Best instrument for a child on the Autism Spectrum to learn?

[dontknowwhat2callmyself]

DD has the opportunity to learn an instrument. Her fine motor skills are not that great - at 7 years old she still dislikes writing as she finds it difficult. I was thinking a keyboard might be a good choice of instrument for her to learn. Have any of your children learnt an instrument and how did/is it going!! Thanks

Ds has learnt they keyboard and flown. It's like a socially acceptable stim or obsession and reduces stress.

He's now learning the violin too.

Its nice to hear the keyboard has been a success! Just out of interest how are your DS fine motor skills? I can't image DD being able to negotiate a violin at moment .

Dd3 started with clarinet, she has done really well with it in the last 12 months, then 6 months ago she started playing trumpet in her scouts band.

I thought she would last 5 minutes with the noise level but she absolutley loves it. It is great for her confidence too.

I would go with the most practical and what suits you as a family to start with.

Good luck

DS2 couldn't manage the piano because he couldn't get his right hand to follow one stave and his left hand to follow the other. He kept going with a patient and flexible teacher for two years with minimal progress.

A few years on, he has started clarinet lessons and it is going really well so far. He has only had seven lessons, and can play loads of tunes, both by sight and by ear.

"He thinks he knows better than any teacher" sounds very familiar.

I read recently that piano can be very hard for dyslexic children so if that is also an issue, worth remembering.

I think it would come down to whatever takes their fancy to be honest. don't rule out things like african drums, samba type instruments etc.

DS1 enjoys his drum lessons. He doesn't mind loud noise as long as he controls it.

Ds is 'probably' dyslexic but finds the piano okay. Could be that he learns the pieces by heart and ignores the music though.

I would go for a one note at a time instrument that doesn't require fiddly things to make the notes, so no strings or piano/keyboard. Clarinet is a good unisex instrument, not too large to carry about either.

Ds, who is in a MLD school and is behind with his expressive and receptive language, is learning the piano and can read notes but prefers to play by ear. He is not good with theory and tries to avoid practicing.

He has expressed interest in the violin but I am undecided. Starlight, how is your ds coping with the violin?

I asked ds's school about guitar lessons as I thought it might actually improve his social skills- it is easier to sit and chat with 2 or 3 other people while playing the guitar (I think) but his school does not provide that. Would be interested if anyone has any experience of this.

Hire a likely instrument, show him the very basics, & see how he gets on? Then you can swap if it doesn't go well.

Good idea Maria but I would like it to be with other children learning the guitar together and, in my dreams, joking and talking about the songs, complexities etc with each other. A group with children with roughly similar communication issues facing and experiencing the same issues tackling the instrument together.

Am wondering how to go about persuading the school to give it a go...

I know it is basic but have you thought about the recorder? DD1 (AS) has expressed an interest in continuing it now she is Y3. My BIL & SIL are music teachers & have reassured us that being able to play the recorder well means you can then step up to most wind instruments very easily.

I would second the recorder. DS2 learned from Y3 to Y6 and sounded quite good.

Morning all,my DS is 7 and is Dyspraxic. He's been learning the violin since he was 5 and in Yr 1. We've only just found out that he's dyspraxic and he may be Aspergers too. He learns at school and his music teacher is aware of his difficulties. I was all prepared to get him to drop it but although progress is slow,he loves it. He understands note value and can read music. He's very good with the technicalities of playing music but he can't play in time at all. However he suffers with anxiety and I find this is a great way to diffuse his emotions. Info find you have to drastically lower your expectations.

Great to see this thread - I was going to ask something similar.

DS2 (6 - AS) has shown an interest in playing the violin. DS1 (9 - also AS) already plays it (and is rather good, albeit prone to maestro like meltdowns...) so DS2 is used to the sound of it in our house. He has started to be able to read music so is in a good place I think...

But he's a 'chewer' and I was wondering if, in fact, learning a woodwind instrument could help with his oral stimulation needs. I don't mean getting him to chew on an oboe reed (yikes - the cost!), but I was wondering if this could actually help - possibly clarinet? Any thoughts?

WW x

I'm an ex regular on this board and now have a mini-job teaching children (who happen to have Additional needs) instruments.

I think you need to go to lots of open days/exhibitions/training sessions and keep your options very much open. Get a sense of what her inner musical ear is like.... is she responsive to rhythm, pitch, timbre, tone...?

Perhaps leave guitar (fine motor skills) and I hesitate about recorder for the same reason (especially as nimble-fingered peers will also play it, and better) but keep your options open re violin. A good ear for pitch and the right hand technique is what really matters. The right hand technique is about a flexible right wrist and the right arm doing a back-and forth subtle figure 8 movement. The right hand fingers simply rest on the bow for some years. Kids with great fine motor skills try to do too much with the left hand too soon. Less nimble-fingered children who can hear pitch well can end up sounding better.... Ifthis sounds like her but she doesn't like the high sounds consider cello.

Keyboard sounds lovely - keyboard rather than piano I think...

For a child who is oral sensory seeking but has poor fine motor skills, I'd consider Trombone. You don't need any finger skills at all at any level. You do need to enjoy the physical feedback in your mouth though. You also need "sense of where you are in space" but, like the violin, teachers focus on producing long slow smooth tones on single notes for many months, so it's possible that if a child is ready you might "catch the wave" and actually improve that sense-of-where-you-are-in-space thing. It's also easier to produce the first notes than it is on a trumpet where you seem to need quite a lot of pressure and mouth control from the outset. Even better, you can buy pbone plastic trombones which can be dropped/bounced/carried easily by primary age children. My child, whose life story is set out on this board, is now a keen trombonist!

Trombone envy now

DS learns at school.

His music teacher 'chose' the instrument for him.

Her main criteria were which of the visiting peri teachers was most likely to 'get' him, and who could cope with a little potential disruption in the small group lesson

Thank you all very much for the useful advice - she will be learning at school and I'm not sure yet of all the instrument options but I certainly have lots to consider now before we make a choice! x

Hi my dyspraxic ds8 has tried a few instruments (strings and fife) through a local music school with mixed success fife in particular disaster, then one teacher suggested cornet as only has 3 keys and whilst he's slower at first with practice is keeping up....as disorganised says above he's ok with technical side.
he was also singing in school choir but refused to audition which the school introduced as choir now for G and T but would highly recommend that..