Published on 12, July, 2020
Daughter with ASD says she can not sing - not that she is bad at it, that when she tries no noise comes out. Unfortunately as part of her Drama A Level, she needs to be able to for the Audition component. For every other element she is on track to getting a Distinction - should we be asking for an exemption?
speech and spoken language use very different parts of the brain
The brain can be trained if the an individual is so inclined - but not without strain - and the results are often unsatisfying. Some people's brains simply are not wired for music - it is true the other way around as well, as are those who only communicate in quotes from movies, via 120 WPM typing, etc.. We really do run the spectrum.
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if it's not that important to her, get that exemption and move on.
If this singing is something that is very important to her, try the following.
If she can hear music. play her some very simple singing, a nursery rhyme recording or some such, where the words are clear and the instruments are few or none at all, just voice. if she can read give her the words on a sheet of paper.
Ask she to follow along, even just as spoken words, with the rhythm of the song. Se what happens.
If she cannot really hear the sounds as music. go with he exemption and leave it at that.
All that is important is that she's enjoying herself and doing what does she want?