HELP PLEASE ADVICE ON TEACHING ASPERGERS-DYSLEXIC PAINO

[Faith8]

I have been approached by the mother of a 13 year old boy who has aspergers and dyslexia, to teach him to play piano or keyboard. Any advice will be most gratefully recieved, as I do not want to approach this from the wrong angle. One concern I have is that I will not be able to write information down for him - I would not expect anyone to remember everything from a lesson - but to have some point of reference for it. Also, am I correct in thinking that I should approach this from a purely logical viewpoint - being careful to say exactly what I mean and to keep to what I promise in the lesson, as if I dont he would think I have lied to him. As I have already said, I would be very, very grateful for any input in this. Thanks so much, Faith.

sorry -thought you were calling him a pain -o. Now that would start a few debates on the SN threads

I thought you were calling him a pain-o too.

I don't have direct experience but piano lessons are something that ds1's OT has recommended for him. Obviously every child is different and my ds1 is younger (6yrs) but the things we considered are:

Ds1 tends to take everything literally so it's a good idea to try to word everything so that there is no confusion,eg if you told ds1 it was his turn to play he wouldn't necessarily realise you meant play the piano.

The boy you are teaching may have very sensitive hearing so it's a good idea to keep noise to a minimum, eg if you use a metronome switch it off while you are speaking.

Try to keep visual distractions to a minimum.

You wouldn't necessarily need to write everything down. It's probably best to ask his mother which strategies she uses when teaching him things.

I would also advise letting him know the basic schedule of the lesson in advance so that there are no surprises.

Hopefully some of the more musical mumsnetters will be able to give you more specific advice.

All kids on the spectrum are different but my DS who is asperger and adhd likes to have things written down to see what hes meant to be doing, also he is very literal so if your pupil is very literal thinking too remember to give a full instuction never say put this over there on the shelf without reminding him to come back and sit down again ,dont get confusing with language ,figures of speech ie pull your socks up,hurry youll miss the boat will only serve to confuse and always be calm with a soft voice my son cant read facial expressions so if your voice is too loud but your smiling hed only register your voice . No advice on the dyslexia im afraid as not my area but sure others mners will be able to help.Some kids have problems with room size light noises etc so agree with coppertop it would be good to have a chat with mum and see what techniques she uses and what areas he finds difficult. Good luck and well done for asking if only more people took the time to find out about our kids they'd have an easier time .

DS1 is dyslexic. His violin teacher chooses workbooks that have the instructions and music on CD as well as in the book, so he can listen to them again after the lessons. She also draws little pictures and characters on his music, as it helps with his visual memory.

Thanks for your replies. I met him on Saturday and he is an absolute sweetheart. He could see the patterns of two and three black notes and found every letter I asked him - as well as recognising middle C. I took along some music from Swan Lake (he loves the film Billie Elliot)and at the end of the lesson I asked him if the piece I was playing was the same one that is played at the end of the fim, when Billie enters the stage(I knew that it was). He excitedly told me that it was.