Piano fingering instruction for a child with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

This study examined the efficacy of piano fingering instruction for children with ID and ASD. A child with ID and ASD participated. Based on WISC-IV and behavioral observations of the participant, we determined that the target behavior was playing the keyboard with the five right-hand fingers, and that the teacher’s modeling and two visual prompts were used as instruction. We conducted a Pre-Post-Test to evaluate the results, which indicated that the participant’s fingering improved in the post-test due to the instruction. This study demonstrated that WISC-IV and behavioral observations could determine target behaviors and instruction. Future studies should investigate how to teach children with different cognitive profiles and use more reliable experimental study designs.