Teaching Students with Autism—More Than One Way

2. Teaching Students with Autism—More Than One Way Janet Montgomery University of Maryland Paul Waskiewicz Howard County Public Schools System October 19, 2012 Maryland Music Educators Association Fall Conference

3. OVERVIEW • Opening music • What You Should Know About Autism • Goals for our Students • Unsquare Lesson • A Squared Up Lesson • Quick Task (with neighbor) • Five Takeaways

4. Does your job ever feel like…… How would you conduct this?

5. There’s More Than One Way!

6. Autism Spectrum Disorders • Various developmental delays/disabilities • Disorders in: • Communication: abstracting/symbols • Physical: abnormal motor skills and responses to sensations • Social: abnormal ways of relating to people, objects, or events • Language skills (but not necessarily thinking capabilities)

7. READ ALL ABOUT IT…… • Diagnoses of Autism on the Rise, Report Says (NY Times, March 29, 2012) • 1 child in 88 diagnosed with ASD (2008) • 1 child in 155 with ASD (2006)

8. Increase in Number of Students with Autism Those attending school in the U.S. 1991 5,408 2002 118,600 2011 425,921 Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

9. Increases in Students with Autism Top states with largest increases in number of students with autism 1992 2002 IL 5 5,080 MD 28 2,962 Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

10. Goals for all students: CPR • Create • Perform • Respond

11. Music is a sound medium—symbols only represent sound.Start where the student is & move the student forward.Essence of music is the aesthetic experience.

12. Curriculum for Special Learners • Musical concepts—developmentally appropriate • Musicalbehaviors—lots of nonverbal responses • Musicselections—age-appropriate; wide variety of styles & cultures • VALUING EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES OF MUSIC

13. Instrumental/Choral Curriculum for Special Learners • Musical behaviors: performing skills • Musical concepts: pitch and rhythm at first, followed by dynamics, tempo, articulation, style (?) • Musical selections: skill and age appropriate VALUING expressive qualities of music

14. An Unsquare Lesson • Objective: students will score at least 80% on a test about time signature and Dave Brubeck. • 1. C. counts aloud in 7 and then steps to beats 1, 3, 5. • 2. Give lecture on time signature—the top number tells … Check for understanding. • 3. Read text aloud about Dave Brubeck. • 4. Give a written test about Brubeck and time signatures.

15. David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (born December 6, 1920) is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities. • His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonistPaul Desmond, wrote the Dave Brubeck Quartet's best remembered piece, "Take Five",[1] which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic on one of the top-selling jazz albums, Time Out.[2] Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8. He is also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television such as Mr. Broadway and the animated mini-seriesThis Is America, Charlie Brown.

16. Talk with your neighbor! • How is this lesson challenging for a student with autism? • Communication: abstracting/symbols • Physical • Social behavior • Language

17. Squaring Up the Unsquare Lesson • Objective: Students will analyze music in mixed meter and determine accent groupings. • 1. C. pats-taps as T. sings Tongo. • 2. C. pats-taps & sings Take Me Out to the Ballgame. • 3. T. shows icon board and asks C. to tap the icons. Now, which song goes with which line?

18. 2’s or 3’s?

19. Continued • 4. Check for understanding with Tinikling and Step in Time. • Optional: sing one of the songs in a different meter . • 5. Is this new song in 2’s or 3’s? T. sings Dipidu. (Answer: both) • 6. Play a circle patsching game.

20. Continued • 7. Find the beat in this song. T. plays Mission Impossible. • 8. Now play the accented beat. How many beats are there in one group? (Answer: 5) Arrange the post-its to match the sound. • 9. C. does patsch game with partners—front or sides. C. conducts Mission Impossible.

21. Continued • 10. Repeat steps 7 & 8 with Unsquare Dance. • 11. Finale: Step and snap around the room to show meter.

22. Quick Task • Listen to and watch the final accompaniment for Artsa Alinu. • How do we get there? • Put these 7 tasks in order.

23. Individual students play a D and an A alternating on the heavy beat on handchimes or xylophones—one plays on the 1st hearing and one plays during the repeating phrase. C. pats knees on heavy beat during 1st hearing of each phrase, but pat-taps in the air (on heavy and light beats) during the repeat of each phrase. C. pats knees on heavy beat as they listen to “ArtsaAlinu.” (4 repeating phrases) Ask C. to match icon patterns to notated patterns. Individual students play F on handchimes or D-F-A on xylophones to create a steady beat pattern (heavy AND light) of D-F-A-F. Individual students play D’s on heavy beats on handchimes or xylophones—one plays on the 1st hearing of the phrase and one plays during the repeating phrase. Ask each player to find his/her part on the icon boards.

24. D D D D

25. A D A D

26. F D F A

27. D D D D D D F D F A A A

28. The point behind Quick Task: • How are these concepts involved? • Differentiation • Universal Design for Learning • Sequence to prepare for the “next step” • Adaptations • Accommodations—adapt HOW • Modifications—adapt WHAT

29. Think divergently! • How many ways are acceptable? • Make room for success for all participants.

30. Assumption: • Students with autism are musical! • Find multiple ways for students • to show their musicianship. • 2. Focus on what students can do. • “Less talk, more do”— • let the music speak for you. • 4. Break tasks into small steps. • Work with paras, teachers, • parents on behavior programs.

31. Question and Answer • Is next—2:30-3:00 p.m. • Thank you for coming! • This PowerPoint will be on MMEA website. • Send your questions to: • janetm@umd.edu

32. Song List • Tongo (Polynesia) • Take Me Out to the Ballgame (Making Music 4) • Tinikling (Phillipines) (Spotlight 4) • Step in Time (from Mary Poppins) • Dipidu (Exploring Music 2) • Mission Impossible (Shifrin) • Unsquare Dance (Brubeck) • Artsa Alinu (Making Music 3)

33. Tongo • D m d (Tongo) • S ss m l s m (Jim ni by- by- o) • D m d (Tongo) • S s m l l s (Oomba de kim by o) • M r m (Oo ah le) • R m r d l, d (Ma le ka a lo we) *circles represent heavy beat

34. Dipidu (Uganda)Greeting Song • S m d ff r (Gui-de a-zi-ka-ku) • S m d rr d (Gui-de a-di-pi-du) • M m ff r (Dip-dip-dip-i-du) • Ff m d rr d (Dip-i-du, o dip-i-du)

35. Coat RAP • Wipe Wipe Cha cha cha echo then repeat • Take it off, take off echo then repeat • Move it on, move it on echo then repeat • Sit it down, sit it down echo then repeat • Uh huh Uh huh echo the repeat