Hello everyone, my name is Hilary Baird. I am an adult on The Autism Spectrum. I have almost 4 years of experience teaching private piano lessons. I am currently on track to graduate with a 2 year degree in Music, this fall I will be attending a Bachelor’s Degree in Composition. During the summer I work extra jobs to save money for school etc. As a Content Writer for The Musical Autist I will be talking about how to help more people on The Spectrum to get access to the arts. I will also discuss in detail more about my Teaching Practice and the methods that I have developed to help person’s with different Cognitive Conditions including Non Verbal Conditions, ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia and Traumatic Brain Injury/PTSD. I also do Motivational Speaking online. I am the Artistic Director of The Piano Competition for Person’s with Disabilities which will be held online due to Covid-19. This competition is for a person with any legal form of a Physical or Cognitive Condition. It will include Advanced, Intermediate and Beginner Category so everyone gets a platform.
In my younger years in school I struggled academically, mainly with Math and English. I had a difficult time processing the information and understanding it. Often times the media portrays an Autistic person as being an academic genius, especially in Science in Math. While we should continue to praise these individuals and their success, we should also talk about person’s on The Spectrum who may also have a Learning Disability such as Dyslexia, making school extra difficult.
At 10 years old I began to teach myself to compose music on the piano. I had lessons for about a year during that time as well. At 6 years old I had decided I wanted to be a music teacher. Often times for individuals with a Learning Disability, access to the arts is limited due to the student having poor grades and needing to have remedial help at school as well. As I got older and began to have more academic struggles, I eventually failed too many classes in High School and graduated with a GPA too low to get into any University.
At 24 I was finally diagnosed as being on The Autism Spectrum. After 5 attempts at Community College, and also getting help from Disabilities Support Services I began to excel at school and was accepted into a University. In 2017 I gave a solo performance at Carnegie Hall of my own work and received a standing ovation. I am currently writing a book about it.
Feel free to follow my pages on Facebook
Hilary Baird Piano Lessons
Piano Competition for Person’s With Disabilities
YouTube Pianocanbefun!
Adversity is a Season in which Winners are created
Very excited to see and learn more!