Social Songs and visual support books by Ruth Alice Jurey, M.S. C.C.C.
Ruth is a practicing speech and language pathologist with over 40 years of clinical experience, who has always used music in therapy. For the past several years she has served elementary students with severe autism in public school. Ruth is also the author of The Reading Treehouse, and of Playful Sounds: The Sound Foundation for Speech and Reading.
Lead vocals by Carina Morales.
A seasoned musical theatre performer, Carina's past experience includes New York City stage, national tours, and international work as a principal vocalist for The Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios. She loves kids, and is proud to sing along with them!
Music arranged and produced by Adam L. Morales. Adam is a composer, arranger and producer.
His realizations of these simple songs are fun, captivating, and respectful of a child’s right to quality music.
Artist DJ Svoboda created our Imagifriend, Brandon the Galapski.
DJ created The Imagifriends based on difficult experiences he has faced growing up and living with Autism. The Imagifriends live in Imagiville, where everyone is accepted just the way they are.
Autism Sing-Along! was created by a speech & language pathologist. The music and books have been thoroughly tested and enjoyed by kids with autism in special day classes, from preschool through elementary age.
The lyrics are concrete, accessible, and visually supported with icons and engaging photos. The musical settings are designed to sweeten the story of events like bathroom time, transitions, surprises, and sharing. The songs are also specially pitched for young voices, should they wish to sing along.
Any way you like!
Basic: Play the album. Sing along if you like. Enjoy!
Through the day: You might use phrases from the songs as narration or reminders.
Multimedia: Enrich the experience with a Lyrics & Stuff visual support book for enhanced opportunities in joint attention, meaning, responding, and literacy skills. See it in action
Customized: Make up your own lyrics! There is an instrumental version of every song, included on the CD or available for download.
For kids with autism, the list of things-to-learn is long, and it can get tiresome. But we have yet to meet the child with autism who does not love music. And the benefits of these musical social stories go beyond their topics.
These short, easily-repeated musical lessons help the child to feel intrinsically motivated to engage. Following along with the photos and icons that match what they hear, knowing what is coming next, and the brief Q & A at the end all are activities that promote joint attention, comprehension, and participation. Autism Sing-Along! packs a lot of learning into one interesting package of pleasant work.
While these songs and books are specially attuned to the discerning needs of the child with autism, you don’t need to have autism to love them! Younger and older children may also enjoy and benefit, depending upon needs.