CREATING A MUSICAL STORY FOR ASD
It all begins with an idea.
The idea of a musical story for ASD was inspired by social stories that are being used with more and more frequency within the ASD world. Carol Grey officially created Social Stories in 1990 after working with a team of incredible parents, professionals, and students for many years. One of Grey’s first stories was a step-by-step story that described how to follow and complete directions in a sewing pattern. We were creating a curriculum that would enable us to teach from a distance, one story and social packet at a time. Grey provides an in depth example while writing about a student named Eric in The Discovery of Social Stories (1990-1992).
The three principles of the Social Story philosophy that guide the development of each Story.
Abandon all assumptions.
Recognize that the social challenge in autism is shared, with learning opportunities on all sides of the social equation.
When Typical people interact with people with autism, both perspectives are equally valid and deserving of respect.
While embracing the practice of taking the unique perspectives of ourselves and those with whom we are working into account, a musical story also embraces the impact of music upon the brain. An article published in Autism Research revealed that “functional fronto-temporal connectivity, disrupted during spoken-word perception, was preserved during sung-word listening in ASD, suggesting alternate mechanisms of speech and music processing in ASD.” According to this research, singing rather than speaking, enhances neural activity.
At The Global Music Therapy Project, we want to coach parents, caretakers and allied health professionals working with ASD on how to create a musical story. Our workshop will walk you through the process of creating a social story from your child’s perspective.
We will take you through the three primary steps involved in creating a musical story. Come with a challenge in mind that you’d like to help your child overcome through a musical story. Some examples for inspiration:
Going to the bathroom independently
Eating lunch at school
Taking a shower
Getting dressed in the morning
Getting ready for bed