Date of Award

8-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

School

Music

Committee Chair

Dr. Ellen Elder

Committee Chair School

Music

Committee Member 2

Dr. Joseph Brumbeloe

Committee Member 2 School

Music

Committee Member 3

Dr. Michael Bunchman

Committee Member 3 School

Music

Committee Member 4

Dr. Joseph Jones

Committee Member 4 School

Music

Committee Member 5

Dr. Elizabeth Moak

Committee Member 5 School

Music

Committee Member 6

Dr. Ian Cicco

Committee Member 6 School

Music

Abstract

This dissertation is a practical resource for private piano teachers seeking to gain a better understanding of teaching students with autism. Resources used in general music instruction of students with autism were consulted, and relevant information was adapted for the private piano setting. Additionally, resources that are tailored to private piano teaching of students with an identified disability were consulted.

Interviews with three individuals who have experience working with individuals with autism were conducted, and methods and strategies that they found to be most successful were ascertained. One of the interviewees was Dr. Derek Polischuk, Professor of Piano and Director of Piano Pedagogy at Michigan State University, who serves on the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy’s Committee for Teaching Students with Special Needs. I also interviewed Danuta Highet, the parent of an adult with autism who co-authored the book, Autism: Advancing on the Spectrum: from Inclusion in School to Participation in Life: Lessons Learned from Life. The third interviewee, Kevin Bosworth, is an instructional assistant in the Fairfax County Public School District of Virginia, who interacts with individuals with identified disabilities, including autism.

Additional accommodations and strategies were gleaned from attending “Celebrating the Spectrum: A Festival of Music and Life” at Michigan State, and then applied to the private teaching of three student participants with autism. Each lesson, upon consent, was recorded and qualitative data was collected.

This dissertation includes five chapters. Chapter I includes a review of literature and accommodations, and Chapter II provides a detailed account of the methodology used. Information gained from my observation at the Festival can be found in Chapter III, along with content from the three interviews. Chapter IV includes detailed data on a wide variety of accommodations and strategies that were utilized and their effectiveness or ineffectiveness during the lessons with the three student participants. Chapter V provides a summary of the results from the lessons, and advice for private piano teachers who teach students with autism. The appendices include interview questions, transcriptions of the interviews, and a variety of resources utilized with the student participants.

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