Dance?

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Hello, new here. Hoping to gain some insight on ASD life, my son was recently dx'd with Autism Disorder, he's 3.

He seems to be interested in moving his body to music. I'd like to interpret this as an interest in dance, he's very interested in Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, etc. I've done a little bit of research and haven't found *a lot* on Auties and formative dance. Even on this board there is a forum for Writing/Arts/Music, but dancing doesn't seem to hold much prominence.

Locally I've looked at classes, many of the 3yo classes require No Diapers (we're not out of those yet) and a good attention span (mmmm...not so sure on that, either, he's a "young" 3yo.) There's another Dance Therapy class for young children with disabilites, I think that might be a good start, but whenever I search "autism dance" I either come up with one disco boy in the UK, or dance recitals that benefit Autism research...not much on autistic dancers.

I REALIZE each and every person is different, I understand that completely, but still need to ask those in-the-know....is dancing just uncommon for ASD? I wouldn't say my son has outrageous talent, but he certainly has an interest and an inclination, I'm just wondering if dancing was something a child with autism could focus on? Please understand I'm not trying to force him into doing something he doesn't want to, it just seems like he's into doing it, I'm just not sure if structured dancing is feasible.

If you've done a lot of researching on AS, you can't have missed the frequent occurrence of the word 'clumsy'. There isn't a lot of interest in dance among Aspergians because there isn't an abundance of ability. When virtually everything you do socially leads to one form of humiliation or another, the very idea of inviting ridicule by hopping about like a preying mantis with St Vitus' Dance is not high on one's bucket list.

On the other hand, at the age of three, that's not likely to be a problem, as no sense of social self has really begun to develop and the definition of 'dance' is extremely lax. He'll probably enjoy it a lot. However, I wouldn't hold out much hope of grooming the the next Godunov.

Personally, I move my body to music almost constantly when alone, but I'd hardly call it dancing. It's usually a Stevie Wonder side-to-side elliptical (actually more of a lemniscate) sway, an Autistic stim* (though sometimes it switches to a back and forth rocking on the balls of my feet when others are present). This is probably the sort of thing you're observing in your Autistic son, rather than any sort of conscious dancing.



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*stim: self-stimulating repetitive motion, an involuntary Autistic reaction to diffuse hyperanxiety

My daughter loves to dance .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmNmBZvxACo[/youtube]

Very cute! Looks like she has some talent there!

I love to dance (who would guess ), my son loves to dance, I go dancing regularly with at least 2 Aspie women. The Aspie author of Songs of a Gorilla Nation worked as an erotic dancer, IIRC. It may be unusual but it's certainly not unheard of. I hope you can find something that suits your son! I would love to find some kind of class for my boy, but am also running into obstacles. (Possibly some in my own mind.) But we go to a family camp with dancing every year and have the best time.

awww how cute!! !

I have a friend who is a music therapist who works with kids further down the spectrum & she says they enjoy it a lot, so I'd tend to think dance would be a lot of fun for your child!

Dance can be a real joy, even for someone who, it turns out, isn't very good at it. The thing is to find a class that does not emphasize technique and performance, but makes it fun. As in, stay away from the stronger reputation "serious" programs.

My AS son had a wonderful run playing soccer even though he had very little talent for it. He had the gift of coaches who found his strengths and used them to advantage, and he developed a lot as a person because of it. What it takes is finding just the right program.

My son gets very intimidated when other children are running around and running toward him. I don't want to be negative, but I am thinking that signing him up for soccer may not be such a good idea. He too has had lots of gross motor issues, but is progressing very well. I am just not sure he is ready for any contact sports at this point! I want to find physical things that he will do. He loves music, but doesn't have too many dance moves!!

He is probably still too young but you might look into martial arts when he is a bit older. You can do a search in your area for instructors who take kids with special needs, usually most of them do. My 7 year old loves martial arts, my daughters boyfriend started teaching him about a year ago and we plan to find him and my 5 year old daughter a place to go when we move. I used to take Kung Fu and I am quite uncoordinated, it helps you to get in touch with your body and even though I was not good at it made me happy, mainly with it helped with my stress and a bit with my vestibular problems. In a way its sort of like a form of OT. This was before I was diagnosed but my Si Fu knew that I needed the extra help and he took time for me even letting me come in when he was closed and also some of the other students would help me, as well.
Most kids that like to swing and dance and spin are sensory seeking so anything that fosters movement is good for them....even a tumbling class would be good.

I think there are 2 aspects to what you are seeing with your son - there is the listening to music aspect and the body movement aspect. My son, 4, loves certain types of music at certain times. Sometimes he wants to just sit and listen to the music and other times he wants to move his body to the music. The youtube vide of Banana Phone-the fast version almost always elicits a raucous dance party!

It may be tough to find any formal "dance" classes for kids your sons age. Any type of classes for pre-school age would surely include some dancing and singing as this is such a good way to work with most all types of pre-schoolers.

I agree with liloleme that tumbling or gymnastics would be a good start for using those gross motor skills. I know the gyms in our area offer parent/tot clasess so your little guy doesn't have to be potty trained or the best listener in the world if you can be in the class with him.

Dancing can be completely different from other physical activities. A lot of the clumsiness relates to dealing with surprises. An Aspie can learn a dance routine, or dance steps, quite well even if they always bump into the wall the rest of the time. I have found that it works OK as long as done only has to keep track of what one is doing, and not necessarily what anyone else is doing. Or if there is plenty of room so people are not too close together, so they don't bump!

Martial arts are a very good idea in general. I remember my son doing his katas flawlessly and seriously, when he wasn't at all interested in PE in school and was terrible at it. The only reason it stopped was money. *sigh* It is also good for self-confidence and self-control.

Tumbling and gymnastics are good for the same reason, it's something you can do by yourself without depending on interacting with somebody else.

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. My bro/sil are really into karate and they keep talking about bringing him to a class, we'll see! Thanks again.

I am in my mind a dancer, ive never taken any classes or anything of the like. I do liquid dance and have started messing around with poi. Im very fluid even though I do run into a wall or something every now and again . Dancing like this not only feels simply amazing (I pretty much have turned it into a stim, doing figure 8s and the wave with my hands when im thinking to myself, but it helps me interact with others, gives me a topic that they might be interested in talking about and its an attention grabber so I usually dont even have to start the conversation. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn5ioKEcH7I[/youtube]