Event overview
Professor Pam Heaton, Emerita Professor of Psychology, Goldsmiths, will present her research on A re-evaluation of approaches to understanding musicality in autism
Abstract: Empirical approaches to understanding musical strengths in autism have been motivated by domain-general cognitive models. This approach fails to acknowledge the uniquely complex nature of musical traits and reflects a pathologizing conceptualisation of autistic strengths and talents.
The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of studies documenting the way autistic people experience and utilise music in their everyday lives, and this work provides an important new starting point for understanding musical talents in autism. In my talk I will focus on recent work exploring the development of musical skills in autistic performers and composers with the aim of stimulating debate around new approaches to understanding the emergence of these skills in neurodiverse and neurotypical populations.
Pamela Heaton is Emerita Professor of Psychology, at Goldsmiths University of London and Honorary Research Fellow (Professor) at the Royal Northern College of Music. As a mature student, Pamela drew on her early training in classical music in her PhD thesis, which explored music perception in autistic children.
This work was awarded the British Psychological Society prize for outstanding doctoral research contributions in 2002. Her subsequent research into perceptual and cognitive strengths in autism and experience of developing and delivering the cross-departmental Psychology of Music module, at Goldsmiths fuelled her interest in developing a cross-disciplinary approach to studying musicality in autism. In her talk she will discuss the approach she has taken in her new book on autism and music.
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Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Mar 2025 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
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