Autistic Students' Ensemble

Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of the International Association for Music and Medicine IAMM, 2020

Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are a set of neurodevelopmental conditions mainly characterized by differences in social interaction and sensory perception and processing, often showing a particular cognitive style. Language impairment and intellectual disability may cooccur in a considerable percentage of cases. According to a new idea that is slowly taking its place also among specialists and researchers, autism may actually be seen as a different neurotype. The old medical model made of deficits, disabilities and impairments is fading out in favor of the concept of neurodiversity. According to this view, the need for sameness and repetitive behaviors may be specific traits of a particular intelligence style resulting in hyperfocusing on selected, often peculiar subjects of interest. Seeing deficits and disabilities as positive, personal characteristics and specific abilities is a new and inclusive way of looking at autism. Of course, talent is not necessarily the expression of a genius, and personal talents typical of people on the autism spectrum may be the result of their systemazing cognitive style (Baron-Cohen, 2009). This article will focus on what the DSM-5 defines as level 1 autism (which includes what was previously diagnosed as Asperger’s syndrome) and is the result of a collaboration between Fabrizio Acanfora, a musician diagnosed with level 1 autism, and the music therapist Nuria Escudé. With the advantage of a different point of view on the subject, this contribution is an invitation to medical doctors and music therapists to see autism not just as a repertoire of disabilities and deficits but as a set of different abilities and cognitive styles. In particular, we want to address one of the most common comorbidities that autistic people experience due to their condition: anxiety. We will see how anxiety disrupts concentration representing a major obstacle in the development of personal talents and abilities related to autistic special interests, as well as in the academic and professional performance. Our personal and professional experience is that anxiety levels can be reduced with the help of music-based therapies, allowing autistics to focus on their particular interests in order to develop a valuable set of personal skills, talents and careers.

2017

As the population of school-aged children on the autism spectrum continues to grow, music teachers require new tools to assess the music learning, knowledge, and skills of children with autism. Similarly, music teacher educators and supervisors require new forms of assessment in order to assess music teaching with students with autism. This presentation will feature two layers of assessments: A. Assessments of student work/performances by children on the autism spectrum, to be used by music educators, and B. Assessments of pre-service and in-service music educators, to be used by music teacher educators and supervisors. Effective assessment of the music learning of students with autism calls on the practices, strategies, and approaches of effective assessment. By magnifying, deepening, broadening, and further personalizing them, music educators can gain a deeper understanding of what their students with autism know and can do in the music classroom and ensemble. ____________________

Australian journal of music education, 2009

Students with communication disabilities present challenges to general music teachers with inclusive music classrooms. Typically, students perform, compose and improvise with others in the class, but students with physical disabilities that include communication difficulties or students with autism are left out or at best marginally participate. This paper explores the stories of three students who have disabilities that impact their ability to communicate. All three are elementary students in grades four through six. The students used instruments (both traditional and electronic) as a means for communicating musical ideas through improvisation. The three students were engaged in call and response improvisation in the jazz style.

Proceedings of the 14th WFMT World Congress of Music Therapy, 2014

An explorative study in the field of preventive workshops for handicapped teenagers. Created with a methodological structure of weekly supervision and a study group the experience was carried out in the city of Buenos Aires. The study presents techniques and resources that can be applied in similar cultural contexts.

British Journal of Music Therapy, 2013

In educational settings in Scotland Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) are currently being guided towards working in partnership with other professionals, particularly to develop roles as consultants , advisors or trainers within schools (Scottish Government 2010). AHPs are being encouraged to meet therapeutic objectives indirectly and decrease the hours of direct work with pupils. This study aimed to evaluate ways in which a music therapist might support a teacher to offer interactive group music-making to children with additional support needs. Themes were generated from the analysis of a semi-structured interview with a nursery teacher who, together with the author, was involved in planning and delivering an eleven-week intervention for three children on the autistic spectrum. Responses from two questionnaires completed by classroom assistants who also supported children in the group as well as the experience of the therapist in collaborative work added to the discussion and reflection. Findings suggest that the flexibility of the music therapist in direct work is highly specialised and cannot be easily replicated in other classroom music activities , but that experiential music therapy groups offer some level of transferable learning for teaching and support staff and potential for developing more indirect approaches.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

The lack of social interest is one of the core features of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Individuals with ASD suffer direct and indirect consequences related to their social interaction deficits. The effect of these deficits often increases during adolescence. In this period, adolescents with ASD start to report their desire for peer social interaction, and may also experience more loneliness than their typically developing peers. It is especially vital for adolescents with ASD to have emotionally non-threatening social experiences. The non-threatening and acquiescent nature of music helps to decrease the anxiety experienced during direct interaction with others and improve the social skills of adolescents with ASD. In this study,video recordings of music therapy activities carried out with a group of adolescents with ASD are analyzed, and the outcomes are presented. While activities such as singing, rhythmic games, creative movement and dance were performed; adolescents were asked to work in dyads, in small groups and in a large group. Adolescents initiated and sustained social interactions during music sessions and less resistance was observed while interacting with their peers.

Music Educators Journal

This article offers a unique look into the cognitive processes of students with autism spectrum disorder in music classrooms. Concepts include theory of mind, weak central coherence, executive function, joint attention, and social attention. Behavior implications are also examined. Specific examples of support tools for the music classroom are provided.

International Journal of Education the Arts, 2010

Service provision for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is lacking, particularly post high school. We report on a music intervention program, outline our program model, and report some initial pilot data evaluating the program outcomes. We also discuss implications for undergraduate and graduate students who were involved in the project. Overall, outcomes were positive and highlighted the need for such interventions among the ASD community. We hope our observations focused on the strengths and weaknesses of the program will be helpful to others who may be considering implementing a similar intervention.

The European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2019

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Descriptions of autistic musical savants suggest that they possess extraordinary skills within the domain. However, until recently little was known about the musical skills and potential of individuals with autism who are not savants. The results from these more recent studies investigating music perception, cognition and learning in musically untrained children with autism have revealed a pattern of abilities that are either enhanced or spared. For example, increased sensitivity to musical pitch and timbre is frequently observed, and studies investigating perception of musical structure and emotions have consistently failed to reveal deficits in autism. While the phenomenon of the savant syndrome is of considerable theoretical interest, it may have led to an under-consideration of the potential talents and skills of that vast majority of autistic individuals, who do not meet savant criteria. Data from empirical studies show that many autistic children possess musical potential that can and should be developed.