Meet the Instructor

Since 2018, I have been partnering with parents (and teachers) to equip them to teach music through piano to their children with autism. This approach begins with students who may have little to no verbal skills, limited knowledge of how to play a note on the keyboard, or significant "hand-flapping" behaviors. Over time, they progress from these initial stages to reading music, understanding five-tone scales and chords, and developing independent finger control. When instructions are followed, parents typically observe improvements in cognitive processes and motor functions.

This approach starts with engaging the right brain, which handles primarily non-verbal functions such as sports and music, with minimal use of language. The processed information then moves to the left brain, which is responsible for language, and transfers non-verbal semantics (meanings related to spatial skills) into verbal semantics (language-based meanings). This process continues progressively, with students mastering new and slightly more complex information each time. Each lesson includes easy-to-understand, step-by-step instructions.

The last five minutes of each lesson are reserved for reviewing lesson content, setting goals, and answering questions. I carefully listen to everything the parent shares about their child. The instruction is tailored according to the child’s abilities and the parental goals for their child's academic success. The focus is on achieving success for both the parent (or teacher) and the child (or student).