Poor coordination and piano?
Practice helps, as does OT. But if one has impaired fine motor control, there are limits.
Perhaps that would apply to motorcycle racing, but not music. Practice creates muscle memory that overcomes any autistic motor control issues.
I'm really curious as to why you would say that. I do work in the field and know there are limits to many physical capabilities including fine motor control. Are you saying simply there are no physical disabilities associated with autism or "caused" by autism?
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The river is the melody
And sky is the refrain - Gordon Lightfoot
Yes, practice helps. I find it helps to practice is short sessions frequently throughout the day, though twice a day is usually all I can manage while giving priority to a day job. It is also important to do more challenging tasks. Once you achieve a level of control more practice at the same level isn't going to help.
It may also help to "cross train." In which you learn different tasks that use the same muscles. But, perhaps with a higher degree or difficult or something that can be evaluated with more precision. Hitting a the bullseye on a dart board is a pretty high level of difficulty for most people. Do it with regularity in adverse conditions and you can make money at it!
I think being autistic means I have a harder time getting started with something new. Which means that the first couple times will be terrible. But, I'm usually in it for the long term, so that doesn't matter. A good Physical Therapist won't care about how bad you start out. Instead, they will look for what is possible.
It may also be that something else needs work. It is hard hit the bullseye if you can't see it! Some sort of corrective vision aid may help more than more practice.
That's a myth. Music and art are not in your hands or motor skills, they are in your brain. You just need to practice. You won't be good for 3 years or so, just to start. Practice. A lot. Jimi Hendrix used to go everywhere with his guitar, he even took it to bed with him, until it became an extension of his arm, and imagination.
I don't know what to make of this, I get where you're coming from but this is only half true. As a general statement not everyone is physically or mentally capable to learn to play a musical instrument well. I have been working as a musical instructor for a group of people with special needs some of whom cannot get proficient at an instrument due to motor skills (i.e we have one guy with diagnosed AS) moreover special needs tend to struggle more with musical instruments due to the fact as you said they need practice and a lot of effort put into it which causes frustration in making music.
That's why we work with i-pad applications that can create music instantly using one finger, with whatever instrument sound in the right scale, it's great for CP, blind, even AS who just wanna get instant satisfaction from making music. It's all about the individual's motivation and functioning level.
Although we're speaking of piano here, generally you are right that being musical doesn't have anything to do with motor skills per se. We have a blind singer in our group with absolute hearing who is already famous for having songs on the radio. So yeah, she's super musical.