Feature Stories

Children with autism experience music and movement

Children with autism seem to excel in their gross motor skills. They often excel in the areas of moving, running, jumping, climbing and tumbling. Many educators find it worthwhile to use these advanced skills to teach other skills in which children may have deficits. This can be done through imitation of these motor movements or actions. The premise is that we all learn from imitating or modeling others in our environment. Children with autism generally have difficulty in the areas of communication, socialization and engage in repetitive behaviors. Teaching appropriate models of these can be done through imitation.

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On April 25, 2008 Andrew Palermo, founder of dre.dance in New York City, worked with two classrooms of students from the Heartspring School. During the workshop Andrew was introduced to students from across the nation, and helped them express themselves through dance utilizing modeling, mirroring, and imitating. By the end of the session, students had learned a few movements and were able to "perform” them with the assistance of Heartspring staff. “Any type of movement or physical activity is important for all children,” said Travis Grover, adapted physical education teacher. “Andrew was patient and adapted to the needs of our kids. It was a fun experience and one that our kids really enjoyed being a part of.”

Andrew returned September 17, along with members of dre.dance, to work with children from Heartspring Pediatric Services. Once again Andrew and his crew used modeling, mirroring, and imitating to work with children ages three to six. Through the use of music and movements the dre.dance company members were able to entice children to be involved in individual and group exercises. The troupe used movements from their performance beyond.words, mirrored the children’s movements, and made some up as they went along to keep children involved for an hour of fun. Parents, children, and staff learned so much from this experience. Andrew and the group took time to get to know the kids by paying attention to their movements, social anxieties, and talking to the parents and staff. “The quiet attention to bring the children together was most impressive. I watched these dancers with the children and could not believe how they seemed to understand them. We were able to see connections being made, anxieties increase and decrease, social language exchanges, and energy being expended, lots of energy expended,” said Kimberly Becker, director of Pediatric Services. View photos from this event.

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Saturday September 20th, dre.dance, along with students from Wichita State University debuted beyond.words to an excited crowd in the Miller Auditorium at WSU. The music, movement, power and grace of beyond.words elicited many emotions from the audience. Parents expressed their gratitude for a performance about autism that was uplifting, positive and enlightening. Professionals watched in awe as dancers elegantly engaged in motions of repetitive movements, imitation and excitement that made them think of a variety of students they work with daily.

The foundation of the performance was communication and language. While the dance was inspired by a story about a woman with autism, the choreographers, Andrew Palermo and Taye Diggs, allowed the audience to interpret the movements for themselves. “There are so many parallels between watching the actors’ movements and trying to interpret their meaning, and assessing a student with autism to determine the communicative function of his behaviors,” said Lindsay Randle, director of school therapy and applied technology. The performance gives parents, professionals and other members of the community a different perspective of the behaviors that are often associated with autism. Instead of looking at these movements as things that need to be stopped, they are interpreted for the communicative intent or emotional expression.