Teaching Autistic Children
Ideas to and from Music Teachers

I recently watched a very moving documentary called Autism: The Musical. Gosh, those kids are adorable. Their stories are heart-wrenching. The mother of one of the boys (she is an acting coach, I think) made it her mission to produce a drama with these kids, pulling them together over many months, and getting them to work together... music was a very big part of it.

It was a good experience for these kids and their families and friends. No bullying, lots of encouragement. My local library ordered the movie -- I recommend it to anyone who needs to bolster their empathy and patience. On this webpage I have several videos from or about "Autism the Musical," because each one is a little different and together, they may give you a feeling of hopefulness about what is possible.





TEACHING AUTISTIC CHILDREN: SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES

Teach, initially, what you would teach other students, but more slowly and with greater amounts of review. What does a music teacher teach?

TECHNIQUE

This means not just speed and strength of the fingers, but basic hand posture and how to sit with the instrument -- or for a singer, how to stand (most of the time). For these skills, you need a careful and knowledgeable teacher, for what beginners learn becomes habit (especially true for autistic learners), and it is very hard to un-learn bad hand posture.

Most beginning music books have good photos or illustrations, but an experienced teacher is much more helpful than any book. Every lesson, the teacher will check posture and other fine points and make constant corrections (gently, it is hoped).

Help the student learn finger numbers and also timing and hand coordination by playing simple 5-note scales: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 (Right hand -- the Left hand is 5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5).

But initially, start with what I call "Hammer scales": 1-1-1, 2-2-2, 3-3-3, 4-4-4, 5-5-5, and so on. For a new beginner, I would not torture them by requiring a whole octave of these scales, but just two or three good "sets" of scales for each hand, gradually lengthening the required amount. Concentration and quality suffer when there are too many repetitions to do.

Putting the scales hands together will be much harder -- hand shape will initially suffer as the new task becomes hand coordination. Go to Martha Beth Lewis's site for a thorough discussion of what to do with scales (Finger Dexterity Drills) for any student.

Working with autistic children, I would do the same things, keeping in mind that her rhythmic scales (short-LONG, short-LONG, short-LONG, and the others) most likely will be HARD, at least Hands Together with good hand posture. (Whenever a new technique is introduced, previously-learned hand shape and finger posture may initially suffer.) I would do the new scales anyway, and not make a big deal about inaccuracy. (I do not use all of her scales, but use what is useful to me currently.)

THEORY

This means, for the most part, understanding the scales and chords, how to make them, and how they work together. For beginners, chords are the most important as far as actually using them in music.

Chords are very fun, and make piano music sound BIGGER. But teaching an autistic child, I'd stick with open 5ths for a long time. Not all teachers are comfortable teaching chords to their students until chords show up in their piano method book, and it is too bad, because playing with chords is a wonderful way to learn new music without having to ALWAYS be reading notes. Also, ease with chord-playing encourages experimentation, composition, and playing by ear!

Simple songs such as Mary Had a Little Lamb can be dressed up. Chord-playing also makes it easy to turn simple melodies into duets. (For examples, see some of my Beginner Piano songs such as Yankee Doodle, Star of the County Down, and All the Pretty Little Horses.) In some songs, banging away at chords is a lot like whacking a drum -- very satisfying and stress-releasing! (My autistic student enjoys playing drums very much.)

When teaching autistic children and young beginners, I would not venture past pentascales (5-note scales) for a very long time, not until the music they are playing seems to call for full scales. It is my opinion that every new concept must be justified by its usefulness right NOW, especially with students who move slowly and require much review. Martha Beth Lewis doesn't even recommend regular full-octave scales until a student is ready for Clementi.

NOTEREADING

This is where the Method or Lesson Book comes in. There are so many methods, but one I am currently very excited about is The Perfect Start for Notereading. A new series by Kevin and Julia Olson, it features very short tunes with optional teacher duet parts, and much repetition of notes. It moves s-lo-w-l-y. I even hand these books to my older beginners for an occasional change of pace in sightreading. The pictures and song lyrics are very fun and not too childish.

Whichever method you decide upon, it should take a gradual approach to note-reading, but do not depend upon this book alone! Flashcards, games, drawing notes on a chalkboard, whiteboard, or paper... these are tools you will find useful.

Little by little, with many different means of reinforcement, notereading can be conquered.

I like the idea offered by one teacher working with autistic children: when the end of Lesson Book 1 (or the Primer) has been reached, start at the beginning of Book 1 (or Primer) of a different method!

It's good for music teachers to keep seeking fresh ideas and teaching tips for autistic children. Ideas that can be turned into simple games are a good way to keep hammering away at notereading.

REPERTOIRE

This is what your autistic student is really going to work at -- songs or musical pieces he likes a lot. These pieces may not ever be perfect, but he or she should keep this music "fresh," not forgetting how to play it. Having a collection of songs that are ready to play makes kids feel good about their ability.

My students choose a beautiful color of 8 1/2" by 11" cardstock paper to be their "Repertoire" sheet. Every time they learn a decent-sounding bit of music well enough for it to be considered potential recital music, we write it down on the Repertoire sheet. Only rarely does this music come from the Lesson Book, alas! Occasionally, it is music learned by rote, such as the chord pattern from The Pink Panther, or the 12-bar-blues. This music I TRY to have them play frequently, but too often I forget about it too!

REVIEW

Continual review is necessary not only to learn, but to retain what they have learned, especially for autistic children. Not only their repertoire, but notereading (please use games), chord patterns, music terminology, and techniques such as arpeggios and scales need to be kept "fresh."

One very useful and revealing exercise I engaged in with a group piano class this last year was to make them all go back over each song in their piano method book, and PLAY IT PERFECTLY for me with ease, before they received the next book in the series. (I made up a sheet with each piece listed, and a box next to each song's name for a checkmark.)

Becoming re-acquainted with each song was so good for them, giving them each a real boost in confidence as well as in ability, that I am thinking of making this a "graduation requirement" for all of my private students as well, before they move on to another level. As I mentioned above, one teacher I read about moved her autistic student into a similar level, but different series, when they finished a book.

RECITALS

My policy is never to force anyone to play in recitals, nor even urge parents to be pushy about recitals. Go with what the student wants. My autistic boy student really enjoyed smaller get-togethers with other boy piano-players. (He got a little wild sometimes, once taking a flying leap to the piano bench... and he wasn't quick enough at the games to be a desirable team member when points were involved, so that is something to keep in mind when planning games.)

At these sessions, the boys would play their favorite music for each other, or pieces they were working on. This was fun for my autistic student, because he was playing music that was "cooler", though easier, than some of the other kids, and he could pull it off. (Boys seem to really like "cool" music, like Crazy Frog, Batman, James Bond, etc.)

Years ago, I taught a boy student with Asperger's Syndrome, and he had a devastating experience at a recital. Because his mother decided, unbeknownst to me, that he didn't need his piano music during his performance (though he had begged for it, I heard later), he went up on the stage without it, forgot how to play his piece, and began to cry. I never want that to happen again.

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Games are always a better way to drill concepts. Find game ideas and props that work for you, and develop a repertoire that you know your student enjoys. One of my most-used items for young kids is a spinner board called "Piano Races," available from MusicMotion.com.

Another one I use almost daily in private and group lessons is a cloth "keyboard" with extra-big keys, available from TCW Resources. There are many websites with great ideas for music games... I'd start with MusicMatters (musicmattersblog.com), and check out the links Natalie has there.

Simple little fast activities, such as a bit of Left-Right drill I like to do to try to catch kids out: place the hands in the lap and say, "Left." Pat your leg with the left hand, and wait for them to do the same on their lap. Then say "Right," and do the same thing with the right hand. Then, "Top. Bottom. Treble. Bass. High, low. Up, down."

Then mix them all up! This exercise only takes 15-30 seconds, usually, and is a good reminder, and a nice break in routine. It goes well just before getting ready to play a new or newer piece of music, when kids ponder which hand to start with. I will frequently point to each staff and say, "Which hand starts first? Top, or bottom?"

I have found (and most teachers would probably agree) that the hardest thing for many kids is just finding the right place to start -- and then after that, their fingers will take over. It helps them to memorize this routine, which we practice at the lesson: I say, "Put your hands behind your back! Okay -- which hand starts first?" If they respond slowly, I may point to the staffs and say, "Top? Or bottom?" Then they hold up the correct hand, or if not, I help them. Then I ask, "Which finger?" They must look closely at the page -- a step they frequently overlook if left to themselves! -- and they wiggle the correct finger. Lastly I ask, "Which note?", and they zero in on the note.

So again, it is "Which hand? Which finger? Which note?" I have found this works very well at lessons for getting them to focus on the written page.

Here is Wyatt, one of the children involved in Autism: The Musical:





The following video is a fascinating interview (part 1 of 6) between Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (MD, neurology & nutrition) and Dr. Mercola of www.mercola.com, The World's #1 Natural Health Website. Her own son was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, and she hit the ground running, so to speak, to find answers. What she has to say about a compromised digestive system that fails to nourish the body, and instead turns food into toxicity for the body, is eye-popping. It is her belief that many afflictions which bear different names, such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, depression, ADHD and ADD, as well as dyslexia and dyspraxia, all share a common origin with autism -- the condition of the digestive system. Her book deals not with the symptoms of these challenges, but with going to the source and changing the health of the gut.



If you would like to go to the page on Youtube.com that contains the rest of the six videos, CLICK HERE.You may also wish to check out her book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia

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