Well, I had my first lesson with my pupil yesterday and it went really well. We got on really well and he is a really clever kid, he loves his music. There are the usual things he has to work on to get where he wants to go (to Grade 4 or 5 standard), but Im' sure this is possible given what I saw.

What I didn't know until after the lesson though was that he has Aspergers Syndrome, something I vaguely knew about before but I don't know how this will affect my teaching or his learning, especially because he hopes to get from Grade 2/3 to Grade 4/5 in the space of 2 years. I did notice his attention begin to wander a bit but I thought it was because the lesson went on too long, we ended up having a 45 minute session. Now I think it is because of the Aspergers. He is so talented and I want to make sure I bring the best out of him...

Has anyone had experience of teaching a child with aspergers, and have any tips on what I should look out for and how to proceed from here?

Thanks for your help!

Cant help with the teaching, but to understand Aspergers a bit I suggest you read the short and entertaning novel 'The Curious Tale of the Dog in the Night time' by Mark Haddon.
It helped me to understand Aspergers.

There have been quite a few threads of people working out how to best help children with autistic spectrum disorders. It would definitely be worth doing a search on "aspergers" and probably "autistic" and "autism" too in the teaching forum.

I like that book very much. Although at times you could feel the frustration (sort of), it was very interesting and a pleasure to read.

Good luck teaching him! Don't let a disability put down his musical talent.

I have written sometime ago regarding Aspreger so you may be able to search...

I am a mother of one such child as well as teacher of three... All my Asperger pupils are making pleasing progress and although there are certain things - especially the way you talk to them - which makes the lesson run smoothly, I have had no issues so far. If you need more info, please PM me.

I am slightly disheartened with the way you spoke - as if having Asperger / Autism means "trouble" or "difficult pupil". They may display some odd behaviour, they are just as special as any other pupils. In fact, all of mine are willing and happy, follow my constructive instruction methodically, and enjoy learning and making music! Their progress have been much quicker than I anticipated.

So, enjoy teaching this special person.
hero

Thank you for your help everyone I really appreciate it...

Hero, I'm really sorry, I didn't at all mean that a child with Aspergers is going to be 'trouble' or a 'difficult pupil'; what I wanted to know is how I can better understand Aspergers and therefore teach him in a way that brings out his natural talent; I'm new to teaching compared to a lot of people, and I wanted to make sure I do everything I can to be the best teacher I can be for this pupil. I'm really sorry if I offended you or if that came across in the wrong way... I have a brother with Dyspraxia and Dyslexia and am all too aware about the way he was pigeon holed and labelled as 'difficult' when actually he is very very intelligent, it led to many problems when he was at school.

Please accept my humblest apologies for the way that came across!

Oh, please don't worry; may be I reacted badly...

I hope that you really do enjoy teaching him.
hero

I have worked with those kind of pupils before and have AS myself. There are different degrees of severity, but the underlying facts are the same on a sliding scale. In my limited experience it is highly unlikely to impede progress musically, in fact quite the opposite, there seems to be an aptitude for performing arts and especially music. At risk of generalising of course, but it is broadly true.

Main drawbacks - they usually have different communication problems (notice I say different, not poor. It's a case of adapting to them, which sadly is why so many sufferers are let down by schools with a lack of understanding/resources/both. A few that come to mind include lack of eye contact, literal interpretation, longer processing time, obsessions/routines, short attention spans, social anxiety. Just get used to him and keep encouraging him. Also they can be less succeptable to peer pressure than many his age, but there are always exceptions.

And of course the usual things we hear about social, interaction and sense of achievement in music are of immense value to anyone inhibited in these areas.

PM if you like, and good luck with your first pupil.

I posted on this a while ago, but I'm no good at finding old threads, sorry!

One of my pupils, a teenage boy, has Aspergers. His mum is a close friend of mine, which helps with communication, I can easily be kept up to date with anything which may affect his lesson, such as an upset at school.

I have an overall plan for his learning, but am very flexible. Some lessons we get through a lot of stuff, other lessons he wants to play pieces he's very familiar with, almost for the comfort of it, I think.

His lessons are really enjoyable, he often latches onto a piece and will play it endlessly at home, alone or to anyone who will listen. He's a natural performer and can be a real 'show off' in the nicest possible way.

I would say that communication with the pupil, and with the parents is vital, keep a very open mind about what each lesson might acheive, but in no way allow the Aspergers to become an excuse for poor playing or poor practice. (I'm sure you wouldn't!)

With exams, I've found AB to be more than helpful, extra time is given for the exam, the examiners seem very clued up on how to react, and in the case of my pupil, very good marks are achievable - three distinctions and two merits to date. He tried enlarged sightreading once, but didn't find it helpful, it may be useful to other Aspergers candidates.

Hope this is helpful, it's just my experience of one pupil.

I have taught asperger's children in mainstream primary and one child with autism the violin. I understand that these children shouldn't be seen as 'trouble' or 'difficult' but I know from personal experience that they can be if you don't understand fully where they're coming from. I think the more you get to know their foibles, strengths, fears and anxieties the better. In this respect they are more difficult than so called 'normal' children (and I haven't met many of those!).

So I would suggest, as I have discovered with pupils of my own, that you try and get to know your pupil as well as you possibly can - my violin boy for example HATED having to learn something new. But as soon as he knew it he just wanted to play it all the time. So I knew I had 3 or 4 very difficult weeks but once he got there, he'd be thrilled to bits. He was diagnosed autistic, however, which is slightly different from Aspergers. He got 147 marks in his grade 1 exam, though! Because he was very determined that everything had to be absolutely perfectly and indesputably, right.

Children taught individually shouldn't suffer the same problems as those within the classroom. With one particular Asbergers pupil I remember for example, I had to keep saying his name all the time whilst teaching, or he didn't believe that I was actually including him in the lesson. He hated changes in routine too. If the fire alarm went off for a practise, he would get so distressed his mother had to collect him! He was only 6/7 years old though.