Where's the Art in Autism Education? (& the music too)
Published June 16, 2009 @ 12:17AM PT
Amid the endless litany of things to advocate for in regard to the education of my son and of other individuals with disabilities, art and music are frequently, and regularly, overlooked. The endpoint of Charlie's education is to teach him what he'll need to work and live as independently as he can, so emphasis gets placed on "the basics"---reading, basic arithmetic, writing, self-help and prevocational skills. It was a couple of grades ago that he had "specials" in the form of library, art, and music and he never fared too well in those, partially because the teachers had minimal (if any) training in teaching students on the autism spectrum.
While I wouldn't say that Charlie has super-unusual abilities in either art or music, he clearly has an affinity for both. He's long been drawn to colors, shapes, textures, and he's always, always liked music and not only for the sound, if that makes sense. He once had a toy guitar and was fascinated by the vibrations it made; I've tried to teach him to play the cello a bit and he used to have piano lessons. (I've made it a summer project to work on the latter again.) Charlie can't really read words, but he can read music, for both instruments.
It seems to me that there has to be a way to better integrate art and music into his education, precisely because art and music offer different ways of learning, experiencing, interfacing with the world. Charlie's struggles in school are for many more reasons than him being "differently abled," but that's no reason not to encourage him to learn in all sorts of ways.
Unfortunately, the picture for arts and music education in the US is not looking too good. Yesterday's New York Times reported that, according to a new survey by the federal Department of Education, "music and art instruction in American eighth-grade classrooms has remained flat over the last decade." American students' proficiency in these areas is said to be "mediocre" and I can believe it:
As the first federal effort since 1997 to examine instruction and measure student achievement in music and the arts, the survey has added new evidence to the debate about whether American schools are cutting back on the subjects they teach to concentrate on improving students’ basic skills.
In the test, formally known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Arts, administrators at 260 public and private schools were asked how much time they devoted to art and music instruction, and 7,900 eighth-grade students were tested on art and music concepts, a small sample compared with other federal assessments. For example, in 2007, the department tested 700,000 students in reading and math, and 29,000 in history.
Art and music aren't really part of Charlie's curricula, and only in so far as his class does the occasional art project (he seems to enjoy these, I'm told). And I'm not sure how much it would stoke Charlie's interest to be able to distinguish music from the Baroque period vs. the Classical, or to identify the Great Masters. Our school district apparently has a "very strong" music program, as in students playing in the orchestra and band "at a competitive level" (whatever that is). But I'm wondering if the emphasis on performing at this "high level" is not leading to less of a focus on music for everyone, throughout life, somewhat as school districts all over the US put (whether they admit it or not) a huge focus in student athletes competing and winning titles and tournaments, more than on everyone participating and getting exercise, learning to be healthy, and the like?---sort of the conundrum---problem---that's been raised regarding the Special Olympics: Is this about competing and winning, or lifelong fitness?
(And did that sound overly didactic in a middle-school-y sort of way? Let it be revealed, I once taught middle-schoolers, and enjoyed the experience much.)
It's very easy to get stuck in a rut with Charlie's education and only focus on "what he has to learn for his future" in terms of a job or taking care of himself. Am feeling quite tempted to mix up some modeling clay and paints; am thinking Charlie'll at least be interested in this mixing part.
And I'll let you know if we get anywhere further with the piano. My private goal is to teach him to use a music book we got at the music store, rather than the specially made music sheets his former piano teacher made. Every note played counts.
More on the study at EdWeek.
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Comments (15)
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Author
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Kristina is a Classics professor in Jersey City, New Jersey, a blogger (formerly at AutismVox), a translator (of Virgil), and an advocate every day for her son, Charlie.
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End the Perpetuation of Pity
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End the Perpetuation of Pity
Ask them to be included in your IEP as sensory activities. ;)
Posted by Amanda Guyton on 06/16/2009 @ 04:56AM PT
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Noting that!
Posted by Kristina Chew on 06/16/2009 @ 06:35PM PT
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good idea - have any sample goals? Next yr for elective in 7th grade my son is doing Computer and in 8th grade it will be art, unless they change the options - this yr was Horticulture - which was good with heavy work outside
Posted by Bonnie Sayers on 06/16/2009 @ 08:36PM PT
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I feel extremely fortunate that my son's school includes art and drama as part of the curriculum. Art helps provide a concrete element to math; drama provides an alternative learning method in English. Additionally, Art is available as an elective. The school recognizes that these "non-academic" areas are important learning areas and support both academic and social advancement of their students. Would this be available at his local public school, with teachers who were skilled and interested in meeting the needs of divergent learners? One would certainly hope so, but ... I doubt it.
Posted by Judy T on 06/16/2009 @ 06:40AM PT
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Great article. I just covered this topic on my blog:
iepand504.blogspot.com
It about how to get music therapy in the IEP.
My two boys are also just starting piano. I'm holding my breath...
Posted by Linda McInnis on 06/16/2009 @ 06:41AM PT
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sounds good, going to read, I am getting my son bongo drums for his birthday this month
Posted by Bonnie Sayers on 06/16/2009 @ 08:36PM PT
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Considering how many artists (e.g. Katie Miller, Mark Rimland, Georgie Thomas the official caricaturist for Corvallis, OR) and musicians (my friend Tara from NYC; David Byrne of Talking Heads once self-identified in print!) we've managed to produce so far, I'd think it would be the exactly the opposite.
But then, no one in the NT world seems to be particularly interested in what I think.
Posted by Mark Romoser on 06/16/2009 @ 06:27PM PT
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Not to mention our friend Dora.......
Posted by Kristina Chew on 06/16/2009 @ 06:35PM PT
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Artist, musician, or both?
Frustrated writer here (but a piece will be coming out later this week).
Posted by Mark Romoser on 06/16/2009 @ 06:55PM PT
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I've always been a vocalist and an artist. My primary medium has shifted over the years from pencil to photoshop, and lately watches (dismantling watches is great fun) reassembled into jewelry. Although no one knew to diagnose me as a kid, I did have a lot of support in the arts from my mom, who made sure I got choral lessons (an attempt at social development, plus movement skills once I started show choir) and art lessons (mostly drawing, though I did a rotation-type course that really stuck with me when I was ten, with screen printing, drawing, ceramics, paper making, and something else...painting, maybe?).
I freelance now, drawing and doing t-shirt design, and sell my jewelry on etsy.
It only makes sense to me to provide more support in the arts to kids on the spectrum (to all kids, actually, but including kids on the spectrum!). I can directly relate improvements in my behaviours to the arts--learning how to mimic expressions better so I could draw them properly, and later so I could try my hand at theatre--and I can't be the only one with this experience.
Posted by Ali ... on 06/20/2009 @ 02:37AM PT
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Charlie likes to take things apart, it just occurred to me; he seems to rather like the whole take-apart process in itself. The results of his "disassemblage" hasn't (yet) been fit to remake into something else....
(and what's your Etsy shop?)
Posted by Kristina Chew on 06/20/2009 @ 02:31PM PT
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SteampunkGirls.Etsy.Com
I had originally tried taking apart a watch and reassembling it as a gift for a friend's birthday, knowing she liked that sort of jewelry, but found the taking apart was waaaay more fun for me. I ended up with maybe ten large wristwatches disassembled before I decided I should probably do something with them, and a shop was born. When I'm feeling like taking stuff apart, it's productive, and when I'm feeling creative, it's productive.
I see a lot of kids at work who like building and taking apart, too. Legos are very popular. What does Charlie like to take apart?
Posted by Ali ... on 06/20/2009 @ 03:22PM PT
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Some rather low-tech things----CD cases (CD comes out, paper inserts come out); cassette tapes. He used to build fabulous and complicated structures out of blocks and take them apart almost as son as he'd finished (so I have very few photos of these).
Posted by Kristina Chew on 06/21/2009 @ 02:42PM PT
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The boys are lucky to have music & art part of their weekly classes. My older son loves music and excels in it and my younger son enjoys art.
Posted by Sharon Faulk on 06/21/2009 @ 06:26PM PT
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i hv asperger's. my music, art and literary education did not come from the mainstream school system that i was FORCED into because at the time i was growing up, where i come from, autism = classic, kanner's autism with low IQ... so i was just berated as oddball and difficult and lazy, and lauded as brilliant, talented and extremely intelligent... nobody knew how to educate me of course, so i sorta educated myself by instinct.
all my formal education from childhood has been inadequate at addressing my learning needs, but i instinctively formulated my own learning programmes thru whatever means were available to me, and endured mainstream school as a waste of my time but something i was forced to do... my parents encouraged learning, my father was also extremely high-functioning aspie - multi-disciplinary man, he was a practising dental surgeon, electrical engineer and fellow of the IEEE, bred hybrid orchids, painted, made music, carpentry etc. he was my inspiration to learn... and my mother (NT) was very tolerant of our various 'projects' together...
i m currently doing a research masters in multi-sensory inter-disciplinary live art performance and music composition, with some reference to my own asperger's condition, but i wld like to find a way to do further research and learning in the area of the arts and autism, specifically in order to be more useful to the autistic community, but i hv been trawling the internet with little results... i kw there r programmes in music therapy, and art therapy, but i cannot find any in a comprehensive artistic approach to autism education. anyone has any advice on where to look?
Posted by spunky kitty on 01/23/2010 @ 07:43PM PT
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