Submitted by Susan Lovalvo, Michigan
Idea posted September 30, 2005
I teach guitar to a twelve-year-old boy who has autism. I go to his house so I am in his environment, which I think makes a difference. We aim for 1/2 hour; however, sometimes he just can't hang in there that long. My student is an auditory learner. I play the song first, we break it down by section, and then he learns it. Once he hears it, he can play it, which really amazed me in the beginning. He gets frustrated looking at the music. I don't press him to play from the music at this point, but we use flash cards to help him recognize notes and symbols. I frequently quiz him on the finger position of notes on the guitar to make sure he is not just learning by ear. I really want him to read the music someday but right now it slows him down.
One important thing that I had to learn is that even though my student is not always looking at me, he is paying attention. I used to try and get him to focus and look at me, and then he would stumble. I thought he needed to see what I was doing in order to do it, but I was wrong. Now that he has been playing for a while, I often introduce songs on the piano and have him play them back to me on the guitar. He seems to like this, and more often than not, he gets them correct. He also has an uncanny sense of pitch and gets really irritated when his guitar is even slightly out of tune. He immediately stops and tunes it, without a pitch pipe tuner or benefit of the piano.
The other BIG issue is that many people with autism do not like to be touched or are hypersensitive to touch. If he can't find the correct fingering position on his own, I ALWAYS say, "I'm going to touch your finger now" before I even reach out to move it. This lets him know what is coming next, and he can prepare for the fact that I am going to touch his hand. I always tell him what is coming next. He does not like surprises.
The biggest hurdle with him is still finger dexterity. He is getting better, but he has a hard time keeping up with the rhythm, which frustrates him. His sense of rhythm is awesome in the fact that he can keep two different rhythms in hands and another in his feet. The guitar slows him down.
I think adding Orff instruments and other things to your student's lesson is a good idea, at least in the beginning. When I started with my student, the goal was not that he would be a wonderful guitar player or read music. We started with more of an idea of "music therapy." First of all, we wanted him to sit for the lesson. Secondly, we wanted to work on fine motor skills. We also wanted to address tactile issues. He and I have been very successful together, and he seems to enjoy the lesson, as do I.
Try it. I was apprehensive at first, but it has been one of the most interesting and rewarding private teaching situations I have ever been in. Make sure the parents have realistic goals before you get started, and things should be just fine.