Music is not necessarily the same as counting unless one is singing alone. If you are handling an instrument and/or performing with others, then you are interacting with the world outside of yourself.

Dr. Sacks's experience with the Chopin piece sounds more like what might be called "dysmusia" rather than amusia. Does dysmusia exist as a recognized disorder?

As the mother of a six year-old boy with autism, and a teacher of Music Together, a music program for babies thru 5 year-olds with their caregivers, this is a subject near to my heart.

The community of music is real. My son and I connected through music from infancy on. The moments in music class when everyone in the room from pre-language baby, to autistic 5 year-old, to adult is engaged in tonal play, and with one another is nothing short of magical. Music opens the door.

can dr. sacks confirm this?

i have a nephew who had autism, but has since been mainstreamed via much therapy.

from what we were told, music (and its associated metering) is much like the counting associated with autistic people--and it serves to "keep" the autistic in the bubble that keeps them from interacting fully with the non-autistic. given that so many autistic prefer to stay in a "comfort zone" of music or counting (including these "savants"), this is, in the opinion of many, counter-productive to bringing them out.

yes, these children are often entertaining to us, but at what cost? they are merely imitating what they hear, no?