ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concepts and issues arising from research into the design of accessible sonic-play instruments with non-verbal autistic children/young people, and follows on from work previously presented at Innovation in Music in 2017. The research underpinning this chapter has looked at how Accessible Digital Musical Interfaces (ADMIs) might be diversified, and at the ways that an instrument might be designed to avoid limiting the user in Artism-esque child-led sessions. The themes discussed have emerged from this research as prototype sonic-play instruments were put to use in an iterative design process, in collaboration with a group of seven young autistic participants. The desire to explore ADMIs that diverge from musical 'norms' lay at the heart of the design of the first of an ongoing series of sonic-play instruments. In addition to the choice of sensor, a key factor in the prototypes' openness lay in their designed constraints.
