Music, Gigs, and Coping with Autism

By Resonate | December 18, 2023

Words by Rain Green

Illustrations by Rain Green

As an autistic person, listening to music is a unique and transformative experience. Suppose I listen to music through headphones and have control of the volume. In that case, I enjoy listening, especially if there is a degree of repetition to what I’m enjoying because I know the structure, and it’s pleasing to my brain. Music makes me feel seen and heard, making the world seem more ‘normal’. Listening to music as someone with autism is empowering because the spectrum condition allows me to pay attention to all the different layers in the song and hear every detail. It makes music mean so much more to me as I often hear things others do not.

This is entirely different if I attend a live music event, which is much more of a struggle, I often find it hard to cope with how loud events are and how bright the lights can be, which often results in a meltdown after attending. Beyond this kind of experience, there are also pros to attending live events. For me specifically, the pros are that I can wear hearing protection and openly stim (self-stimulating behaviours or stereotypy, are repetitive body movements or repetitive movements of objects). This means I am less likely to get overwhelmed and can self-regulate more frequently and freely. This means in a safe and open space, I can enjoy the gig experience.

There are ways in which the industry could be more accommodating. Strobe lighting use at shows is an issue as this makes the performance inaccessible to me, and I find this very overwhelming. One way they could accommodate me and others with autism is to have slow lighting or solid colours.

It is essential for me to have someone who knows how to help, therefore, I only go to gigs with others if I can help it. If I am alone, here are some of the ways I prevent a meltdown when attending music events:

Take regular breaks.
Wear hearing protection
Stim freely.
Plan my day around this event!
Leave early if necessary!
If a meltdown does happen, I always leave before it happens and try to get to a safe place.

If I am alone when I go to events and have a meltdown, there are things that I can do to keep myself and others safe! One of the big things I do is carry around a blanket and some safety items that can help ground me. If I am at a music event by myself, I will make sure I always wear my ear defenders even when I don’t feel overwhelmed to prevent a meltdown, and most of the time, this hugely helps. If I am alone, I will leave events early when I get overwhelmed or experience sensory overload.

Gigging and performing as a drummer with autism is something I’ve found to be reasonably accessible. I find that most venues where I have performed are okay at providing the accommodations I may need, such as my own space to prepare and relax, allowing me to wear my hearing protection on stage and understanding that it might take some time to talk. These things are beneficial, especially in new places where I might be uncomfortable or anxious. I have also found it helpful to tell my bandmates about the accommodations I may need so that they can advocate for me if I cannot. Bandmates who understand and accept you are vital, so you don’t have to worry about something happening.

As a drummer, I often struggle with the noise I create; however, this has not affected my creative career or stopped me from wanting to pursue a music career. To deal with how loud the drums are whilst performing, I will wear ear defenders on stage, and if I can, I’ll come away from the event before I perform so I have a moment of quiet. Something I will always do is move my body to help regulate myself, whether on stage or off! One way having autism affects my creative career is that I often struggle with how long it takes me to recover from a performance. I haven’t learned to navigate this yet, as I haven’t had that much experience gigging and dealing with the constant demand of touring, which is implicit in being in a band.

One thing that would help the broader understanding of autism is greater representation, especially within the mainstream music media. This is something that needs to change! I hope that this is something I can help foster by being open about my autism and talking about how it affects me and my creative career. Throughout my education as an autistic person, I have had issues which have sometimes discouraged me from wanting to do music but being given a platform and an opportunity to educate people through my experiences will only improve things.

Here are some of my experiences in education so far and how they can do better! I am finding that I have to educate people on my autism and telling them what accommodations I need, this isn’t that bad, however it would be easier if people were educated and was able to have more open discussions with autistic students about the types of accommodations we need and how that can improve things. I have found that people often think I have high support needs due to my meltdowns, if they took the time to educate themselves about autism and what it is and how it can affect someone then it would massively improve things for me. Throughout my many years of education I have struggled as I was only recently diagnosed, I have found being diagnosed whilst in education a lot easier and a little bit more accommodating. Now that I am diagnosed, I can access the appropriate support and have an explanation on why I struggle with certain things.

Although most of this is negative, I also have had some positive experiences at uni. One time they pre warned me about a fire drill as they knew that I don’t like change in routine and loud noise, this was a great accommodation that I didn’t ask them to do. They are also looking to buy me some loop ear plugs so I can reduce certain decibels of sound and always have them in if needed, this is good however this was something that my course leader had to advocate for.