Any tips on handling extremely bad behaviour? (All Teachers)

[Guest Teacher]

Ah thanks, it’s an area that I’ve got a good proportion of experience in so I’m glad to offer some advice:) Improvisation is an odd one and we can only find out how effective it will be on an individual basis, as with everything! It takes a lot of pressure off in some ways because they don’t have to play a written out tune or something specified; you can also give a set number of notes to improvise on (eg pentatonic scale played 3 fingers on one hand and 2 on the other, or similar) and actually get better results than an unrestricted approach, and it doesn’t matter if they touch an extra note here and there either. Lots of opportunity for praise. On the other hand, another autistic child might much prefer the security of having a simple written out melody to follow, knowing exactly what they have to play and gaining the pleasure from success – in this case it is important to keep everything as achievable as possible; piano is strictly extra-curricular and there shouldn’t be any pressure on progress for a child who plays for therapy and the chance for the routine and certainty that comes with having a regularly visiting adult. It’s really individual to the child, and every child is unique!

[Guest Teacher]

The piano lesson cannot be the only form of learning where the pupil experiences the kind of organisation and tips you see above.

[Guest Teacher]

use a structure and methods such as those others have outlined, but we all like familiarity- give the lessons a shape that becomes familiar, and free improvising may not be bad- channel the messing around if you can. Link in with methods being used in other learning and use mum to get some consistent approaches, as the child will benefit from this. he may have some form of IT support (often in the form of specific devices) that can be used as well for preparation and notes.

[Beckie Tunnicliffe]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your help! I will definitely try out your ideas with my student, I teach a few other autistic children too so I’m sure the tips will also help me with them:)

[James Barnett]

Hi Beckie,

I can completely identify with your post. I’ve had a couple of pupils over the years with similar behaviour characteristics that you outline and it can be really hard in lessons! A couple of things that worked for me were having a plan of activities that I wanted to cover but then letting the pupil lead the activity whenever I sensed resistance. I felt the slightest amount of pressure would lead to disengagement so I tried really hard to remove this. It was amazing how much they seemed to achieve when I removed any expectations and only gave minimum guidance.

With one pupil I had the opportunity to note how their behaviour changed depending on who was around. There were three variations (all took place in my home).

1 Mum with younger sibling in next door room (door open)
2 Dad with younger sibling in next door room (door open)
3 Mum alone in lesson room

The pupil’s behaviour was worse with Mum being in the room during the lesson and there were tears both times even though I had changed nothing in terms of teaching approach. More data would be needed to prove this but I think it added loads more pressure to have Mum in the room with us. Might be something to think about changing.

Remember that you’re probably making a real contribution to your pupils life even though it might feel difficult sometimes.

I hope that helps and good luck:)

James