Of Glass Ceilings

Recently, I re-attempted to correct the pedalling of a piano kiddo with ASD. Kiddo does not say very much so it is difficult to assess if she really understands me or not. We have been working on pedalling. Getting her to change the pedal immediately after the chord change was really challenging.  I demonstrated. I spoke in as few words as possible. But over time, she looked like she was comfortable with lifting her foot at the same time as her hands during chord change which causes the chords to be disjointed. I understood that as I pedalled that way too as a child before being taught the accurate technique. It is so much easier to coordinate hands and feet when they are moving in sync. 

 

Later, she adjusted and adapted her own style of pedalling where she changed multiple times to avoid muddiness in the sounds when they arise. For those who work with kids on the spectrum, adaptation always requires a judgement call – what works for the kid might not be the most ideal for the sound quality in the long run. However, we also have to deal with the readiness and the temperament of the kiddo in the moment. Sometimes, the kiddo gets very frustrated and we have to take that in consideration as well.

 

While there is always space and room for adaptations especially for people with additional challenges, I do believe that we have to get as close as we can to developing the correct technique. So here we went again.

 

We practised changing the pedal accurately with just block chords – which she was able to all this while. Then, came the challenge - she had to put together everything in the song she was playing – the melody line in the right hand; the changing broken chord patterns in the left and the pedalling! It was a lot to deal with. We worked at a slower tempo. I pointed at the music, sang with her. She lapsed, I insisted. More importantly, she persisted with me.

 

After trying different methods, I changed my verbal cues, “Hooooold… Change!” It worked. She pursed her lips and tried to respond to my cues. The timing clicked. After a while, I withdrew the verbal cues, and she got it right quite a few times!  When she lapsed into the incorrect way again, I said, “Ooops! We missed that! Never mind.. let’s continue!”

 

Without a word, she stopped and she backtracked the bar and corrected it herself.

That was a very big deal for her and for me!

 

I literally gave her a round of applause for that. She gave me a side-eye that probably meant, “ What’s with you?”  as I rarely do that in sessions.

 

A few glitches emerged. In a bid to get the rhythm of the pedalling right, she is not lifting the pedal high enough now. But hey, a step at a time!

 

I was reminded not to put a glass ceiling over differently-abled kiddos. I had an acquaintance who said before to me, “ Why insist?  Just let be?”; “at least he/she can tinkle on the keys!”; “it doesn’t matter right?”

 

Well, it does.

 

If they are learning, I believe it is our responsibility to guide our neurodiverse kiddos along the right way, with the right technique as far as they can, adapting and settling as they go along, but never assuming that they are unable to do it right.

 

#inclusivity #inclusiveeducation #musictherapy #musicforkids #musiclessons #piano #violin