Tips for Teaching an Autistic Child the Guitar

How do you teach an autistic child the guitar? It bears repeating, not all students on the autistic spectrum have the same abilities:

• Some students will learn and communicate much like a typical learner. However, others will have very little vocabulary and need a multisensory approach.
• Moreover, students who communicate well may still struggle with learning music. You can even find students who have profound communication issues but will still have a talent for learning music.
• So, you never really know what you’re going to get until you start working with the student.

You need patience when working with autistic students:

• Celebrate successes and progress even if they don’t seem like big gains to you.
• Use positive reinforcement by giving high fives and appropriate praise. However, your praise must be genuine, or the kids will see right through you.
• Be aware that autistic students may have a tendency toward black and white thinking.

Building a helpful and encouraging lesson environment can boost your student’s self-confidence and desire to learn.

More useful tips:

• Be understanding and patient with any social awkwardness.
• Allow some tangents, but don’t let them get out of hand.
• Also, some kids will need periodic micro-breaks during the lessons to keep them fresh and on task.

For many kids on the spectrum, adapting sheet music using color coding will be a game-changer. For more information:

• How to Color Code Musical Diagrams
• How to Color Code Guitar Tab for LD Achievement
• How to Color Code Music to Get LD Students to Perform Accurate Alternate Picking
• How to Color Code Music Notes for LD & Special Needs Distance Learning
• Color Coding the Fingers for Music Learning Empowers Special Needs and LD Student’s Fingering Accuracy