During the last ten years, different studies have been conducted, that show how music and cognitive development for Autistic children are interlinked with each other. These studies also show the relationship of music with other children who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome, ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, and Depression. After giving lessons on piano, percussion, and drum set, for over 25 years, the following are some of my observations on how piano and percussion lessons are benefiting students with such issues.

Cognitive Development

Regardless of their age, piano and percussion lessons for Autistic students are very effective with respect to facilitating cognitive development. This success s accomplished through the use of inventive multi-sensory exercise that not only enhances skills, but also teaches maintaining focus, reading, sequencing, using memory, laterality, special awareness, fine and gross motor coordination, recognition and use of numbers, following given instructions, and positive communication. From this and my personal experience, I can say that when a student is having fun they are engaged and they are engaged in something, they are learning.

Communication

Depending on how the student has been impacted on the Autism spectrum or other issues such as Down Syndrome, ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, or Depression, it is always about their verbal abilities. Piano and percussion lessons are effective in helping such students by facilitating speech development and emotion processing. The other day, I had a parent tell me that her son was saying things to me that he normally never said to his providers, the child had limited verbal ability. But, the child on that day said “I’ll try that” to his mother which seemed an improvement

Social Skills

Research has also shown that music helps individuals with Autism spectrum to communicate more effectively with their peers. One of the studies suggested that music helps Autistic students interact more appropriately in their social circle, which is the result of the development of skills such as turn-taking and listening to others. For example, while teaching students piano a short phrase, students tend to listen and follow along, and then the student plays that phrase. This process of taking turns and listening to each other has a positive impact on the other social interactions for such students. Special needs music is also available for social classes of social skills in Berlin, Germany.

Behavior

Music connects the motor and auditory parts of the brain, which helps Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, and Depression to follow the directions given verbally. When I teach music to students, I make a point to put an emphasis on the Visual, Auditory, and Tactile aspects of the lessons, which is a kind of perceptual-motor math for students. With such redundancy, it provides cognitive development in the students.

Emotions

In general, Autistic children experience more anxiety as compared to neurotypical students. When combined with breathing exercises, music is very effective in decreasing their anxiety. During the pandemic, most of the students suffered because of anxiety and we address their issues by using simple breathing exercises. However, in some circumstances, we combined the exercise with piano and percussion.

Stephen Flinn is considered a leader and trainer in special needs music education and provides piano and percussion classes to students all over the world. Stephen has given over 25,000 private lessons to students and facilitated over 2,000 ensemble classes. For four years, he also served at the largest special needs high school in California. He has facilitated many training programs in the country.

To reach out to Stephen contact specialneedsmusic@gmail.com to set up an introductory piano or percussion lesson.