How to Teach Music to Autistic Children
Music enhances the personal life of the autistic child by creating positive changes in behavior. Music therapy is one application that is used in the classroom to help calm children who suffer from autism. However, music teachers who want to explore further music concepts can implement helpful strategies to encourage a self-contained learning environment for autistic children.
Instructions
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List your expectations. When you make a goal for your classroom, you motivate yourself to see those expectations come to pass. If the child is accompanied by an aide or assistant, make it clear what your expectations are in the classroom to her as well.
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Create a communication strategy between you and the child. Understand that the child may have the ability to understand you, but lacks a way to express his verbal communication. Each child expresses their feelings differently and each child learns differently. Ask for a behavior list from the child's parent or assistant to learn more about the child.
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Exercise the use of visual aids to help communicate music to the child. You can use a picture system called Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) which relates pictures to words to help autistic children to communicate more efficiently when teaching musical terms and songs to them.
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Teach music with the use of short sentences and words. An autistic child may become frustrated if you overwhelm him with too much information.
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Help the child to adjust to her new environment. You want autistic children to feel as calm as possible. If the music is too loud, reduce the volume. Repetition of words and music are helpful as well.
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Evaluate the child's ability to learn music as you teach. Do not underestimate the child's ability to learn music. Even though she may appear to be non-communicative, her ability to learn music may be greater than it seems.
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References
- Photo Credit happy children image by Marzanna Syncerz from Fotolia.com
