This has cheered us up on a miserable, wet day. Ethan Walmark is six and autistic - but his piano skills and sheer enthusiasm are a joy.

While most children his age would be picking out chopsticks, standing behind the piano, he announces he will play Piano Man by Billy Joel - before launching in with infectious enthusiasm and sheer brilliance. He barely looks down, as his fingers dance and he bobs in delight.

As each chorus starts, he excitedly urges to the guitarist accompanying him: "Sing it, Sing it together. Sing us a song,", joining in and issuing more instructions.

Ethan's video was uploaded on YouTube three days and had already had over half a million hits and over 600 comments.

Ethan, from Westport, has 20 videos on YouTube of him performing hits such as Take on Me by A-Ha and James Taylor's Mockingbird

Ethan suffers from a form of autism that makes social interaction difficult. But he has a rare musical gift that also serves as therapy.

He astounded his parents, Mike and Alison, by being able to play the Beatles' I Will on the piano by ear when he was just four.

And they have encouraged his talents ever since

"We just want our son to be happy, whatever that means to him.' Mike Walmark has said. 'It's not about us anymore. It's about him."

Enjoy!

Find out about the support available for talented children like Ethan by visiting the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) online at Nagcbritain.org.uk.

Wise words on fatherhood

  • <p> &quot;When we were visiting New York City, I took my kids to the same playground where I went growing up. It was fun to feel that connection of having gone there as a kid and being there as a parent.&quot;</p> <p> <strong>Actor Ben Stiller</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;I cannot understand how I managed to cope without getting cuddled this many times a day.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Actor Russell Crowe</strong></p> <p> </p>
  • <p> &ldquo;Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Actor Bill Cosby</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;Father&rsquo;s Day always worries me. I'm afraid I'll get something I can't afford.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Comedian Billy Connolly </strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;I&rsquo;m preparing for the baby, I&rsquo;m busy putting childproof caps on all the bottle of booze.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Talk show host David Letterman</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;There's no pillow quite so soft as a father's strong shoulder.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Writer Richard L Evans</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;A good father needs infinite patience, boundless enthusiasm, kindness, the ability to score a goal, take a wicket, and hit a winning serve, and the strength to say 'NO' every now and again.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>TV star Piers Morgan</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;A father is the guy who's quick to appear with the camera and just as quick to disappear when there's a nappy to be changed.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Comedienne Joan Rivers</strong></p> <p> </p>
  • <p> &ldquo;I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>President Harry S Truman</strong></p>
  • <p> <em>&ldquo;</em><em>Never raise your hand to your kids.&nbsp; It leaves your groin unprotected.&rdquo;</em></p> <p> <strong>Comedian and actor Red Buttons</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;There's a time for being a rock star, on TV, and in the studio, but you've got to put time aside for being daddy, and getting chocolate rubbed in your face&quot;</p> <p> <strong>Musician Noel Gallagher</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;Fatherhood is great but there is one problem. She doesn't sleep. At night she seems to turn into a vampire. She wakes up every night five or ten times, asking for things, singing, calling out.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Tennis star Goran Ivanisevic </strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;When the kids have their friends round, I have to pretend to be Fun Dad so they won't go back to their parents and say: &lsquo;He was really shouty&rsquo;.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p> <strong>Chat show host Jonathan Ross</strong></p>
  • <p> &nbsp;&ldquo;I cannot reckon of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father&rsquo;s protection.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Psychologist Sigmund Freud</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;For a father a home birth is preferable. That way you&rsquo;re not missing anything on television.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Comedian Jeremy Hardy</strong></p> <p> </p>
  • <p> </p> <p> &ldquo;Is there any sound more terrifying on a Sunday afternoon than a child asking: &lsquo;Daddy Can We Play Monopoly.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Top Gear&rsquo;s Jeremy Clarkson</strong></p>
  • <p> &ldquo;<em>One father</em>&nbsp;is more than a&nbsp;<em>hundred schoolmasters</em>.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Poet George Herbert</strong></p>
  • <p> &nbsp;&ldquo;I cannot reckon of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father&rsquo;s protection.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Psychologist Sigmund Freud</strong></p> <p> </p>
  • <p> &quot;I like to dress up as the lead character in whatever story I am reading. This is a little weird because my daughter loves the Disney princesses. But you'd be surprised at how good I look in a ball gown.&rdquo;</p> <p> <strong>Actor Adam Sandler</strong></p>