Beyond the Wall by Stephen Shore

In my opinion Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome (2003) by Dr. Stephen Shore is an incredibly informative read for professionals, parents, persons with autism, and the general community alike.  Shore is a professor of special education at Adelphi University and is an expert on the field of autism and music. 

In this autobiographical book, Shore shared his personal experiences as a person with autism spectrum disorder navigating through school, career, relationships, and the many adventures that life has to offer.  In particular interest to this blog, Shore discussed how music and imitation shaped much of his development and interests.  Shore commented that when he was a child his parents engaged him in "music, movement, imitation..." and this helped in his development of communication and socialization.

Shore has a bachelors and masters degree in music and a PhD in special education.  Shore originally had attempted to fulfill a PhD in music, yet ran into some complication in his understanding of some aspects in music therapy.   Music has always been important to Shore - in particular he discussed how music listening was able to "unlock" emotions.  When it comes to individuals with autism, music can be key to unlocking such emotions - at this juncture I recommend reading Allen, Hill, and Heaton's (2009) paper where the authors interviewed 12 high functioning adults and their subjective experiences when listening to music (see reference below).  Allen also has much emerging research on Alexythymia - which I will disseminate in future blogs.

In addition to Shore's personal experience with music, he is a skilled music teacher for children with ASD who are both verbal and non-verbal.  He described a teaching session, "parts of the session were spent in imitative drumming...I made certain that we took turns leading the imitation...this was a good activity to do when he [the child] seemed to be fading away and losing focus" (p. 69).  While Shore's goals in his music lessons were educationally based - his training and personal experience naturally inclines him to meet the child in the music - much like what occurs in music therapy.  In the following pages - Shore writes about the importance of narrating the child's word as they engaged in particular actions - and to speak in a musical tone.  For more information on intoned singing and autism, please read From music Making to Speaking, written by me and my colleagues (2010).

Shore speaks to the importance of imitation in understanding his world.  As an adult he explained how he learned social skills - such as smiling in response through imitation, and that one of his co-workers a previous employer used to engage in imitation with him - which was both fun and educational.  Shore noted that while not all persons with autism speak - and are considered non-verbal, music may provide a different outlet for communication.  In an interview with Dr. Rossen, at the end of his book Shore wrote, "music works better than words in communication for people on the autism spectrum because music lights up or accesses a different part of the brain than does oral communication"  As far as communication is concerned, I feel that for some people at the more severe end of the spectrum, music can be a way to communicate" (p. 188). 

When speaking of the term non-verbal (individuals who are non-verbal and have challenging behaviors are often considered more severe), Shore wrote that generally speaking "non-verbal communication includes tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language...however, the non-verbal component can be so difficult to decode that it interferes with getting the meaning from the verbal channel" (p. 143).  This thought if very interesting - and also an important topic to researchers - that is, how much language is understood, or do individuals with autism care for language --- at this point I recommend reading the work of French researcher Nadel.  I will write more about her later.  Infact, I will have to broach this entire topic more deeply in a later blog.  It is as vast and important topic!

At the end of the book, Shore expressed his political involvement in spreading the autism word -- educating others, and creating opportunities for individuals with ASD to receive appropriate education and services.  Shore who knows ASD first hand, and his autobiography will serve as an important handbook for parents, teachers, persons with autism and the general community to gain a better understanding of ASD.

In closing, I hope, just as Shore does, that people do find and read this book!  It is insightful, thought provoking, and educational.  Enjoy!

References

Allen, R. Hill, E. Heaton, P. (2009).  The subjective experience of music and autism spectrum disorder.  The neurosciences and music III: Disorders and plasticity.  Annals of the NY Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1169, 326-331.

Shore, S. (2003).  Beyond the wall: Personal experiences with autism and Asperger syndrome, 2nd Edition.  Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism and Asperger Publishing Company.

Wan, C., Demaine, K., Zipse, L., Norton, A., & Schlaug,G. (2010). From music making to speaking: Engaging the mirror neuron system in autism.  Brain Research Bulletin, 82, 161-168.