Into their World: Reaching the Child with Autism by Krista Velez

The conference featured a special clinic focused on teaching music to autistic students.  The first part of the clinic explained the definition of autism and the fact that 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with this disorder.  We went through what the average autistic student undergoes during a typical day: speech and language deficits, perceptual difficulties, problems in relating/socializing, and bizarre motility patterns.  With these factors in mind, we learned about how music instruction can be altered to meet the needs of these students.

When teaching a song vocally, the clinician pointed out that it is important to always have the students keep a steady beat.  This can happen by playing a drum or lightly tapping knees.  Through informal guidance, a child can be guided into audiation (thinking of the music in the head).  It is important for the teacher to model everything that is expected for the student to do.  Repetition is key!  The student must always be prompted through verbal, visual, and gestural cues.  

Here is an example of a lesson focusing on movement during the playing of a piece of music:

1.  Stir with body parts and make a "soup" or "stew"

2. Move continuously and freeze when the music stops

3. Balance been bags on different body parts and move continuously without letting them fall)

4. Mirror a partners hand or body movements

5. Move hoops (spin, bounce, roll) to repetitions of a song

6. Vary movement with each repetition of song (swim different ways with arms, move different body parts, perform locomotor movements)

I found this clinic to be very inspiring and hope that I can incorporate what I learned with future projects at Pentucket.