WELLBEING
The project
During the next academic year I shall have a new
Gamelan team for Thursday VSU, some of whom will be
old hands and some newcomers both to the school and
to the Gamelan. We shall spend the first two weeks of
the year learning to play the instruments, talking about
working with young children and discussing this project,
bringing the whole group into the study. I shall ask them
to watch our visitors carefully, making sure that they are
clear in their instructions and expectations and to tell
me if they notice anything particular about a change in
a visiting child’s behaviour or demeanour.
I then hope to run the six week course for a group of
children diagnosed as being Autistic, involving the small
group of Sixth Form students, and I hope very much to
recruit the assistance of someone experienced in Autism
as an observer of the student group to help us to collate
observations.
There are many studies which demonstrate that people
with Autism, both children and adults, enjoy and benefit
from playing the Gamelan, and most of them go no
further than observing the beneficial calming effect
that this activity has on its Autistic participants or the
extension of their musical ability. Whether we can open
a door to research involving the educational use of the
Gamelan remains to be seen, but this is my aim with
our students. My ambition is to draw the attention of
professionals working in the field of Autism who might
then be persuaded to give this extraordinary set of
instruments a chance to make a real difference in the
lives of Autistic people.
References
Bakan, M. (2014) Ethnomusicological Perspectives on Autism, Neurodiversity,
and Music Therapy.
Special Issue on Music Therapy and Disability Studies. Voices: A World Forum
for Music Therapy. Available at: https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/
view/2220/1974 (accessed 25.07.19).
Haddon, E. (2016) Bi-musicality and dialogical musicality: Influences of
Javanese gamelan participation on Western instrumental learning. British
Journal of Music Education. Available at: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96255/
(accessed 25.07.19).
Tucker, A.C. (2013) Interpreting and treating Autism in Javanese Indonesia.
UCLA Electronic Thesis and Dissertations. Available at: https://escholarship.
org/uc/item/0wh189mq (accessed 25.07.19).
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