Drumming helps pupils with autism overcome fear of failure - study

A study assessing the emotional benefits of drumming for teenagers with autism is being rolled out to schools.

Research led by the University of Essex suggested adolescents who improved their drumming showed fewer signs of hyperactivity and inattention.

The project is being showcased at an exhibition and the study will be broadened out with analysis in schools.

Blondie drummer Clem Burke said: "The research involves the mental awareness of drumming."

There are more than 1.5 million school children with special educational needs in England.

"We see a whole range of behavioural and emotional benefits to drumming," said Dr Ruth Lowry, the study's co-author.

"What we see is children who learn how to play the drums aren't afraid of making mistakes.

"When they stop and make a mistake in their drumming they simply pause, reset, and off they go, and it's no big deal, and we see that transferring into their school situation where they are happy to give things a go rather than have a fear of failure."

It involved experts from the campus in Colchester, the University of Chichester, King's College London and Hartpury in Gloucestershire.

A group of 36 teenagers were monitored which included some who received two individual drumming lessons per week for eight weeks and some who did not receive any.

MRI scans "clearly identified regions of the brain that respond to the stimulus of combining multiple limbs", researchers said.

Burke, whose band has had six UK number one singles, said he wanted drumming to be included in England's national curriculum and said it could be a "game-changer" for children with learning difficulties.

"When you play music and accompany the rest of your band, you develop a non-verbal communication," he said.

"That is a very positive way of communicating, not verbally, but through the music."

Andrew Franklin, a drumming teacher from Essex who taught lessons for the study, told the BBC drumming could benefit "anybody of any age" and brought people "into the now".