That Casio Piano Keyboard

On a previous post I referenced my new precious piano keyboard. So now I'm going to elaborate...

I know I'm promoting a stereotype, but at least it's a positive one. The talent for music. Many ASD children and adults have a gift for playing musical instruments. Their unique wiring often puts them at an advantage at interpreting, integrating, and understanding the many fragments, the components of music separately as well as a whole together. Ah, music, the universal language, and a beautiful one.

The irony is that we focus on the opposite in therapies. We teach them to look at "the whole" rather than the parts of things, social situations, people, etc. Happily, so far Leo appears to be a candidate to having this "splinter skill". Also, my natural mother had an "ear" for music, so who knows. I don't have contact with her, so I'll never know how her piano days came to fruition. I have an ear for it as well (no surprise), and can often pick up a tune on the basic level.

I always dreamed of having having a baby grand piano in my living room once I became an adult that owned my home. That was pretty much it concerning dreams for me. I didn't have a good childhood at all (none), so my focus was always concerning survival. I didn't even think I would ever get married, let alone have children. No dreams of a white dress.

So here I was this fall, at 41 revisiting a joy of mine as a child, the piano. This was going to be the year that Santa brought us something big and expensive (that wasn't in an ABA drill book or came from a HFS). I looked into pianos for about a month - new, used, uprights were for sure. And the starting price appeared to be around $3,500. This led me to exploring the unspeakable. The horror of a keyboard. I'm such a snob. Could my hands tolerate plastic aweful synthetic keys? Indeed!

I realized my brother had a keyboard that he purchased recently this summer, and I played it and loved it. Apparently, there is new technology that makes the feel "seem" piano-like. The PX110 has a Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard for authentic grand piano feel Lower notes play relatively heavier than higher notes, just like the keys on a grand piano. It's true.

Of course, it's not the ever so-un-PC ivory keys of my childhood, but it was pleasant enough to be tolerable long term. And, this keyboard has all the octives (88 keys), a deal-breaker for me (if it was shorter). So Santa came through for approximately $500 including shipping. And the whole family is happy!

So I definitely recommend this to fellow ASD families and beyond!