4 d Reviewing Literature -2 Dance For Young Adults On The Autism Spectrum

Image source: http://www.halodance4autism.org

   "DANCE FOR YOUNG ADULTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM" by Lydia Hance

Since commencing Module 2 the emphasis of my enquiry has evolved from just wanting to look at the training available for teaching dance to children on the autistic spectrum to looking more at the way that dance is taught for autistic children, and the benefits they derive from it. The article "Examining Dance Classes For Teens On The Autism Spectrum" by dance teacher Lydia Hance is valuable for my research because Hance has a great deal of experience in teaching dance to autistic people and the article is written from her own personal perspective. I intend to get the views of dance teachers for my enquiry so this article enables me to get some insight into that.

 In the article Hance discusses two different dance classes that she has taught for teenagers with ASD. The first one includes ten 17 year old boys and two 15 year old girls. She mentions that her goals for this class were:

      "for the students to enjoy moving, increase their comfort with their bodies and to challenge them with interaction and awareness of other dancers in a defined space."

She states that she begins each class with a warm up that is either verbal or physical. The warm up is seated on chairs.  Her reasons for this are because it helps the students:

 "define their space and to feel secure to start moving".

I found this very interesting for two reasons. The first reason is because I had not considered that an open space would seem daunting to someone with ASD as she suggests.The second one is because some people with ASD find verbalising difficult and I would have thought that a verbal warm up might have inhibited them at the start of a class. 

Placing the chairs in a circle would also mean that they would be making eye contact with their peers and I would have thought that, initially, this too might have been inhibiting. It is well documented that autistic people often have problems making eye contact. Bergland in "The Neuroscience of making Eye Contact" says that research around the world suggests that a possible reason for this may be a vestibular and/or cerebellar dysfunction. The link to this article is below:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201403/the-neuroscience-making-eye-contact

Hance acknowledges the difficulty autistic people face in connecting with other people and suggests an exercise to help them maintain eye contact.This involves trying to look at one another whilst doing chasses in pairs.  

She mentions other ways she tried to get the students to connect with each other. These involved gentle weight sharing movements with a partner and movements in which they tried to match each other's timing and breathing patterns. Again I was surprised that exercises that required the students to touch one another were incorporated because "some autistic people resist being touched" (Autism UK independent ).

I think the thing that surprised me most about the class was the fact that she incorporated improvisation. Another characteristic of autistic behaviour is that they have "a strong preference for routines and sameness." (Autismuk.org) 

From my own teaching experience of people with ASD improvisation was something that they shied away from. She does state that she structured the improvisation by giving them patterns to follow for example: "ABB or ABAB or ABCABC. She does not give any explanation of what these patterns represent.

Hance says that she was surprised by the enthusiasm with which the boys in the class responded, especially to the gross motor skill movements she incorporated, such as "jumping, leaping, hopping, balancing, rolling and cartwheeling" 

She says that at times she had problems controlling the noise level because the boys were talking a lot and that she had to channel their energy to get them to focus on the class. She gives a possible reason for this being:

      "due to the vulnerability they were experiencing. They were verbally processing their experience." 

She makes no mention of the fact that this vulnerability might, in part, have been due to the presence of two younger girls in the class. From my experience boys like to show off their dancing prowess in front of the girls and in so doing often generate noise. If they feel they haven't mastered a movement they will also talk to divert attention away from the fact that they can't execute a movement as well as they might like.

Throughout the article, other than at the beginning when we are informed that the class includes two 15 year old girls, Hance makes no reference to how the girls responded.The whole report of the class focuses entirely on the boys. The dynamic of a mixed gender class is very different from that of a single gender class, especially when the class are all teenagers and when one sex far out ways the other in number. I feel this is something quite vital that Hance has omitted to discuss.

 One is left wondering about whether Hance made any adaptations in the class for the girls and how they reacted to being the only two girls in a class with ten older boys. 

She doesn't state whether this class was the first encounter with the students or whether she had been working with them for some time. We are not informed about the severity of the ASDs of the students. She does state that :


      "Students with low-functioning autism don't need the technique expectations of a career-bound dancer."

I assume,therefore, that the students she is teaching are at the mild end of the autistic spectrum.

I would challenge her view that autistic people don't need the same technical expectations as a career-bound dancer. I have personally taught students who are on the autistic spectrum who have exceptional dance talent. I also know some professional dancers. Philip Martin-Nelson is a prime example of someone who was severely affected by autism but went on to become principal dancer with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. The link to this article is below:

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/27665626/ballet-dancer-autism

Hance does acknowledge that it is important for teachers of autistic students to value the class as highly as they would a class they were teaching for vocational students because:

 "it is crucial students don't feel second class. They can see right through that."

Hance goes on to discuss a second class of "nine ladies who have recently graduated from high school"

She says that:

      "This group of students needed safety in order to feel the momentum of their bodies in space."

She then goes on to say that she spent a lot of time:


 "facilitating improvisation with the students within different structures involving movement qualities (soft, sharp, gooey,...) responding physically to different music genres, exploring high/middle/low levels" 

She doesn't give any explanation as to how this made them feel safe enough to move through the space. I assume that she means that because she was suggesting different ways for them to move it was not as daunting for the students as just putting on the music and telling them to improvise and that, as a result, they felt more confident about moving.

Hance makes a very interesting comment about mirrors in the dance studio saying that:

      "Mirrors are counter-productive in a dance class for students on the autism spectrum. They are distracting, exposing, and can be harmful for body-image, an exacerbated concern with autistic adolescents."

I think this is a valid observation and one which can apply to any adolescent whether or not they are on the autistic spectrum. I remember well my own dance classes in a studio with wall to wall mirrors. I could never perform properly because the image I saw in the mirror of myself dancing was not the ideal that I had in my head. 

I found an interesting article by Kirsten Lindsmith that talks about body image for autistic teenagers. She says:

      '' It's commonly understood that autistic people have problems with what is referred to as "zoom-out" focus, and, especially when dealing with people, see the parts of things instead of the whole. Body dysmorphic disorder is marked, and some would say caused, by the patient seeing their individual body parts instead of their whole body. Where a non-BDD patient would look in the mirror and see a face, a patient with BDD sees an eye, another eye, a nose, a mouth, cheeks, etc., the same way an autistic sees a face. The failure to put these pieces together leads to (or can be a result of) focusing on these individual pieces, instead of seeing how they fit together in a greater context."

The link to the article is below:

http://www.autismafter16.com/article/04-20-2012/body-images

Hance also refers to bullying issues that autistic teenagers can face by their peers because of their co-ordination differences. I have already commented in my blog "Dancing To a Different Rythym " about the statistics surrounding the bullying of autistic people and about the desires of many autistic people to be perceived as "normal" and to fit in with their peers. 

She mentions an incident where one of her students told her that she had been made fun of as a child and so felt self conscious in the dance class.In order to combat this they discussed it and all made a commitment that no-one in the class would make fun of anyone else. This level of connection is quite significant, because:

      "social interaction difficulties mean a child with an ASD may find it difficult to understand unwritten social rules, other people's emotions and feelings and expressing their own emotions."(autismeducationtrust.org)

 Hance stresses how important it was for the students in her class to feel comfortable and have a level of trust. She gives examples of two exercises that she used to try to gain the students' trust. 

The first one involved the students falling or running backwards across the room and the teacher cushioning their landing. The second one involved the students running round the room with their arms out as if they were flying. She mentions that the students found these difficult at first, but eventually, once trust had been established, were able to abandon themselves to the movement and complete the tasks without being inhibited.

Hance doesn't give any indication of how long it took for the students to reach this level of trust. Once again we aren't given any information about the severity of ASD of the pupils in the class, but assume that they are only mildly affected because of the way that we are told that they respond to the teacher and to each other.

Hance concludes by saying that :

      "Teaching these students has been an equal exchange of vulnerabilty, love, and risk."

It is interesting that she herself felt vulnerable when teaching. I think that many teachers experience feelings of vulnerability at some point during their teaching.I believe that this is partly due to the fact that, however much you plan a class, you can never be sure of how it will be received by the participants and this uncertainty can produce feelings of anxiety and insecurity in the teacher. I also think that the sense of responsibility for the well being of the students and the desire for them to have a pleasurable experience in the dance class places pressure on the teacher.

 When the pupils have special needs these feelings of insecurity and responsibility the teacher experiences are heightened because one is aware of the difficulties the pupils face, but unsure how these difficulties may manifest themselves within the class. This places the teacher in a vulnerable position.

I feel Hance has made some very useful comments about the teaching of the students,but there is information missing such as; the level of autism the students had, the frequency of the dance classes and the affects of mix gender classes. 

This article has made me aware that, when I interview teachers, I need to make sure that I get as much information from them as possible. In order to present my reader with a full account of the enquiry I need to document the teacher's feelings about her experience with her pupils as well as looking at the pupil perspective. Because ASD is so diverse, it is really important that the target audience for my enquiry is aware of the level of the students being taught. It is also important that I obtain feedback about the long term progress the dance students have made and whether this has had any impact upon their daily lives outside of the dance class.

Bibliography

AUTISM EDUCATIONAL TRUST (2015)  A GUIDE FOR TEACHERS, http://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk/resources/teachers%20guide.aspx
ACCESSED APRIL 2015

AUTISM UK INDEPENDENT (2010) http://www.autismuk.com/?page_id=61#1   ACCESSED ONLINE MARCH 2015

AUTISM UK (2015)http://www.autism.org.uk  ACCESSED ONLINE FEBRUARY 2015

BERGLAND, C (2014) THE NEUROSCIENCE OF MAKING EYE CONTACT, THE ATHELETE'S WAYhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201403/the-neuroscience-making-eye  ACCESSED ONLINE APRIL 2015

HANCE, L  (2011) DANCE FOR YOUNG ADULTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM,DANCE ADVANTAGE http://www.danceadvantage.net/autism-spectrum/ ACCESSED FEBRUARY 2015

 L  LINDSMITH, K (2012)  BODY IMAGES, AUTISM AFTER 16, http://www.autismafter16.com/article/04-20-2012/body-images

YOUNG, C (2014) DANCER WITH AUTISM SAYS BALLET CHNGED HIS LIFE, FOX NEWS,http://www.myfoxny.com/story/27665626/ballet-dancer-autism 

Task 4 d - (1) Reviewing Literature - Teaching Motor Skills to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders'

Image source from:http://danriverautism5k.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/5138c1b4bdbf4b46fa1b6b2324d5f884-298x300.jpg

"Teaching Motor Skills to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders" by Teri Todd

I am currently looking into the different dance teaching approaches for children on the autistic spectrum. In order to better inform my enquiry I feel that it is necessary for me to have a deeper understanding of the problems that some autistic children face in learning dance. Generalized motor deficits are common in ASD (Konopka, 2013, p 212). Proficiency in motor skills is necessary for the learning of dance; therefore this is an area that I need greater knowledge of. The above article by Teri Todd is relevant to my studies because it attempts to suggest ways of helping autistic people overcome difficulties with their motor skills.

The article begins with the following definition of motor skills:

"Fundamental motor skills refer to locomotor object skills that emerge between the ages of one and seven years old, usually following the ability to walk. These skills are considered fundamental because they span ages and cultures and serve the basis of many more advanced or sport-specific skills (Burton & Miller, 1998). They include skills such as running and dodging, jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, sliding, catching, throwing, striking an object with an implement, and rolling a ball. When these motor skills are not acquired, individuals lack the foundation for participating in many physical  activities." (p 32)

      
Todd's explanation of what constitutes fundamental motor skills is easy to grasp because he gives examples of what they include i.e things like running, jumping and skipping. I compared his definition with various others and found the following one in the Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science and Medicine. It states that motor skill is:

"A skill associated with muscle activity. Skills performed in sport form a continuum from fine to gross motor skills. Some sports scientists object to the prefix 'motor' on its own because it implies the skill is largely a motor reflex. They prefer to use terms, such as perceptual motor skill, psychomotor skill, or sensorimotor skill because such terms emphasise the mental components of movement skills. A skilled movement can be defined as a product of four different elements: force, velocity, accuracy, and purposefulness. In a skilful performance, all four elements must be perform at the same time in exactly the right combination and amount."

 Unlike in the Oxford Dictionary definition above, Todd makes no attempt to explain what constitutes a skilled movement. I think this is a significant omission, because it is the degree to which a movement is mastered that affects how that movement looks in the execution of it. I will discuss this in terms of what it means for dance.

A dance movement appears graceful when it is skilfully performed but that same movement can still be executed,with varying degrees of success, by someone who has not yet mastered all the components necessary to be able to do it with ease. This is particularly pertinent when applied to someone with an autism diagnosis. Autism is a spectrum disorder and the symptoms are wide reaching. Therfore no two people with autism will have exactly the same symptoms( Medical News Today, online). Consequently it follows that every person will have their own level of movement proficiency. The way they move will affect the aesthetics of the movements they execute in dance.

Todd states that:

      "Adequate motor abilities are required for a person to perform a motor skill well" (p 33)

 I would question the use of the word 'adequate' here because in order to do anything well you need to be proficient at it not merely adequate at it.

He defines motor abilities as :

      "the underlying movement capacities that contribute to the performance of motor skills (Magill, 1998)." (p 33)

He gives examples of these motor abilities as being things like balance, hand-eye co-ordination and strength. He goes on to say that people with ASD have deficits in both motor skills and motor abilities and illustrates this by referencing two tests that had been carried out to assess these areas in people with ASD and people without. In both cases the people with ASD faired significantly worse than those without.

The information that people with ASD may struggle more with motor skills and abilities than those without ASD is helpful for dance teachers who have autistic pupils to know for planning the class content. Teachers can try to make adjustments for this in their classes and try to find ways of helping their pupils with ASD overcome these difficulties. 

Todd mentions that the reasons for children with ASD experiencing problems with motor skill development are not known. I think, therefore, that it is inappropriate to mention a study which linked intelligence quota to motor skill proficiency because it was only carried out on autistic children and consequently there is an implied suggestion that children with ASD have lower intelligence. Some children with ASD are extremely intelligent but still have motor skill deficits. A study into the IQ of autistic children by Estes et al found that:

      "Improved autism diagnosis and early behavioural interventions have led to more and more children being ranked in the high functioning range, with average to above IQ's." (Science Daily, online)

Another study looked into child genius and autism and concluded:

      "The link between child prodigies and autism is strong in our study. Our findings suggest child prodigies have traits in common with autistic children, but something is preventing them from displaying the deficits we associate with the disorder." (Ruthsatz, Medical News Today, online)

Suggesting that autistic children may be less intelligent in an article intended to help teachers find ways of assisting their pupils with motor skill development may lead to teachers having lower expectations from their autistic pupils and assume they don't understand what is being asked of them. They may consequently set lower goals for their pupils to achieve.

Bonnie Schlachter, founder of the Ballet For All Kids programme says that :

      "As with any student, setting a high bar is the best way to engage them." (Hunt, Autism in the Studio, 2012 online)
     
Many people with ASD also have a diagnosis of Dyspraxia.  The National Autistic Society describes Dyspraxia as :

      "an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted."

The Autism Programme's website states that:

      "Because of their difficulties responding to requests children with autism and dyspraxia are often considered to be either cognitively impaired or wilfully uncooperative. these are both erroneous assumptions. Dyspraxia does not affect intelligence but does create problems with learning."

I believe that it is very important for all teachers to realise that being autistic does not mean that someone is unintelligent.

Todd mentions that people with ASD have difficulty with motor - planning, imitation and postural stability. I found his explanation of motor planning very clear. He says that:

      "People with motor-planning problems often know what they should do with their body but are unable to perform a sequence of movements correctly." (p 33)

He suggests teaching movements in "bite size chunks" and allowing the pupil to do the movements in their own time. He highlights that simple tasks such as throwing a ball actually, when broken down, require significant co-ordination skills and suggests that placing coloured polydots on the floor for a child to step on can assist with which foot to step first prior to throwing the ball. I thought that this was helpful because it is using a visual aid to assist with co-ordination and, as some autistic children have difficulty following verbal instructions, I think this might help.

He also suggests that when teaching dance movements the leg movements should be taught separately before adding in the dance movements. I agree that this is valid, but would also point out that this is often implemented when teaching new dance movements to all people. An inexperienced teacher might possibly find this helpful, but an experienced, qualified dance teacher would already know this and might find this information that he imparts a little condescending.

In his section of the article which deals with imitation he states that:

     "Children learn to perform many motor skills by observing others carrying out an action and then trying it themselves.There is a broad consensus that children with ASDs have deficits in imitating the actions of others." (p 34)

He suggests substantiates this by referring to Dewey's hypothesis which suggests that "impairments in imitation skills reflect a deficit in the neural substrate of self-other mapping" (Dewey et al, 2007; Williams et al, 2004)

This is very valuable information for teachers of dance to know because imitation is central to the way that dance is taught. He suggests that :

      "Individuals with ASDs can imitate better if the act is meaningful, goal orientated, and motivating." (p 35)

He states that:

      "Ensuring that you have a child's attention before demonstrating an action is important." (p 35)

Any teacher knows that this it is paramount to engage their pupil in the task in hand in order for them to execute it successfully so I feel that this remark is unnecessary.

Todd advocates mirroring as a means of compensating for deficits in "self-other mapping and reversal errors". This information may be helpful to some, but again his tips on making sure that the teacher mirrors the direction of the movement that the child needs to go in, when teaching movement, is something that would already be known and implemented by dance teachers.

 Mirroring is also a technique that is used in Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) to help people severely affect by autistic who may also be non-verbal. Lucy McGarry and Frank Russo in their article entitled "Mirroring in Dance/ Movement Therapy: Potential mechanisms behind empathy enhancement" quote Rizzolatti and Craighero (2004) as follows:

       "research on the mirror neurone system (MNS) suggests that the brain areas involved in perception and production of movement overlap, and that these brain areas are also involved in the understanding of movement intention" (2011, p 178) 

I feel that it would have been appropriate for Todd, when advocating the use of mirroring with regard to teaching motor skills, to acknowledge that this is something widely used already both in dance teaching and in DMT.

Todd mentions that children with ASD have problems with their postural control and this, in turn affects, their motor skills. I found the explanation of what postural control is provided by Todd difficult to understand. He cites Molloy et al (2003) as follows:

      "Postural control is a complex process requiring the integration of vestibular, somatosensory (including proprioceptive and cutaneous), and visual input." (p 36)

I needed further clarification of what some of these terms meant as I had not come across them before. I therefore looked for definitions of the words so that I fully understood the above explanation of postural control.

Vestibular - definition from medicine net.com

      "Having to do with the body's system for maintaining equilibrium." 

Somatosensory - definition from Oxford Dictionary

      "Relating to or denoting a sensation (such as pressure, pain, or warmth) which can occur anywhere in the body, in contrast to one localised at a sense organ (such as sight, balance, or taste. also called somaesthectic."

     Cutaneous - definition Oxford Dictionary 

      "Relating to or affecting the skin"

I therefore interpreted the above explanation of postural control as being a difficulty with balance and sensing, feeling and seeing where the body is in space.

Having identified that children with ASD have postural control issues he then says that:

      "Postural adjustments are complicated and require the co-ordination of different types of input and several regions of the brain working in synchrony."

I feel that this is a very valid comment, but then he doesn't suggest any ways that a teacher can help overcome these difficulties with movements that might assist their pupils. He just says that there is a need for them:

      "to be vigilant when rapid postural adjustments are necessary, because the postural control system of individuals with ASD is underdeveloped." (p 36)

Todd concludes that:

      "Understanding the reasons why individuals with ASDs have poor motor skills and addressing them when teaching skills and designing programs will increase the success of students with ASDs. As they acquire proficiency in fundamental motor skills, their motivation to participate in physical activity should increase- people enjoy doing things they feel competent in. Having options of open and closed environments, being goal directed, and taking time to explain the outcome or goal of a task are a few simple adjustments that can help create a positive experience for individuals with ASDs." (p 37)

I feel that Todd makes some very valid comments about motor skill development with regard to ASD, but I wonder who he is aiming this article at. Is it for the experienced teacher of movement or a novice? I question this because I feel that the scientific definitions he cites are at times complex and assume a certain amount of prior knowledge, which would suggest he is aiming it at experienced teachers. On the other hand, the examples he gives to help with the problems are, in my opinion, sometimes over simplistic and condescending to an experienced practitioner. This would therefore suggest that he is aiming the article at those who are just embarking upon a teaching career and who may not be aware of the teaching strategies he advocates.

I also think that he doesn't focus enough on the fact that there are so many different conditions of autism. It is unclear whether he is advocating these methods of teaching motor skills for all children with ASD or aiming it at the mild - mid range of the spectrum. He makes no mention of those with non-verbal ASD so I assume that he is not advocating this approach for those at the severe end of the spectrum.

Reviewing this article has been very helpful for my research into the area of dance teaching and autism because I have found it necessary to seek other definitions of terminology mentioned in relation to motor skills and this has led me to a greater understanding of these terms and of what constitutes motor skills. I wanted to gain more knowledge about motor skill development  and I think that reviewing this article has been successful in enabling me to do this.

The conclusion that Todd reaches that adapting teaching methods to assist with motor skills can enhance the enjoyment of physical activity and create a positive experience for people with ASD also helps support the relevance of my study into the area of dance teaching methods for autism.

Bibliography

DYSPRAXIA FOUNDATION, WHAT IS DYSPRAXIA? THE NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY,http://www.autism.org.uk/About-autism/Related-conditions/Dyspraxia.aspx 
ACCESSED ONLINE JANUARY 2105

ESTES, A (2010) IQ SCORES FAIL TO PREDICT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM, SCIENCE DAILY,http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101117141514.htm, ACCESSED ONLINE MARCH 2015

HOAD, T, F (19960 THE CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-cutaneous.html ACCESSED ONLINE FEBRUARY 2015

HUNT, M E (2012) AUTISM IN THE STUDIO, DANCE TEACHER MAGAZINE, http://www.dance-teacher.com/2012/09/autism-in-the-studio/  ACCESED ONLINE FEBRUARY 21015

KENT, M (2006) OXFORD DICTIONARY OF SPORTS,  SCIENCE AND MEDICINE , OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS , PUBLISHED ONLINE 2007, http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198568506.001.0001/acref-9780198568506 ACCESSED ONLINE APRIL 2015

KONOPKA G (2013) GENERALISED MOTOR DEFICITS ARE COMMON IN ASD, INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY- NEUROBIOLOGY OF AUTISM VOLUME 113, ELSEVIER INC

MCGARRY, L M,  RUSSO F, A MIRRORING IN DANCE /MOVEMENT THERAPY ; POTENTIAL MECHANISMS BEHIND EMPATHY , THE ARTS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197455611000426 ACCESSED ONLINE APRIL 2015

MEDICINENET.INC (2013)  DEFINITION OF VESTIBULAR http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6130 ACCESSED ONLINE APRIL 2015

NORDKVIST, C (2008) WHAT IS AUTISM? WHAT CAUSES AUTISM?, MEDICAL NEWS TODAY  (UPDATED 2013) http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/ ACCESSED ONLINE FEBRUARY 2015

RUTHSATZ , J (2012)  CHILD GENIUS AND AUTISM CONNECTED, MEDICAL NEWS TODAY, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/252637.php   ACCESSED ONLINE APRIL 2015


TODD, T (2013) TEACHING MOTOR SKILLS TO INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS,JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION , RECREATION AND DANCE http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1080/07303084.2012.10598827 ACCESSED VIA SUMMON MARCH 2015

 

Dancing to a Different Rhythm - Initial thoughts on Reviewing Literature

                                             Image from Pinterest

      “Most people see autism as a disease to be cured.My attitude is, ‘Let’s work with who you are at this moment and not try to fix it.’ In short, for now, just let the children dance." 

The above quote is by Andrew Palermo taken from the article "Autism Moves - Teaching children the language of dance" by Kathryn Bold (2013). Palermo is a professor of drama and a director and choreographer of musical theatre in California. He gives movement workshops for children on the autistic spectrum.

I found his view very interesting because, so far, the literature I have read in my enquiry area of 'dance and autism' has all centred around the negative aspects of autism and the desire to try to find ways to 'cure' it. I write the word 'cure' in speech marks because, as yet, there is no known cure for autism.

Palermo's view that we should accept these children on their own terms and not try to find ways to change them made me reflect upon the fact that society has a tendency to want everything to conform to the preconceived notion of what is considered to be 'normal'. But what is 'normal'? Douglas Turkington et al in the book entitled, " Back to Life, Back to Normality, Cognitive Therapy, Recovery and Psychosis" states:

      "Deciding what is normal is entwined with the beliefs and customs of the culture in which you exist."  (Turkington, 2009, p.24)

One person's perception of normality can therefore differ from another's perception of it. Palermo's view seems to support the idea that autism isn't an abnormality, rather that it is a difference and should not necessarily always be seen in a bad light. I agree with the notion that no-one should be looked upon as being 'abnormal'- we are all different and should be accepted as we are. That is why I like to think of the concept of everyone dancing to their own unique rhythm.

Turkington's view of normality is in tune with what I had read in Reader 5 about Plato's theory of comparative ethics, that being that people's perception of what is socially acceptable varies according to the context of time and place within which it occurs.

I thought about the mother of a pupil I had taught who was on the autistic spectrum. This mother had not told me about her daughter's autism initially as she had not wanted me to view her daughter any differently from the rest of the pupils in the class. Her daughter was only mildly affected by autism so it was not immediately evident that she was on the autistic spectrum and I merely thought that she was very shy and timid by nature. This mother clearly wanted her child to be perceived as being 'normal'. She feared that, if people at the dance school knew her daughter had ASD they might think of her as being abnormal. She was desperate that she should not be ostracised or bullied by her peers.

I am appalled at the thought of someone who has ASD being bullied just because they are different from what we generally accept is 'normal'. The Interactive Autism Network survey into bullying found that 63% of children affected by ASD were bullied.

The link to the survey is below:

http://iancommunity.org/cs/ian_research_reports/ian_research_report_bullying

I realised that I needed to know a great deal more about autism and the experiences of people who were living with it on a daily basis in order to better inform my enquiry into 'dance and autism'. I decided to get an overview of how people's understanding of autism had changed since the term was first coined by Eugene Bleuler in 1908. 

The early accepted notion of autism was the view put forward by American child psychologists Leo Kanner and Bruno Bettelheim in the 1940's that it was caused through poor parenting or was triggered by a bad experience. It seems inconceivable to me that people believed that a child's upbringing might cause autism, but there hadn't been much scientific research into the area, so it was probably due to a lack of knowledge about the subject that this view was taken.

In the 1990's and early 2000's there were many who thought that vaccinations may be to blame for autism in some children but there has been no scientific proof that this is the case. Despite this, some parents still are convinced that vaccinations caused their child to become autistic.

We now know that autism is a neurological disorder but there is still no known single cause, though it is believed that genetic components may play some part. There is speculation that environmental issues, air pollution, certain prescription drugs taken during pregnancy and older parents conceiving children may  also cause autism. Autism is now seen as a spectrum disorder (ASD). There are five Autism Spectrum Disorders, or Pervasive Development Disorders:

• PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Delay- Not Otherwise Specified)
• Austism (sometimes referred to as Classic Autism, Early Infantile Autism, Childhood Autism, or Autistic Disorder
• Asperger Syndrome
• Rett Syndrome
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

There is still a great deal that is not known about ASD. There are many different approaches aimed at helping the development of children on the autistic spectrum. 

The above information was accessed from the sites below:

http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/what-is-autism

http://www.news-medical.net/health/Autism-History.aspx

The following link is to a website that lists and evaluates many therapies and treatments for people with ASD. 

http://www.researchautism.net/autism-interventions/our-evaluations-interventions


 Dance has been shown to have very positive affects for people with ASD but neither Dance Movement Therapy nor Autism Movement Therapy are mentioned on the above website, despite the fact that both are being used to help people with ASD develop their communication, co-ordination and social interaction skills. I believe that this is possibly due to the fact that it is difficult to measure the benefits of these therapies because the research is qualitative rather than quantitative.

As a result of my initial reading I have decided to review the following:

• "Teaching Motor Skills to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders" by Teri Todd

• "Dance for Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum" by Lydia Hance

• "The Dancing Dialogue" by Dr Suzi Tortora

Adesola's Skype session on 'Ethics'

Image source:http://www.ualr.edu/vspillai/images/Ethics-cloud.png

I found this Skype session very valuable. Adesola gave a very clear view of what Ethics are actually all about saying that they are about how what you do and the way in which you do it affects everyone around you. It is about questioning the impact of what you are doing on other people.

She emphasised the fact that the research for our inquiry is about helping ourselves become better informed in our own professional sphere. It is a voyage of self discovery and we are not trying to change the world.

This point hit home with me because, after reading Anna Kennedy's book "Not Stupid" and seeing how she had managed to make a considerable difference to the lives of so many autistic people, I had been inspired with the desire to try to do something with my enquiry that I could follow up later that might also help autistic people. Adesola's comments brought me down to earth! She said we should ask ourselves the question "who am I to think that I can come up with the answer for someone else?"

I had been feeling that I should try to discover some answers in my enquiry, so it was very reassuring to discover that this was not the aim of the inquiry and that we were just trying to gather information and see what other experts in the field had written about it, collect the views of others and then analyse them and decide which, if any viewpoint we agreed with.

She told us to remember that questions and answers aren't inherently linked and that it is ok to answer a question with another question.

She also told us to consider the power of the researcher saying that as soon as you walk into a space and announce you are doing research it affects the way people will respond to you. She also said to be aware of what people will expect you to do with the information about them that you have gathered and that they will need closure so its important that they know when the research is over.

Adesola asked each of us to consider a different way of phrasing our inquiry question so that it might be viewed in a more ethical way. This really made me think about how others might perceive my question in a way I hadn't previously considered. I was initially thinking of a question along the lines of : 

      "Do dance teachers think they should be better informed about autism and that this should be addressed in the training of dance teachers?"

I realised that this was not an appropriate question to ask because it was implying that dance teachers had little or no knowledge of autism and could be viewed as being derogatory. It could also be seen to be casting aspersions on the way that dance teachers are trained and suggesting that the training is inadequate.

I am now looking into other questions that look at the different dance teaching approaches to autism. As a result I am looking at a wide range of literature to give me ideas on how I might frame my inquiry question.

5c- Professional Ethics

                     Image source from:http://www.bulldogpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ethics3.jpg


Looking at the history of ethics in Reader 5 and examining it within the context of my own professional sphere has made me consider far more the implications of following a code of conduct and the reasons behind establishing and maintaining the ethos of your workplace.

When I looked at the 'approaches to lying' Table 1 in reader 5 which illustrates the three different ethical approaches below I tried to think which of them I adopted in my work: 
  

• Consequentialist:

could be acceptable for a greater good

• Deontologist: 

always wrong 

• Virtue Ethicist:

moral behaviour & character as important as action 

I like to think that I am a moral person and always do what I believe to be right. I will follow rules, but, at the same time, I will question those rules if I think that another path might be better. I believe therefore that I am more in line with the consequentialist approach to ethics.

I also acknowledge however that a consequentialist approach could be considered dangerous in certain contexts- extremist religious views come to mind. A terrorist suicide bomber, for example, might believe that he is sacrificing his life, and that of others, for the greater good of his religious cause. 

What is seen to be right by some will always be seen in a different light be others because we are all individual and are influenced by so many different factors such as our upbringing, our religious beliefs and the culture and society around us.The example in Reader 5 of the photographer not intervening to save the dying child illustrates this point. Some will believe that the photographer should definitely have tried to help the child get to the feeding centre, but others might argue that he was merely doing his job and obeying the rules, as he had been instructed not to touch the girl for fear of transmitting disease.

 I personally think his response was inhumane and that he should have attempted to help her and at least provide her with some water whilst seeking someone else to help, if he himself wasn't permitted to touch her. The fact that the photographer later committed suicide as a consequence of the guilt he felt is testament to the fact that he too felt that he should have helped the child.

I think this example, highlights that ethics will always be open to debate. 

Plato's theory of comparative ethics suggests that there is a transience to people's moral perspective which fluctuates according to the influences around them at the time. I can directly relate this to changes I have seen during my dance teaching experience.

 I have mentioned, in a previous blog, about the debate over whether it is right to use touch to correct a pupil. When I first started teaching it was the accepted norm that physical correction was integral to dance teaching but now this practice has been brought into question. These changes in thinking have been influenced by changes in the child protection policy and increased knowledge of health, safety and psychology, so this has become an ethical matter open to discussion.

I found this very interesting article on Ethical Issues in the Training and Development of dance teachers in the Private Sector by Sho Bothom in which she talks about the issue of touch, amongst other ethical concerns, in the training of dancers.

http://www.ethicsdance.co.uk


MacIntyre's argument of moral relativism that holds that there is no ethical norm because what is believed by one society could be entirely different from the belief of another is interesting because it makes you step back and consider the wider political, religious and cultural arena. 

If you apply moral relativism to the scenario of the photographer and the dying child then it could be argued that the photographer was acting ethically because he was acting in accordance with his employer's instructions and his brief was not to touch the child in order to try to prevent the spread of disease.

 In dance training I can apply moral relativism to the different methods of teaching adopted by different countries which we might consider unethical because they differ from those we use in this country. The rigorous training of dancers, for example, implemented in the past in China, and mentioned in the book "Mao's Last Dancer" by Li Cunxin, makes comparisons between his training and that received at the time in the western world. The strict regime of his training pushed his young body to its limits. It was accepted in China that this was necessary to achieve the best results but this same harsh regime was not implemented in the UK. 

What is morally and ethically acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another.Today we would consider the teaching practice Cunxin endured unethical on health and safety grounds.

In my attempt to further enhance my understanding of ethics I looked at articles connected with dance which I felt could produce an ethical argument.I found an interesting article that brings into debate the training and ethos of the Royal Ballet school and the current practice of the Royal Ballet Company to engage dancers from abroad in preference to graduates of its own school. I decided to look at it in the context of the table above to apply the different ethical approaches to it.

The article suggests that the Royal Ballet Company is unethical in it's selection process and questions the reasons why the dancers it has trained are not considered good enough to be employed by them. If you apply a deontologist approach to the debate then you could say they are behaving unethically because they should have a duty to give jobs to the dancers they have trained. This would be substantiated by taking their own aims and ethos policy into consideration in which they state they aim :

      "To maintain a high employment rate of graduating dancers, with many being recruited to the Royal Ballet or Birmingham Royal Ballet." 

If you put a consequential ethicist take on it then you could argue that they have a duty to their investors and to their audience to produce the highest standard of dancers that can be found for the company and that means opening up the selection process internationally and judging each dancer impartially on it's own merit.Therefore they could be seen to be behaving ethically.

The virtue ethicist approach would imply that they are behaving ethically because they are providing excellent training for the pupils in a caring environment. The article states:

      "No one at the Royal Ballet School is unconcerned with the pupils' wellbeing and, in many cases, the affection of the staff and teachers for those in their care is palpable and touching."



The article also suggests, however, that the dancers are put under a lot of emotional strain and pressure which has deep psychological implications for the dancers it is training. You could, therefore, argue that the staff must be aware of these psychological effects upon there pupils and so question whether it is morally and ethically correct to continue to put their pupils under these pressures.

The article is interesting because it opens up ethical areas of discussions and highlights that there is no right or wrong approach to ethics but just individual standpoints and opinions.

The link to the article is below:

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/mar/25/will-they-make-royal-ballet

This article made me take a look at what had been written about ethics in the dance world. I found the following article very useful:

http://www.dancearchives.net/2012/08/13/anna-malitowska-dancers-professional-ethics/

Because of the fact that we are all individual and face our own moral dilemmas I think it is important for the workplace that rules are established and that everyone is aware of the work ethos and strives to maintain that. I believe that opinions should be able to be expressed, discussed and valued, but, if an individual is continually voicing arguments that move away from the basic principles and beliefs of the organisation, then it is untenable to remain within it. 

This Reader has given me a much deeper understanding of what ethics is. Applying the different ethical viewpoints to situations such as the example of the photographer and the dying child and the Royal Ballet article has made me consider wider implications and opinions and recognise that there are many grey areas in ethics.I also found the following site very helpful in defining the different types of ethical viewpoints:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml

Looking at the article about the Royal Ballet, which mentions the vulnerability of the young dancers, has made me consider the vulnerability of autistic children and how it is crucial that I give a great deal of thought to the ethical way in which I approach my inquiry into dance and autism. I have to make sure that I approach it in a sensitive, but also objective way and take every care to safeguard any individuals involved in the enquiry.

I consulted the following government policies and then thought about how they related to my area of inquiry:

• Safeguarding Children and Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy - 
• Data Protection
• Copyright Protection
• Health and Safety

I have listed some key ethical points to consider in relation to my enquiry:
                         

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR MY INQUIRY

• I will ensure that the identity of the people I study and mention is protected and I will do this by using pseudonyms.
• I will seek permission from parents if anyone under the age of 18 years is included in my research.
• I will make sure that all those involved know what the research is about.
• I will make sure that all those involved know what the research is being used for and know when it has finished.
• I will keep all those informed of any future developments that might arise as a result of my work.
• I will comply with the data protection act and ensure that any details of those taking part in the research are kept safely and securely and that no details are passed on to a third party.
• I will comply with health and safety regulations in my research.
• I will comply with the child protection act and make sure that, to the best of knowledge, no-one is put at any risk.
• I will make sure that all participants in the research know that they are free to end their involvement at any time should they wish to do so.
• If photographs are taken I will seek the written consent of those concerned or their legal guardians if under the age of 18 years to use the photographs.
• If video is taken I will seek the prior permission of all concerned to film for my research.
• I will show any finished videos to all those involved in the research should I be requested to do so and agree to edit out any part that they are not happy with, if practical to do so.
• I will seek out literature that assists my research and ensure that it is properly cited and at no time attempt to plagiarise the work of anyone else.
• If music is used as part of any video for the purpose of my enquiry then I will make sure that I have sought and obtained all the relevant licences and permissions to use it.

Looking at the different ethical approaches in Reader 5 has made me consider things from different perspectives. It will be important in my inquiry to consider what others may be thinking about my research and to bear in mind that my view of what is ethical might differ from someone else's.

 I think that it is important to present my ethical guidelines for my inquiry to the director of the organisation assisting with my research so that my approach is transparent and it can be seen that I am making every endeavour to safeguard the well being of the participants of my inquiry. I will also permit them to add any extra considerations that are in line with the policies of their organisation.