Teaching Children with Autism in the Elementary General Music Classroom
Being an elementary general music teacher in this day and age is a complex and demanding profession. One reality of the profession is the increased prevalence of special needs students who are assimilated into inclusive music classrooms, particularly students with autism. According to a 2009 National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Autism Prevalence Report, autism occurs in roughly 1 in every 110 births (or 1 in 70 boys), and diagnosis rates are rising 10-17 % per year (Hourigan & Hourigan, 2009). As a result of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 1990, children with autism have the right to enroll in public education, which means that elementary music teachers are finding themselves with an increasing number of children with autism under their care in an inclusive and/or self contained classroom setting. Unfortunately, many elementary music teachers know little about how to best serve and teach children with autism. This deficit is the result of many factors, stemming from insufficient in-service teacher education opportunities provided by administrations and sparse preparation in collegiate music education programs about how to best teach children with special needs.
Encouraging for the music educator is the fact that, even though children with autism come into the music classroom with special needs and challenges, they also often come with musical abilities and talents that equal or surpass those of their general education classmates (Thaut, 1988). Applebaum, Eagle, Koegel, and Imhof (1979) observed the accuracy of musical imitation (pitch, rhythm, and duration) in children with autism, and found that autistic children performed as well as or better than normally functioning children in such an activity. According to Thaut (1988), a music therapist and researcher, “Children on the autistic spectrum often have a remarkable capability and responsiveness to music as compared to most other areas of their behavior, as well as in comparison with typical children.”
14 Characteristics of Autism
Autism is often referred to as a spectrum disorder due to the variety of its characteristics, and the range of severity that is unique to each child with autism. The federal regulations IDEA define autism as follows:
Autism is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interactions, generally evident before age 3, which adversely affects educational performance. Characteristics of autism include irregularities and impairments in communication, engagement in repetitive activities and stereotypic movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. (U.S. Department of Education, 1991, p. 41, 271)
Other characteristics of autism include the following: repeating words or phrases, unresponsiveness to verbal cues, social difficulties, over-sensitivity to sensory stimulation (light, sound, etc.), resistance to change, lack of direct eye contact, and odd or unusual play and self-stimulating behaviors such as arm flapping (Hourigan & Hourigan, 2009).
What Research Suggests
Using Music and Movement with the Special Needs Learner
Piaget (1971), a cognitive development Psychologist, found that in the pre- operational and concrete operational cognitive stages, children learn best by exploring their environment through the senses and movement. This learning in turn elicits pictorial representations, which later become building blocks for symbols and language. Such findings are easily transferable to the music classroom, where children must first experience music through bodily movement experiences, before attaching musical notation to what they have experienced.
In an action research project, Charles (2010) examined the impact of
Elizabeth Crabtree
incorporating music and movement into teaching strategies for children with special needs in the subject areas of reading and math. Findings of the study revealed that, when asked about their perceptions of adding movement to math and reading classes, five students in grades 1-6 with emotional and behavioral disorders preferred such a combination. Reported student observations included noted decreases in disruptive behavior, and improved achievement scores in math and reading when music and movement were incorporated into instruction. Charles notes that when incorporating music and movement into instructional strategies for special needs children, it is important to teach movement in small segments, consider the level of difficulty of the task at hand (e.g., age level, whether there are sensory issues to take note of such as high pitched sounds) and to seek an avoidance of over-stimulation for the student.
Combining Songs with Pre-Established Routines
As previously stated, one characteristic of autism is adherence to routine (Hourigan & Hourigan, 2009). Not surprisingly, since research has shown that children with autism often have preferences and Gifts for music, recent research also has shown that the combination of certain familiar songs with pre-established routines may be quite beneficial to helping children with autism complete everyday activities. Aldridge, Kern, and Wakeford (2007) conducted a case study investigating the effectiveness of adding songs embedded in ongoing classroom routines as structural prompts to increase the independence of a 3-year-old boy with autism during multi-step, self-care tasks. Results showed that combinations of certain familiar songs, with pre- established routines, may be beneficial to helping children with autism complete everyday self-care tasks. Elementary music educators can find hope and encouragement in this finding, for often their classrooms are centered on providing sung directions for students. If a music educator
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