Is music a spectrum thing?

august06mom

S/o of the brags post below ...

Is a gift/love/knack for music a common ASD trait? DS has been able to pick out a specific instrument from a song since he was about 20 months. ("I hear a piano." Or "I hear a flute.") He can creepily keep time and create rhythms on his drum and had been able to keep a beat since he could sit up. Sometimes I catch him singing a song that he only heard once over a week ago (with made-up gibberish words replacing the real lyrics for most of it).

We have a music school in our town, and I'm excited that he could have a love for music that we can also use for a social thing later on. He's not quite 3, so obviously that's a long way down the road.

I see that there are some other music loving kids here. Do your kids also have super sonic hearing? Even his teachers and therapists joke about it -- he can hear a truck a million miles away.

hopanka

In our house it is. DS has wicked rhythm on his drum set and loves classical music. He knows more classical composers and their work than your average educated adult. He is also in a band and has a performance this weekend. They are currently rehearsing "We will rock you". He's on base.

Micelle78

My son is not currently dx but he does have a tendency to notice/be sensitive to music.  Problem is, its hard to say why.

I am a classical violinist/music teacher and played a lot while I was pregnant with him.  It was interesting because he would move in utero very rhythmically while I played or the kids played.  I joked about it then, obviously before I knew him.  I have held fast to the belief that I want music to be something that he wants to do and I am not going to press it on him.  Just because its something that I enjoy, doesn't mean he will.  However, when he was a baby there was this commercial that would play a classical piano piece.  I think it was Chopin or another famous pianist.  Anyway, when this commercial came on he would zone out and not move AT ALL.  Then it would finish and he would go on about his way.  He was between like 10-12 months because I remember he was crawling.  It was cool and creepy at the same time. 

I have a feeling that he will end up doing music.  Over the years I have had a few HFA kids (that I knew were diagnosed) and they really took to my class.  I also had a kid that made almost no eye contact and appeared as a 5th grader to not even be paying attention.  He was staring off.  As a new teacher, obviously new to the game, I thought well, if it makes him happy he can be in here. Time to time I would talk with the para to make sure she understood what he needed to know and chick in on his progress.

 What was crazy-- he didn't ask me any questions and stared off and had no interaction with anyone but his one-on-one para ed--- he was the BEST violinist in my class.  It was an eye opener for me.  He was learning even though it didn't appear that way to me.  It gives me a greater respect for the complicated nature of ASDs in general and the abilities that kids have to succeed in non traditional ways

Micelle78

***I should say, to clarify**** my class is an elective in elementary school.  They give up their recess time at this school to take my class.  That's why i said if he wanted to be in my class it was up to him   I realize that didn't sound good when I read it

I travel to a few schools a day

typeset

Can be. Priscilla Gilman writes about her son identifying instruments and keys in The Anti-Romantic Child.

Exceptional hearing can be, too. My kid stopped cold during his initial eval because he heard a plane fly over the building. He can pick a song out of crazy restaurant chatter and identify title and artist. 

lite-bright

We started my DD1 in a small-group music class this year and I'm really impressed with how she's taken to it. She's still working on matching her voice to pitches, but the basic musical concepts are coming very easily to her. 

The curriculum is called Let's Play Music. I like it because 1) it's a small group environment with peers rather than one-on-one lessons and 2) parents attend every other week, it's meant to be a shared experience. So it's a good mix of supervision and some independence. 

We've also done a music therapy class and she really liked that, too. That was a big part of why we moved onto a class more focused on learning music. It's a three-year program and they start learning keyboard in the second year, which I think she'll love. 

malcivar

I don't know that Chris has any exceptional skill/talent for music but it's always been something he enjoys.  If you ever want to see him smile, start singing or teaching him a new song.  He also can keep a beat on his play drums or even just with his hands against a hard surface.  

His school now offers music therapy and it's the only time when they say he actually focuses and stays on task for several minutes at a time.  His teacher also plays guitar and will bring his to class sometimes and has told us Chris is the only one he'll allow to be with his guitar unsupervised because he strums whereas the other students would just bang on it.  

So yeah, maybe it's a thing.  

Pirincessamberjoy

I haven't noticed any particular love-skill for music with my son. He used to (as a toddler) get angry and scream if people were singing or dancing. He is 12 now and is starting to pay more attention to songs and music on the radio, but he is often trying to puzzle out the lyrics or history of the song. He recently asked to learn guitar, because my late brother was a guitarist and wanted to teach my son.

Not sure if it makes a difference, but I am not musically inclined, nor is my sons bio father. My brother apparently got all those genes.

jenna3016

Micelle78 said:

I have a feeling that he will end up doing music.  Over the years I have had a few HFA kids (that I knew were diagnosed) and they really took to my class.  I also had a kid that made almost no eye contact and appeared as a 5th grader to not even be paying attention.  He was staring off.  As a new teacher, obviously new to the game, I thought well, if it makes him happy he can be in here. Time to time I would talk with the para to make sure she understood what he needed to know and chick in on his progress.

 What was crazy-- he didn't ask me any questions and stared off and had no interaction with anyone but his one-on-one para ed--- he was the BEST violinist in my class.  It was an eye opener for me.  He was learning even though it didn't appear that way to me.  It gives me a greater respect for the complicated nature of ASDs in general and the abilities that kids have to succeed in non traditional ways

My 3 year old was just diagnosed with autism. 

I was able to observe his toddler classroom recently, and during the Spanish lesson - he rarely looked at the teacher, and kind of looked off to the side.  They were doing finger plays (like Itsy Bitsy Spider, but in Spanish) and he did not do the movements.  The teacher was also going over the Spanish Alphabet.

A day or so later, I was saying a few Spanish words - like Adios and Hola - and he started to recite the Spanish Alphabet (letters A-K) on his own.  I only recognized it as the Spanish Alphabet, because of the "ch" letter, and because I had just heard it in his Spanish Class.

So - long story made short - my son also appears to not be paying attention, but he is still absorbing the material taught in class.  It's interesting to hear about other students doing the same thing.

jenna3016

Oh, and on topic - my son has always enjoyed listening to music, and will often dance.  I am fairly certain he's the only one in his toddler class that dances regularly when the teacher plays music.

Micelle78

IMHO music is great for everyone.  It is something I like to do when I am happy, sad, or anxious.  Its an amazing stress reliever-- a positive one.  I just turned 35 and I have played violin since I was ten.  I think when kids get involved in music you get an automatic family. 

I teach 5th-8th grade orchestra and kids from all walks and personalities that may never have been in any other type group--- are all counting on each other to make one amazing sound.  Music is powerful.  Its nice to say that I have a job that I actually love doing.  Middle school music is a blast

When i teach privately I usually suggest that the kid is between 7-10 years old as a beginner.  I also ask whose idea it was-- mom or kid.  There is nothing worse than teaching a kid that doesn't care.  I taught one kid much younger.  He was drawing violins at 2 years old and asking to play.  His mother did not even know where he saw a violin.  At age 10 he was dx aspergers and started very high level math as a 7th grader.  Today he is 16 and plays 3 instruments.

Micelle78

I should add he was about 5 when I agreed to start him