autistic spectrum

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Autism and Music – What are the facts and how effective is music therapy for autistic people?

Some fascinating facts about autistic people and music.

A few years ago I found myself at a party where one of the hosts was a doctor.

So unsurprisingly many of the guests were also physicians. The subject of autism came up (can’t remember how) and he told me that he had looked at the whole area of autism and music therapy. Music therapy he felt that in many cases it was extremely effective.

I was reminded of this conversation when I spotted this fascinating infographic.

The purpose of this blog post is to find out how well music therapy works for people on the autistic spectrum.

 

Now we have never used it for our son. On the whole he finds music a bit overwhelming especially when loud. So I’m very keen on hearing the views of other people.

It would be great if you could share your experiences in the comments section below. You might want to consider the following questions but everything you would like to share will be of interest to our readers:-

a) Have you or a loved one ever used music therapy because of ASD?
b) What did the music therapy involve?
c) How effective was the music therapy?
d) What is the role of music in your or their lives?
e) Finally would you recommend music therapy for others?

Thanks very much in advance!

 

10 Surprising Facts about Autism and Music

From Visually.

cagniforous Music Therapy was the first therapy we tried with our daughter outside of her school (They do ABA with her at school). She’s been doing it for over a year now, and loves it! She loves music in general also. It consists of the therapist bringing several instruments and playing them / having my daughter play them, trying to get her to copy behaviors, say words, interact with the therapist. She’s made a lot of progress with it and has recently begun to say words.  She is most motivated to say those words during her music therapy and often any new words come out during their sessions.  We tried speech therapy for a bit, but I felt that the music therapy was actually helping her speech more. I only wish that Insurance would cover it!
AchVach I Have used therapeutic listening with my son twice a day for 30 minutes each time. These was supervised by an occupational therapist. He wouldn’t listen to each piece for two weeks. Some music brotherly him and other pieces he enjoyed it. By the end of the two weeks he would listen to all pieces even those that brothered him. He did not need to complete the second cycle. The Therapy improved his motor and verbal skills and sensory issues. I believe it worked but it needs to be supervised. One cannot do it by themselves. It can bring the opposite result. As well, it needs to be done in combination with other occupational therapy.
MelodyJoy1 I have not used “music therapy” with my son, per say, but I have found that if he’s distracted or tuned out I can get his attention far more easily by singing whatever I have to say, especially if I need to give him directions. I am pretty much always singing to him , because he resonates with music much better than speech.
Tiffimbody24 My 4 year old non verbal daughter LOVES music therapy! She loves music period! At her school, they use music therapy to help with speech. She recently started trying to sing!!!! She loves playing instruments and dancing. Her and I now play, duck, duck, goose, wheel’s on the bus, and head, shoulders, knees, and toes! I’m very thankful for music therapy!
Shawnamj My 2.5 year old non verbal son loves music. He will do hand movements to songs like itsy bitsy and if your happy and you know it clap your hands. I could never get near him with a tooth brush but I noticed him watching the Sesame Street brush your teeth song. If I sing the song he has no problem brushing his teeth. I think music will play a big part in his learning.
JohnJaneczek Thank you for this post.  As a an undergraduate music major, music is on quite often in our house. We have two kids on the spectrum, ages 7 & 3, We took our youngest to Kindermusik classes (a nation-wide franchise) and he responded very well, it involved sing songs, dancing, teaching the kids based on a theme, (one week was farm animals and the noises they make, one week was spanish words, etc)  The first 30 minutes are just the kids and teacher, but for the last ten minutes, parents and siblings come in and join the class, they also have resources for music at home. He responds well and I would highly recommend it to others on the spectrum!
SimonParton Great graphic, totally agree with all the info on there. I studied Music in university & wrote my dissertation about the relationship between music and autism. Primarily I used music technology to engage those with ASC in music making activities to explore different ways of communication. The beauty with technology is it can be altered (volume wise / sensory wise) and can enable all to be creative regardless of ability. My brother is autistic, and a lot of the time, the fear of getting something “wrong” is also overwhelming. My brother is now 21 and has started playing guitar and has become very interested in music as a whole. He definitely has perfect pitch (which I am very jealous of!!).

I found that repetition and familiarity worked and related directly, really enabled a sense of calm with my brother, explored a range of different communication methods and just seemed to work when using technology.

I now work for a company that runs songwriting / music production workshops with a range of participants. I’ve worked with some ASC groups and have found it again incredibly useful (music and music technology). While what I do isn’t strictly labeled as practising music therapy, I think music making and exploring creativity/communication is definitely a form of therapy.

If you’d like any more info on what I’ve done and my experiences please don’t hesitate to get in touch on simon.parton@hotmail.co.uk
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Autism and Parenting Part 1- Telling your child they have autism. What did you do? Read some parents stories here

How to tell your child they have autism

How to tell your child they have autism

One of the reasons for running this blog and our Facebook page AutismTalk is to help my wife and I get advice from others in the autism community.

That being said there are some issues which we have coped with by accident. One of these is the whole area of telling a child with ASD they they are, in fact, on the spectrum.

In the case of our son John there was no real plan. He was two when he went through the diagnostic process and was normally present when we were talking to his older sister about it.

Do there was not a moment when he was told by us it just sort of happened. Indeed nowadays he explains to people that he is autistic (the word he uses) in a very matter of fact way. Actually he also uses it as a way of explaining his antics. “I can’t do that because I’m autistic”. “I’m autistic so you can’t tell me off”. “Are you sure autistic people have to go to school?”. That sort of thing!

No in retrospect i wonder if we should not have told him more formally. Though I’m not convinced it would make a huge difference. People with autism seem to be much more relaxed about it (the ASD diagnosis) than some of the people around.

We looked at this area a few months ago when we ran a poll asking “At what age did you tell your child or were you told you or they had autism or ASD?”. Now we what to explore this area how to tell your child they have autism in bit more detail.

The aim of this blog is to give our readers in the autism community an opportunity to share their stories of telling their child/children that they were on the autism spectrum.

Hopefully this will give others in a similar situation some “hints” and ideas of how to do it.

Anything you want to share will be of great interest to our readers but you might like to consider some of the following questions:-

1) Have you told your child that they are on the autistic spectrum?
2) How did you tell them and at what age were they?
3) How did they react?
4) Would you do it differently if you did it again?
5) If you decided not to share with your child can you tell us why?

Please use the comment boxes below to tell us your story.

Many thanks in advance!

 

hopeandbubs My daughter is now six, she is a twin. She was officially diagnosed at age 5 but I knew she was autistic by the age of 2.  She is verbal but socially not capable as her peers.  She attends kindergarten but with constant adult supervision. Her younger brother (age 3) will likely also be diagnosed. Because they have a 6 year old sister that has had to sit on the sidelines while they have required my full attention or our daily lives ruled by what they can tolerate I felt it necessary to begin acknowledging their challenges in terms they can comprehend.  Things like: “your brother/sister get mad/upset a lot I know”, or “they don’t understand things well like you do or other kids do”, or “its hard for them sometimes because their brain doesn’t work the same way”.  Likewise as my six year old ages I discuss her challenges in terms she can comprehend such as “I know thats really hard for you” and “you have to let people know that you need help when that happens” etc.  I feel it’s necessary so that they all feel comfortable enough to discuss their feelings about it and to be able to articulate to me and to others when they require support and in what way and that there is nothing wrong or abnormal about us.
VickieFerrisDeVries TinaCooper I would recommend the book, “Aspergers, What Does It Mean To Me?” or “Autism, What Does It Mean To Me?” These are workbooks that help the child/person understand why they do the things they do. How having an ASD affects them. They are available on Amazon.
VickieFerrisDeVries Our son is 24 with moderate to severe autism, as well as having an intellectual disability. When he started noticing that he was different from other people is when we told him. He would make comments, such as, “Am I an idiot?” “Am I weird?” etc… This has been years ago that we told him. He doesn’t quite know what having autism means, so we talk about how the autism effects him… sensitive hearing, his thoughts getting “stuck” on things, etc… I do think kids should be told, (they are more aware than we realize!)  but in a natural way where it’s just part of the conversation.
TamaraHowarth Like you, my son was diagnosed young (3) and was there throughout the processes/discussions.  We have a book to help his little sister understand and he’s obviously seen/heard/read that too.  About 6m ago (aged 8) he asked me out of the blue ‘What is Autistic?’.  I explained that we’re all different and some people’s brains work differently to others , that there’s no right or wrong, good or bad, just different.  He asked if he had autism and I simply said yes, but that’s not a bad thing, it just means you’re a little bit different to some other people.  Then he asked if he would always have it and I explained yes and he got a little bit upset until he asked if I had it and I  told him I think we’re all a little bit autistic and that’s what makes our family so special.  Then he seemed happy, we had cuddles and he’s not mentioned it since.
TinaCooper I haven’t told my son. He is 9 and was diagnosed last year. I have reservations about telling him. I don’t want him to use it as an excuse. But I feel guilty about keeping this information about him from him. I would love to hear how other parents have told their child

 
patienttalk PatriciaRobinson How old is your son out of interest?
PatriciaRobinson No, I haven’t directly told my son I treat him like he is a normal kid but with extra patience………
7 Comments Posted on Autism, Patient Talk

Autism support 1 – What advice would you give to somebody who child has just been diagnosed with autism?

Advice for autism parents

Advice for autism parents

Our son was diagnosed with autism just under five years ago. You can read about it here

During and after his diagnosis my wife and I found it very hard. One reason, perhaps, is that we had little contact with people who had been raising children on the spectrum. Sure we knew people like us whose kids had just been diagnosed but were not in touch with people who while still on the autism journey were a long way down the round.

So I thought it would be useful to start a conversation on our Facebook page AutismTalk asking one very simple question – “What advice would you give to somebody who child has just been diagnosed with autism?”.

Firstly the results were amazing so we have decided to run a blog post sharing some of the responses with our readers. But it would be great if you could share any advice you might have in the comments section below.

One reader shared “Never give up. Everything takes time, and in the end every moment is worth it! I was told my son wouldn’t do this, or wouldn’t do that, and he has overcome every obstacle they said he wouldn’t, and every day he does something I was told he’d never do. Like talk. 5 years of therapy, in and out of school, and he speaks!”

Another said ” One day at a time and take thw good with the bad. My son has jus had a massive meltdown bt ten minutes later impressed me soo much because he randomly brought his juice PEC to me because he wantsd a drink… first to he ever communicated off his own back. Its an emotional roller coaster. I was crying half hour ago now were very happy proud and giving my son lots of love and praise!”

” A label is just that… It doesn’t change who your child it, it just gives you a direction on what you can do to help make their days/life easier”

“That people without an autistic child will most probably be ignorant to what autism means.. Don’t worry about there opinion on your child.. They will never understand. ”

“From a dads perspective stay positive and acceptance of the condition. Then move on and fight for everything”

“Remember to put yourself in your child’s shoes and always be patient. I always think to myself, if I’m anxious, how must he be feeling x”

“Don’t believe everything they tell you each child is different and they are capable of learning.. It’s called repetition. If you give them a break because they are autistic they are going to catch on. But also be patient as certain things can set them off. Just don’t do things you know is sure to upset them.. But discipline is a must they are capable of understanding. Just takes more time and patience”

“EARLY INTERVENTION + Learn to be “at peace” with and “accepting of” your child just the way they are.”

“autism is a special gift their no different than anybody esle just special in their on ways .. Take one day at a time.. There will be good days and bad but you just got to stay strong . They will bring so much joy to your life promise..”

“Take the time to really, really observe your child, see where he struggles and think what you can do to help. This sounds so very simple and so very obvious but when you’re stressed, sleep deprived and struggling to communicate it’s harder than you think. Seven months after official diagnosis I’ve finally concocted some charts and aids that help my son understand the passage of time. Nothing else I saw quite fitted the bill – every child is different so try not to compare. Just work on building that bond and helping your child prepare for and cope with his world. xxx”

“It changes everything yet changes nothing at all. They are still your child and it’s just allowing you to change your parenting style to adapt to their needs to help them (and you) achieve theirs and your potentials! Stay calm and read as much about it as you can. Knowledge is power.”

“Don’t try and fix the child, fix the world they live in……it will all be ok, just dish out the love and it will all work out.”

“Don’t see the diagnosis as a punishment as I did at first See it as strength training for your character. You will discover that you can do and endure amazing things for the sake of your equally amazing child”

and finally even though there were many more “Don’t forget to laugh. Things will get tough and you’ll want to scream, shout and cry. But if you can stop smile and laugh about the little things it’ll help give you a different mindset to tackle it. Celebrate the achievements and be realistic about the weaknesses. Give yourself time to grieve and understand.”

As I said please feel free to add your own advice below.

Thanks in advance!

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“Half of adults with autism ‘afraid to leave house'”. In your experience is this true? Take our poll.

Autism Spectrum Condition

Autism Spectrum Condition

I’m a bit tale in blogging about this but as they say “better late than never”!

A few weeks ago on the BBC Health new site an article appeared which claimed “Almost half of adults with autism are afraid to leave the house in fear of facing abuse or harassment, according to a charity.”

Indeed “The National Autistic Society spoke to 1,300 adults on the autistic spectrum and found 37% of those asked had been manipulated to do something they did not want to do”!” You can read all about it here.

Do be honest i found the article a bit confusing and if this is read by anyone in the the National Autistic Society I’d be keen for more detail. That being said i was wondering to what extent these finds reflect the experiences of our readers.

So we would be very grateful if you would consider taking the short poll below.


Many thanks in advance!

34 Comments Posted on Autism, Patient Talk

Parents of Children with Autism – Please help a student at the University of East London with some research on the emotional impact to parents with a child with autism


University of East London

University of East London

We have recently been contacted by Priya Summan at student at University of East London who is conducting some valuable research with parents of children with autism.  It would be great if you would consider taking part!

Summan shares “My name is Priya Summan and I am a 26 year old  final year student at the University of East London. For the past four years,  I have been studying my undergraduate degree of Early Childhood Studies with Special Educational Need and currently, I am in my final year doing my dissertation. I have a background in early years and special needs and have worked with a lot of children on the autistic spectrum. I became interested in special needs especially autism, is because I have always been intrigued with the way society behaves towards children with autism and how, this has an affect on the child itself and finally, I wanted to learn how children with autism learn and play amongst other children .

My dissertation is based on the emotional impact of parents with a child with autism. I want to know how parents learn to cope with their child’s diagnosis of autism and how, parents feel society behave towards their children. My dissertation is due for submission 6th of May 2014.

The methods I am using for this dissertation are questionnaires and interviews. If I am able to, then I would like to put up questionnaires where, parents would be able to fill them in and then at the end, provide their contact telephone numbers  then which, I could contact them in regards to a telephone interview to get more in-depth details of parental experiences of having a child with autism .  Please be rest assured, that all information provided for this dissertation, will remain confidential  between my self and the participants who fill out the questionnaires. Amongst the questionnaires, I will also put up consent letters, which parents will need to mark to make sure they understand the basis of the research in question. After the research is completed, you  are more than welcome to ask for a copy of my dissertation and I can provide this without hesitation. After the research is completed, all data collected will be shredded and no data will remain after this.  On  the questionnaire, at the end, it will say patient signature where I will only want parents to put ‘parent 1’ ‘parent 2’ etc so that confidentiality is remained at all times. If parents wish to contact me at any time, parents will be provided with my university email address 0612370@uel.ac.uk on which, parents will be able to contact me at any one time.”

If you have an questions for Ms Summan please either email her or use the comments box below.

UPDATE

The questionnaire and consent form are now ready.  Please can you download here Questionnaire for autism research and here Consent tick sheet for participants in autism research.

Please can you email to Ms Summan once completed at  0612370@uel.ac.uk

Many thanks in advance