I’ve just returned from the Berks County Walkathon for Autism Awareness. Despite having to change locations at the last minute, due to flooding in the park, it was a great success!
I had my blanket and instruments set up and welcomed all who wanted a chance to make some music. I tried to be very child directed, asking for song requests and leading the singing with guitar or a rhythm instrument. It never fails. When asked what they want to sing, children are very limited in what they know. “Old MacDonald”, “Twinkle Little Star”, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”…if I allowed it to happen, we would have spent 4 hours singing just those songs! And we did repeat these songs throughout the morning. But in order to get them to remember more, I had to give them some place to start. For example, what animal should we sing about? What do you like to do? What’s your favorite food? With answers to these questions, I could lead them in other songs that they usually knew. And sometimes we just made up a song, with crazy ideas and crazy lyrics.
What I found children wanted to do most of all was explore the instruments. Drums, tambourines, shakers, scrapers, woodblocks, rainsticks…it didn’t matter what, they just wanted to “play” and make some sounds. Children on the autism spectrum, typical siblings and friends, everyone sat together, sharing the experience of making music. Many came and went. Many often returned. And many never left. It was a true testament to the power of music – a way to bring children together in a social environment and have them feel secure enough to pick up an instrument, physically and verbally interact with others, sing some songs and have a lot of fun.
Does this happen enough? I don’t know. I sometimes wonder whether our lives are too structured, and too dictated that we don’t have enough opportunities to just let go and “play”. Music provides structure, but also freedom to explore. There are so many important lessons that can be learned while playing and music is the perfect tool, and creates a secure environment, to make it happen.
