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I am a piano teacher with almost 15 years teaching experience and I've recently agreed to take on a 7 year old child with autism and language delay; my first special needs piano student. I am having a difficult time finding suggestions/materials/advice on how to structure the lessons for a child with these challenges.

I had my first lesson with her last week and it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I did research online beforehand and had read that starting special needs children with pre-school age piano lesson materials is a good idea, such as the Alfred's Piano Party lesson series for very young children. Also, I tried to think of very basic exercises to start her with, such as showing her a picture of a frog and of a bird and associating the low sounds of the keyboard with the frog and the high sounds with the bird. I then tried to ask her to play all the groups of twos on the keyboard, etc. Everything though seemed too overwhelming and confusing for her. Her greatest difficulty was focusing and concentrating and she would get frustrated very easily, and none of my simple exercises seemed to communicate well with her or interest her.

I'm hoping someone can shed light on what techniques are good to help focus autistic/language delay children and what other approaches I might try at the piano with her? I would love to help her develop musically at the piano but I'm currently at a loss of how to do this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi- I'm new here but am very interested in this post since I have taught many special-needs children. Most are classmates of my autistic son. Most autistic children (but not all!) are extremely visual learners. For example, I do a similar high/low sound exercise (I use elephants and birdies) but I put a picture of the animal on the music rack. Before asking for "groups of two" I would put a picture of this up for her. Tactile prompts have also helped me. For example, I have the student play with a silk scarf when I talk about legato, and a comb for staccato. I use a small piece of picket fence to illustrate quarter notes. Since this student is very active, I would explore having 2 15-minute lessons per week or at least breaking up lessons with frequent movement breaks. I hope this is helpful to you! Debbie

Sorry, I just reread your post and realized you're already using pictures. Great idea!

I saw a program on tv recently that showed
that all autistic individuals are completely
normal intellectually, that is, they know
exactly what's going on in the world and
understand everything that they hear and
see. However, the problem is that they
are unable to communicate with other
people and are thus left isolated in
society.

This should be kept in mind when
teaching an autistic student. The
student knows exactly what is going on
and understands everything you say.
Therefore, teaching her on a level of a
3 yr. old would be very insulting.
Teaching at the level of a 7 yr. old or
higher would be more appropriate. But of
course there is still the communication
problem, which you'll somehow need to
overcome.

I would agree with this in principal, and I agree that age-appropriate instruction is important. However, a very large percentage of autistic children have secondary diagnoses. For example, an autistic child with mental retardation would be considered primarily autistic. In these cases, we need to also consider the secondary diagnosis. Other common co-morbidities are obsessive-compulsive disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, ADHD, depression, and seizure disorders.

Autistic individuals are not retarded.
Their inablility to communicate is
diagnosed as being retarded, but these
so-called retarded people are just as
smart as anyone else and understand everything
that is going on around them. Their
problem is an inability to communicate.
This would be like the brain of a Liszt
in the body of a clam.

[puts on psychology professor hat] Gyro, with all due respect, that television show was a crock.

Most autistic children have both expressive (communicating to others) AND receptive (understanding what is being said) language difficulties.

mbrown, it might be helpful to know where exactly on the autism spectrum the student lies. I would teach a child with Asperger's, say, differently than a child with autism proper. You may also want to ask what other therapies the child is currently receiving. If she's in an ABA program, for example, she will be used to working for and receiving small reinforcers (cookies, M&Ms, or other small treat), and you might be able to incorporate the use of reinforcers in your lessons.

Gyro, I have to agree, both from professional experience (I have a Special Ed. degree) and from living it (my son and niece are autistic) that that TV show, although well-intentioned, failed to accurately portray autism. My son has high-functioning autism. Although he is completely verbal, at age 14 he is completely unable to memorize addition facts, understand multiplication concepts, or distinguish the washer from the dryer. (However, he can quite easily beat all of us at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit!) My niece, at age 15, is totally nonverbal, tantrums when not permitted to watch shows such as "The Little Mermaid", and prefers Fisher-Price toys to age-appropriate activities.

I think we need to exercise great caution when confronted with simplistic explanations for any mystery in life, and autism, in spite of much research, is still a very mysterious condition.

If someone is unable to communicate
with others, that by definition
in our society is being retarded, but
what the television program (this is
the one with the autistic student,
formerly considered hopelessly retarded,
who is in college now--she is still
unable to communicate verbally and
must painstakingly type out her thoughts
on a laptop with much physical assistance,
and restraint, from a mentor; the assistance
is physical only and the thoughts are
the person's own) showed is that behind
the communication barrier is a completely
normal human, intellectually and emotionally.

If someone is unable to communicate
with others, that by definition
in our society is being retarded, but
what the television program (this is
the one with the autistic student,
formerly considered hopelessly retarded,
who is in college now--she is still
unable to communicate verbally and
must painstakingly type out her thoughts
on a laptop with much physical assistance,
and restraint, from a mentor; the assistance
is physical only and the thoughts are
the person's own) showed is that behind
the communication barrier is a completely
normal human, intellectually and emotionally.

Well, the clinical definition of mental retardation differs signicantly from yours, but the question presented was about teaching techniques. Rather than dispute your obviously vast knowledge of autism, perhaps we should address ourselves to the question at hand. How would you teach this student?

If you can tolerate one more post from me --- here it is: autistic children, even high-functioning ones, take a very long time to adjust to new situations. It is probable that the stress of meeting you, seeing your studio, listening to you talk, etc. completely overwhelmed her to the point that it was impossible for her to attend to you. I would suggest that you just sit with her away from the piano, speak quietly, and maybe show her one of the books you had in mind. (I only use one book at a time.) I have offered several books to students and watched them carefully for reaction. Sometimes they just like to look at them for awhile and take things in. I would introduce the piano in a very laid-back way. I have had entire lessons with some students with both of just playing random notes/chords. I like to eventually work into a "duet" with me playing I-IV-V7 chords in Eb and them playing any black keys. I have had some very rewarding teaching experiences with autistic students and these students play in my recitals, which I find helps to foster an "attitude of gratitude" in some of my other students.

I like to express immense kudos to mbrown to take on such a student and want the best for him/her.

Pianolady14 and other parents/relatives of autistic children deserve much praise for their enduring patience and love in dealing with this disease/disorder. It must not be easy!

I had a student who must of been autistic, although it was not yet diagnosed, the parents were leaning toward him having Asperger Syndrome.

I did not use anything visually. Except for the patterns on the keyboard. I teach by ear and demonstration at the beginning of their studies in piano. Although he would burst into tantrums for no reason even before the lesson, after the lesson, during... perhaps without prediction. Some days (very few) he was attentive and perfectly fine. Loved to talk to me *after* the lesson. We kept lessons short. He learned very quickly. But his behaviour was too much for me to handle, particularly because there was no formal diagnosis. Therefore, I was unsure of why he behaved the way he did and because of no diagnosis, I did not have the tools to know how to teach this child.

The parent beat me to the punch and called me to tell me that he just seemed not ready for lessons. Of course, I agreed. And that was the end of that. Although, I do still think of him and hope they have found the problem and are dealing with it the best they can.

Back to mbrowns question. Personally, I feel not equipped to take on an autistic child. I am not a special ed teacher. There is still, please tell me if I am wrong, but there is still little known of this disease and what tools a teacher can use to help the child.

Have you talked to the parents, regarding what tools are best for their child in regards to learning piano? Can you talk to the child's therapist or doctor with the parents permission? This is what I would do, if I was to take on a student again, with obvious behaviour issues. I would also make sure there is a diagnosis, otherwise the teacher and parent are completely at a loss.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I would teach at the 7 yr. old level or
higher, which would be something like
John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers
to Play, followed by the grade 1 book--
or the equivalent. No frog imitations
or handing out treats like animal trainers
do, that would be very insulting
to a 7 yr. old (is it any wonder
that autistic students have so many
behavioral problems when they
are constantly being treated like
infants or worse).

This student is intellectually normal,
the problem is one of communication,
which is not to be minimized in an
autistic situation. Here you have
a normal human brain in what is almost
a non-human container by our society's
standards. This brings to mind the
research done on gorillas. They apparently
have human-like intelligence, but
of course the problem is one of
communication: they are unable, or
see no reason, to communicate with
humans and must do so by jury-rigged
means like computers or sign language
--a gorilla might be able to learn
to multiply or how to use a washer
and dryer, but they (wisely) see no
benefit from this and thus decline to
learn.

With this student I would teach like
you would teach any 7 yr. old, with
maybe more hand upon hand guidance. It
might be difficult in the beginning,
but the student should soon catch on,
if she sees that she's being treated
like a normal human being.

Gyro, I'm not often at a loss for words, but your posts really have me grappling where to start. I realize there is no convincing you, but I am concerned about what other people reading this thread might think. So let me just summarize a few notes of contention. I am writing this as a person with a Ph.D. in psychology and as the mother of a son on the autism spectrum. I have read literally dozens of books and articles on autism spectrum disorders. I would be curious to hear what your source of knowledge of autism spectrum disorders is, other than the aforementioned TV show. :rolleyes:

1.) People on the autism spectrum are not "completely normal intellectually and emotionally."

2.) While some individuals on the spectrum have normal or above-normal intelligence, the concordance of autism and mental retardation is very high.

3.) The technique of communication you observed in the TV show is called "facilitated communication," and there is considerable evidence that this method is ineffective and that the "mentors" as you called them are subtly influencing the autistic individual's responses. [edit: here's a resolution adopted by the APA on the controversy.]

4.) ABA programs (Applied Behavioral Analysis, or "handing out treats like an animal trainer") are the only empirically validated treatment programs shown to yield significant improvement in autistic children. They tend to be most useful and effective in children with relatively severe autism, which is why I was asking where on the spectrum mbrown's student lies.

mbrown, in a probably futile attempt to get your thread back on track, I agree with pianolady's point that many autistic children have a hard time with transitions and changes in routine. What often is helpful is to create a visual schedule for the lesson (using pictures as well as words, if possible). When the student comes in, you can point to the schedule and say "here is what we're going to do today. We'll start off with X, then do Y, and finish with Z." Then as you do each component, pick up a marker and cross it off the schedule. Keeping the schedule as similar as possible across weeks may also help.

good luck!

(Nervously wondering how people can still believe that something they see on TV is indisputable fact).

Monica,

Let me be more succint:

Gyro, you reveal your ignorance with each post. You also reveal your inability to question yourself in the face of evidence and argument that does not support the conclusions you have already reached ....conclusions reached on the basis of watching a television show.

er...yes...I guess I wasn't as much at a loss for words as I had originally stated. Sorry about that folks.

...but I do have one other piece of advice. I just re-read Gyro's teaching tips for children with autism, and I need to voice disagreement about one other strategy he suggested, which was greater hand on hand guidance. Many children on the spectrum are actually hypersensitive to physical contact and would resist being touched, or even having the teacher sit closely to them on a duet bench, say.

I have nothing to add to this thread except to say that aside from some aforementioned posts I am following with great interest.

At the risk of generalizing I think almost every music teacher sees music lessons as something very benificial to all children, but especially ones with additional challenges. My meagre background of first and second year psycology courses didn't prepare me at all to work with special needs students and I have learned a lot from Monica's and now Pianolady's posts.

A music therapist would probably be the most suitable teacher in these cases however these can be very hard to find, which leaves regular music teacher with usually no expertise in this area scrambling.

I should also add that having the parents full honesty and support is important. I have had parents of autistic students be very upfront and provide a lot of helpful information on how to best teach their child, and I have had parents not tell me that their child even has autism. Huge difference in the quality of the lessons in each situation.

Pianolady and Monica, I am curious if you have any favorite book series or visual aids that you think work best with autistic students.

Thanks,
Stephanie

Thank you pianolady and Monica for your great feedback and helpful lesson plan suggestions. I really appreciate the specific activity plans you suggested.

To answer an earlier question, the student's mother offered the following regarding the girl's abilities given her language delay/autism diagnosis: "she knows her ABCs, can read about 40 words (such as the, boy, girl, yellow, little etc.). She works well if shown a picture or hand over hand. She can say sentences, like, Put the coat on. I want juice. Let's go skate. Sing a song. etc. When she does not want to do something, if you start counting --she will stay with it--it is as if she sees there is an end point. For example, her swim teacher says kick 20 times and she will kick more readily if there is counting. She can count to 50, by 2s to 20, by 5s to 100 and by 10s to 100--she can also add numbers up to 10. Oral instructions work only after a lot of hand over hand and repetition. Once she understands, she won't need prompts or gestures."

Again, I appreciate the informative responses to this thread and hope the dialogue can continue. I can send periodic updates of the progress we make in the lessons and any helpful discoveries I make along the way. Please continue to update me as well with ideas for games, techniques, etc that would be useful. I will be out of town the next couple weeks but look forward to checking back in when I return. Thanks again.