The Autistic Singing Teacher Project Begins

When I gave birth to my second daughter, M, I attended a very special baby class. It was so much fun for M and for me, so I decided to leave my office job and bought a franchise. I spent 4 years building my business, but a back injury forced me to sell it just before lockdown. I had decided to focus on my true passion: teaching singing. 

Lockdown Learning 

I struggled at school, but struggled even more at university. I tried two courses at two seperate unis, I did not complete either. I was very unwell with depression at that time; little did I know it was because I was autistic. So here I was in Lockdown in 2020, having sold my business. I had a chance to learn for myself and gain some qualifications. In the next 18 months, I completed my ALCM and LLCM in Musical Theatre Teaching with the London College of Music, completed two courses with the British Kodaly Academy and attended Level One Estill Training. I discovered I love the learning. The short courses suited me well; I did not get bored or too overwhelmed. I had finished courses for the first time in my life, and I was enjoying it. 

Becoming a Graduate

At 42, I applied to the Performance Preparation Academy to top up my Level 6 LLCM to a full BA (Hons) in Performance. It was a remote course which took one year to complete. It fitted nicely around my growing work as a singing teacher. I wrote my dissertation on the character of Angelica Schuyler, asking whether Miranda’s portrayal of female characters was as groundbreaking as his portrayal of male characters. I achieved a first-class degree. 

Discovering My Child is Different

Whilst I was undertaking my degree, my youngest daughter, M, was struggling with school. She was refusing to go in some mornings, having meltdowns which included self-harming and her sleep, which was never great, was erratic. My sister-in-law once asked if she was autistic. I immediately dismissed this idea, but my friends who had autistic children gently prompted me to consider whether she was autistic. So my research began, what I was reading was my daughter, not only that, it was me. However, I did not meet the NHS diagnostic criteria when I completed my AQ-10. If you don’t know what that is, it is a tick box to discover if you have autistic traits. It is very heavily weighted to how autism presents in men and boys and has received much criticism for this…. more on all of this in future blogs. We were blessed that my parents paid for a private diagnosis for M so we could get her diagnosed before secondary school. She also now has an EHCP in place…. again, that’s another blog. 

Right to Choose

After more research, I decided to pursue Right to Choose under the NHS, under the advice of another friend. I basically did all the work myself, completed the letter, sent it to the GP and told them what to do. I was referred under the NHS for an autism diagnosis. Of course, the waiting list was long, and it took over a year from referral to diagnosis. However, by the time the diagnosis arrived, I knew what it would say: I was autistic. 

Onto a Masters

In the meantime, having loved my degree so much, I applied a year after graduating to pursue a masters in Creative Arts Education at Italia Conti. This took 15 months and challenged everything I knew about myself and my practice, in a very positive way. Not only did it aid in a deeper understanding of my students’ needs, but it also helped me understand my autism and how it affects me. My final research project, I decided, was to focus on autistic music teachers, particularly women, and identify what support they needed in the workplace. This prompted me to create the toolkit for music services, which will be published soon. 

In this blog, I will share my journey, my experiences, and my autistic self with you, and hopefully inspire your own.