5-year old obsessed with music

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Is this possible? All DS wants to do is listen to music and stim. He likes to pick up the bottom of his shirt and wave it around and visually stim. Or kind of whip around the room. Is he actually listening to the music or is he just stimming?

I know that he loves music, this was always apparent since he was an infant. In fact, I remember him in-utero kicking around when I was driving and listening to the radio. He liked the Rolling Stones and Led Zep. I know my daughter did not really respond to music in-utero.

He'll listen to anything and we pretty much exhausted the kiddy music. He loves Steve Miller Band, Grateful Dead, U2, Tribe Called Quest. He'll listen to jazz or piano music. He also loves Animusic videos.

But music is all he wants to do. With the stimming. The stimming is non-stop. Is it influenced by the music?

Since he likes music so much, we started music therapy with him. He loves it and we are trying to get him to play a little keyboard. I think because of fine-motor skill problems, it may take some time to master individually hitting each key with each finger.

Other members of my family are very musically inclined. His Dad and my brothers play the guitar. My Dad played piano and always loved his record collection. I like music but not all the time. I don't remember being so interested at age 5. More as a young teenager.

He could be a prodigy in a couple years for all you know. You should definately get him into music. I'm guitar obsessed myself, though no virtuoso

Continue to encourage his interest in all kinds of music...you could have another prodigy as Mozart was.

You may want to begin music lessons soon. Mozart began playing the piano at age four.

Kids who are good at music are good at math.

Introduce him to as many types of music as you can. Rock, jazz, metal, classical, indie rock, folk, country, post-rock, psychedelic, noise-rock, experimental, pop, foreign musicians, etc...

She makes a good point. My guitar teacher does that for me. Don't forget videogame theme songs. Check out my video.Super Mario Bros.

I don't know any other child like him but, then again, each of our kids are their own unique gift. I say run with it, see where it can take him. Music is a wonderful thing to be obsessed with.

You know, I think Stevie Wonder stims when he makes his music...


And Glen Gould wordlessly sang along when he played... you can just barely hear him on some of his recordings.

I would not take the stimming as a bad thing. When I listen to music i will often stim with my fingers, I am figuring out what I am hearing.

I would recommend buying a piano or other instrument. I was a young music lover too...I play several instruments. From what I have noticed is music tends to break down a few of the social barriers those of on the spectrum have. Its not a bad obsession he can have.

(I didn't go into music...except for a stint as a sound engineer. But I will have to say, its an awesome outlet and it helped me become more social and make friends.)

My 4yo is pretty obsessed with music too. He doesn't usually like typical kids' music though. He prefers what we listen to and his all-time favorites are Beck and The White Stripes. Often when I put on kiddie tunes for him he whines and says it's lame. I guess I can't complain ! The part that seems unusual is that he always wants us to crank it up as loud as we can. He says he wants everyone outside to hear his music. We sometimes humor him, but only to respectable and safe levels, of course.

When your kids start telling you to turn it up and no one tells you to turn it down anymore, you have officially become old!

Starygrrl, when did you start playing instruments? Because I notice that DS has trouble with coordinating his fingers and playing along to the music (using simple instruments like bells or maracas or drum sticks). Also, I'll put an instrument in his hand to play along but he'll quickly go back to the shakey shirt stimming.

I think starrygirl gave great advice. Piano is the easiest instrument to learn IMHO (not including drums, rhythm instruments, and vocals) because you just simply push the key and make a sound. This will be good for improving finger dexterity, and provides a great foundation for learning other instruments in the future. All other band instruments such as strings and horns require finger dexterity, finger strength, and finger coordination, and wind instruments also require combining dexterity with breathing techniques...these instruments require years just to make the right sound. With piano, push the key and voila...you made the right sound.

Learning music is good for self-esteem, it relieves stress and anxiety, it is another way for one to express oneself, and it teaches cooperation, punctuality, and self-discipline. Plus, in schools, it provides a safe place for kids to hang out and be part of a community.

Learning to play an instrument doesn't have to involve learning to read music immediately. There's the Suzuki style, but the wikipedia article is not like I remember it as a child. I enjoyed Suzuki, but my teacher didn't push for hours & hours of practice & she made it fun. Most of my lessons were my hands either on the backs of hers or her hands over mine pushing the keys so I could get the feel of it before going home to practice. My mom or dad would reinforce that "riding" at home at the beginning of my daily practice. He might enjoy being able to play some of the simple songs he knows & he can always switch to traditional instruction later (such as a couple years later).

Last edited by Blue_Star on 10 Oct 2009, 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

He's doing both... he sounds exactly like my own son at that age.

Again, my own son danced in utero. It's hard to describe to someone who didn't actually experience it, but yes... my lad bounced around in response to all sorts of music, including the Rolling Stones. In fact, I even wrote a poem about it. Amazing, you make me feel so not alone in the world!

He'll listen to anything and we pretty much exhausted the kiddy music. He loves Steve Miller Band, Grateful Dead, U2, Tribe Called Quest. He'll listen to jazz or piano music. He also loves Animusic videos.Branch out a bit... after my son got through "my" tastes, including U2, Bob Dylan, Bread, etc, he started listening to Bob Marley, Reggae in general, the Roquettes, Jackson 5... as well as Mozart, Chopin, Scott Joplin, Gershwin, Jazz Funk, Northern Soul... etc.
Almost certainly... and that's actually a good thing. When he's stimming to music, how is that different from dancing? Dancing is just stimming. In fact, music is just stimming. I was listening to a member of this forum today singing, and realised what a release and joy her music is to her, and what a wonderful form of expression it is. Don't worry about the stimming. It's helping him lay down patterns and neural connections that will last him a life time.

Same thing with my son... his formal diagnoses of dyspraxia just came through. But playing on the keyboard can really help with that.

[b]Other members of my family are very musically inclined. His Dad and my brothers play the guitar. My Dad played piano and always loved his record collection. I like music but not all the time. I don't remember being so interested at age 5. More as a young teenager.[/quote]
Your son sounds like a clone of mine at the same age. Just so you know... he's now having formal music lessons, is composing in his head and writing it down on paper without having to play it first, can play a piece from sight fluently and with expression, and his piano teacher is delighted with him, saying that he's got perfect pitch.

When he was five he'd try to play a tune, his fingers would be all over the place and he'd be frustrated. But even though he's dyspraxic, and has dysgraphia, he can play beautifully, accurately and with expression. Let your kid learn however he enjoys, no matter his stim.

By the way... at this early stage, try him with percussion and dance... and enjoy every single minute of it. I wish I'd realised just how gifted my son was when he started evincing the characteristics your lad is demonstrating. You're lucky... enjoy it!

From one Mum whos preborn boogied to the music of the Rolling Stones to another. High Five!

Say hiya to your little prodigy from me. He makes me think of old times fondly.

Hello Murrie,

What you call "stim" can also be dancing.
Your DS can be in dancing even more than in music :)

I've known a guy, an adult, non autistic at all, who did it as well but with the corner of his jacket.
He was from North Africa and I know that the way he was dancing was directly inspired by traditional dances of his country.

My son has severe hypoextension issues and can't do the fingers. But he still has had some interest in music. I think the thing to do there is keep your son out of a group or competitive environment and allow him to learn at his own pace. There are many ways to use music beyond playing instruments. Right now you're still helping him find his road, not actually sending him down it.