to her when we are not around."

Her instincts were right. Araliya was diagnosed with autism when she was two.

Jasmin and her husband, Darren, who works at the University of Essex, focused all their energies on helping their daughter.

Jasmin had support from the Children's Assessment Development Unit and from Araliya's pre-school, Great Clacton Pre-School, which she describes as "the best pre-school ever".

She also got help from Barnardo's, which runs children's centres, and the Maze group at Shorefields special school in Clacton.

Jasmin found support from experts as well as other parents who had children with learning difficulties.

She said: "It is only parents with children with special needs who really understand.

"It is hard when you are out and your child is not having a good day. You feel you have to constantly defend yourself but these parents really understood."

Jasmin, who also has a two-year-old daughter, Priya, also went to the Willow Park Resource Centre in Weeley where Araliya also had sensory therapy.

Jasmin harvested the advice and help from every source.

The family moved home to Hillcrest in Clacton so they could be close to the pre-school and have a safe, enclosed garden.

Jasmin introduced trampolines and climbing frames so Araliya could climb and jump safely.

She introduced sign language and visual communication techniques including the picture exchange communication system.

This works by encouraging children to express themselves using pictures instead of words.

In January, Araliya began therapeutic listening. It was to be life-changing.

Therapeutic listening is a sound-based approach. Music gives the listener unique and precisely controlled information and the music is electronically modified to highlight parts of the sound spectrum which capture attention and activate body movement.

Like other sensory systems, the auditory system does not work in isolation.

Neurologically, it is connected to all levels of brain function - including behaviour.

Araliya listens to a new piece of music through headphones every fortnight and then listens to that music - be it Mozart or a nursery rhyme - for 30 minutes twice a day.

The results have been astonishing including unlocking Araliya's speech.

Jasmin, who is 36, said: "We had taken Araliya to Pizza Hut and she was sitting under the air conditioning.

"She told us she was cold.

"It was amazing. In the past she would have either suffered her discomfort in silence or presented challenging behaviour.

"She has also called me Mummy a few times which was truly wonderful."

Araliya's speech developed at a rapid pace. Jasmin believes her vocabulary had been growing silently but she had just not vocalised it.

She said: "I sat with her and started to write down the alphabet.

"She said the letters all the way through. I have always read to her and she has watched phonics videos on Youtube. Unfortunately, most to them are American so when she got to "Zed", she said "Zee". But she said all the letters, every one."

Araliya's speech is particularly good when she is singing - she sings a lot including a plethora of nursery rhymes.

The challenge now is encourage Araliya to express herself more and to make and vocalise choices.

The therapy has also helped Araliya to integrate socially.

Carolyn Rogers, an occupational therapist who works at Willow Park, said therapeutic listening can be used for a range of issues including poor attention, struggles with sleep and changes in routine as well as with children with autism and ADHD.

She said: "Araliya has come along in leaps and bounds. She is a totally different child to when she started and credit should also be given to her parents for how had they have worked with her."

Jasmin is eternally grateful to all those who have helped her.

She had to give up work to take care of Araliya and the family have a never ending shopping list of equipment or therapies which would help her.

The listening therapy and the headphones have been paid for by the Colchester Children's Charity which helps children in need in north Essex.

In a letter to one of the charity's trustees, Roy Kemp, Jasmin said wrote: "I'm not sure what else to write other than a big, huge thank you for making this possible and for allowing Araliya and our family this opportunity.

"This year has shown us what really is possible for our child."

She enclosed a photograph of the family on a day out - a precious memory and one of many more to come.