Abstract

It is not possible for professionals, including music teachers, to avoid interacting with and teaching children living with or affected by an autism spectrum disorder, because this condition is prevalent among young learners. Although previous studies have explored the effect of music and music therapy on children with autism, few have studied the practical instruction of teaching a musical instrument to these learners from the perspective of autism and its comorbidities. We used a qualitative research method, namely an action research model that incorporated observations, journal writing, and reflection. Twelve learners with autism spectrum disorder were given piano lessons, and during this process, adaptations of teaching methods and the materials were assessed. To help us achieve our objectives, we used the book My First Piano Adventure for the Young Learner as our guide. Our main findings were that incorporating physical exercises to improve fine and gross motor skills, using visual adaptations in instructions, and being sensitive to co-occurring conditions such as attention deficit disorder, anxiety or hypersensitivity to the environment enhanced the learning experience. This approach should fit in well with the modern paradigm in interventions that entail teaching children on the autism spectrum: teaching skills in a natural environment, integrated across domains, and bearing in mind the need to feel empathy for learners’ unique diversity.

摘要

包括音乐教师在内的专业人士不可能避免与患有自闭症谱系障碍或受其影响的儿童互动和教学，因为这种情况在年轻学习者中普遍存在。尽管之前的研究探讨了音乐和音乐治疗对自闭症儿童的影响，但很少有人从自闭症及其合并症的角度研究向这些学习者教授乐器的实践指导。我们使用了定性研究方法，即结合了观察、日记写作和反思的行动研究模型。十二名患有自闭症谱系障碍的学习者接受了钢琴课，在此过程中，对教学方法和材料的调整进行了评估。为了帮助我们实现目标，我们使用了这本书《我的青少年钢琴第一次冒险》作为我们的指南。我们的主要发现是，结合体育锻炼来提高精细和粗大运动技能，在指令中使用视觉适应，以及对同时发生的情况（例如注意力缺陷障碍、焦虑或对环境过敏）保持敏感，可以增强学习体验。这种方法应该很好地适应现代干预范式，即对自闭症谱系儿童进行教​​学：在自然环境中教授技能，跨领域相结合，并牢记需要对学习者独特的多样性产生同理心。