Luke’s story

Through music, Luke can experience structure and flow

Luke is a lively and joyful young person, and he’s also autistic. He sometimes finds it hard to maintain focus and to remember things. This can make it difficult for him to engage with activities for a long time and can cause him to lose track of conversations. Since Luke had shown interest in music at home, his teacher suggested he try music therapy, hoping that this would help him build his confidence and express himself.

In his music therapy sessions, Luke enjoys exploring musical instruments, often playing freely on the keyboard and drum kit. Sometimes, he wants to sing while playing or create an improvised song with his music therapist Hannah. He enjoys taking turns on the keyboard and drum kit with Hannah, making music that becomes more expressive and elaborate as they alternate.

During one session, Luke remembered a fun ukulele song from the Muppets that he’d heard on YouTube. So together, he and Hannah played the song, adding piano and lyrics to make it their own version. Luke played the ukulele and piano, while Hannah played guitar, and they took turns singing and playing their instruments.

Playing this song with Hannah allowed Luke to experience a sense flow and structure – something he might struggle to experience in other interactions due to his memory difficulties. As they play together, Hannah’s steady and continuous playing style allows Luke to be creative and improvise with the instruments. Hannah encourages and celebrates these moments, which helps to build Luke’s confidence.

Luke even asked to show a video of him and Hannah performing the ukulele song to his teachers and classmates. This opportunity to share his performance gave others the chance to enjoy and encourage Luke’s music-making, which helped to further boost his confidence and self-image. It also allowed his teachers to see Luke remember parts of a song and engage with structure and flow, something they don’t often get to see in class.

Music therapy has provided Luke with a way to be creative and express himself. It’s a place where he can experience a feeling of flow and a feeling of familiarity, and where his music-making is always affirmed and celebrated.