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Administrator Administrator Posts: 18
4/11/2016
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Think of a music student with a disability you have now, or have had in the past. Identify their disability. Describe the way in which their disability affected their music learning. Describe at least one or more ways you successfully accommodated or modified instruction for this student. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
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KAREN ROMINE Posts: 4
4/25/2016
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I have had many students with a variety of disabilities as I teach at two schools that are specialized for students with severe behavior and learning disabilities. I have had students who were profoundly mentally handicapped and those who have been physically handicapped. I currently have several students who are hearing impaired and a couple who are visually impaired. In addition I have several behaviorally challenged students in my choral program. I'll share about the blind student. At the time, I was teaching band and chorus, and he was in the band. In addition to his visual impairment, this student had been diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome which made social situations in a group performance class challenging. He loved the piano and was quite gifted, however he was very set in his ways regarding what he wanted to play and when. He also had difficulty learning that other people and musical parts were as important to the whole process of performing. The accommodations I made included making a recording of his part that he could listen to and learn. I provided time for he and his para-educator to have access to the piano for practice. We worked as a class on taking turns and letting one instrument be heard more predominantly to teach him how to blend and balance his instrument. It was also important to have a plan for the rehearsal time and let him know about it in advance so that he could mentally prepare for the pieces that we would be working on as a class.
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Chorus Teacher Middle/High School
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+5
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Kenneth Phillips Posts: 3
4/29/2016
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Mneumonics: music teachers sometimes use mnemonics to introduce rhythm patterns to students. For example, a quarter note might be represented by the word "truck". Four quarter notes would sound like "truck, truck truck, truck " An adaptation for a student with a speech impediment would be to use a word that the teacher knows this student pronounces well, perhaps "bear". That would allow the student to participate in the music making activity without drawing attention to that student.
Task Analysis: This would be great for teaching improvisation. Teach the student the first pitch of the key. Have the student perform with the rhythm section. When the student demonstrates they can play the one pitch with a steady groove, teach the student another pitch. Now the student has two pitch with which to improvise. Continue this process until the student is using the desired number of pitches in a variety of patterns.
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+1
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Elizabeth Phillips Posts: 3
4/30/2016
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I've had a number of students with orthopedic impairments. This has never kept them from performing with our choirs pertaining to choreographed selections. We have modified choreography to allow the student to succeed and participate within their limitations. Students have been successful with improving their upper body strength through choreographed selections and have felt part of the team in all aspects of the performance.
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+2
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Kendall Carrier Posts: 3
5/2/2016
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I had a student for four years in band who was steadily declining due to muscular dystrophy. When he was a 9th grader, he was able to play snare drum and bass drum comfortably from his wheel chair. During his junior and senior year, he lacked the strength to play on the normal equipment so we used an electronic drum kit and a mallet Kat (electronic sound module). This technology allowed the young man to successfully participate in marching band and concert band. It was a great social environment for him and he felt great knowing that he could contribute to the band musically. I would high suggest this technology for anyone with similar disabilities.
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+4
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Josh Eury Posts: 3
5/4/2016
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I had a student a while back who was a select mute becasue of a sever cleft pallet and cleft lip that caused some pretty bad speech impairments. The first accomidation when he joined was to place him in percussion so he didn't have to worry about using his mouth to play an instrument. The second accomidation was to have him write all of his responses to my questions. He had a little notebook and whenever i asked a question that required an answer from everyone, he would simply write his response down and bring it to me.
I had another student last year who only had 2 fingers and a thumb on his left hand. This kept him from playing any woodwind instrument, trumpet, trombone, french horn or trumpet. So he was left with the option of euphonium or tuba. He chose euphonium and was able to thrive in band.
edited by Josh Eury on 5/4/2016
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Cassidy Gleaton Posts: 3
5/10/2016
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I've had a student for a year in band with a seizure disorder that causes him to miss school often, and the medication makes him slower to respond or react to tasks. Lack of oxygen can bring on the seizures, so we chose percussion for him. Playing percussion also allowed him to stand still or sit in a chair while playing, instead of marching on the field carrying something that could potentially hurt him if he had a seizure. He usually plays a part that is simplified and/or doubled on another instrument so he can hear the part while playing. This helps him stay with the ensemble.
His parents and I provided training to the students in his section so they knew our procedures on how to handle a seizure if he should have one during a practice, class, or performance, and the students were able to help and not panic each time it happened. These accommodations have allowed him to feel comfortable and welcome in band, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to work with him.
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+2
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Lawrence Young Posts: 4
5/11/2016
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I have a young man who is autistic and has some physical disabilities as well. He joined the marching band (he plays the sousaphone). He had quite a few challenges the we had to make exceptions and adaptations for. The sousaphone was initially too heavy and complicated for him. We (myself and student leaders) spent additional one on one time with him to show him how to hold the instrument. We also work with his parents to construct some padding that made de the instrument more comfortable for him. Lastly we limited the amount of time he had to hold/carry the instrument. We would begin with holding it1-2 minutes at a time. We increased the amount of minutes daily until he became used the holding it. by the time football season rolled around no one was aware that he had any disabilities. He is one happy and proud band member. He loves band.
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+1
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Julie Hebert Posts: 6
5/12/2016
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I taught a young man with physical hand impairments. Playing recorder was a big part of our curriculum. But this young man could not properly finger the notes. I purchased an adaptive recorder that provided individual moveable joints for each hole on the recorder. We were able to move he joints to accommodate the size of his fingers. It wasn't a perfect solution, he still had difficulty playing. But it did allow him to participate and enjoy the experience with the other students.
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+2
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Angela Mckenzie Posts: 3
5/13/2016
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I taught a student with a visual impairment. He transferred to our school in the middle of the year, but had been playing saxophone for a few months. I paired him up with other students to work together so he could hear different parts and learn notes through touch with fingering on the instrument, and also spent one on one time working with him to listen, repeat, and review things so he could play and be part of the ensemble. He loved playing and being part of the band, and would try to learn songs on his own by listening to different music and trying to hear what was played and match it.
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Josh Eury Posts: 3
5/14/2016
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One way that I used technology to help a student with a disability was to use a copier to enlarge his band book and his music due to a severe visual impairment. We also used a computer based version of his method book to allow him to hear the music more times while he was practicing in order for him to learn it by ear. So far, this has worked very well and the student has been very successful.
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Josh Eury Posts: 3
5/14/2016
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I will use my a previously mentioned student to explain how I adapted an assessment: my student that was a select mute and had severe cleft pallet. One of my assessments was to sing a melody while the band played. This was to see if the students could not only hear the melody, but if they could sing it while the harmonies and bass line were being performed. Since the student was a select mute, he and I came to the agreement that he could simply hum the melody instead of opening his mouth to sing (due to the cleft pallet, he had some sever dental issues of which he was quite embarrassed so revealing his teeth was a big deal). He was able to successfully hum the melody and therefore earned a passing grade on the assessment.
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Chris Endsley Posts: 4
5/16/2016
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I recall having a high-functioning autistic student who enrolled in my AP Music Theory class. I was concerned at the beginning that the class was too difficult for her, but after hearing her play (she was a pianist) and visiting with her private teacher, guidance counselor and parent, I decided to let her stay. I did have to make some modifications in that I often had to provide extra explanation and I found that teaching her at the piano really helped. I also had to "stick to the plan". For instance, I announced at the beginning of the year Wednesdays would be sight-singing/ear-training days. Well, the first day I skipped that to continue with a lesson from the previous day, she said to me, "I am really disappointed we didn't do ear-training today. You said Wednesday is ear-training day". So, if I had to alter the schedule I made sure to let her know in advance so she could have an opportunity to process the change in schedule. She also carried a slinky that provided some sort of outlet for her. When she needed to play with it, I let her without drawing attention to it. I was also able to pair her with another student who was vision impaired and they had done Very Special Arts together. They helped each other out during the year and both young ladies earned a 5 on the AP exam. It was an amazing experience!
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Mike Wilson Posts: 3
5/17/2016
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I have a high-functioning student with autism this year. He is a member of my percussion section. In 6th grade he wished to start in the percussion section because he felt the other instruments were too loud for him to concentrate. He would often choose to not participate in band classes because of the fear of not playing an exercise perfectly. He would get physically very upset and would distract other students around him. He would also seem to be so distracted by other sounds around him that he would not be able to continue. This year, we were able to give him his own space in the percussion section where he can keep all of his equipment in order using his own system. He knows where everything is and is able to get right to work with anything we are doing in the band class.
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+2
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Lisa Testa Posts: 3
5/22/2016
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I had a blind student in my choir class. Since she was learning to read braille music, we made key signature flash cards. When we reviewed and tested key signatures, she would whip out her key signature flash cards. They had the braille for her, but the key signatures written, so I could check to make sure she was correct.
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+3
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Scott LaBorde Posts: 5
5/22/2016
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I had two students at different times in my band class with a birth defect with the hands (both with the right hand missing or not fully developed). Both students had their dreams on playing trumpet. With a fully developed left hand, I tried to encourage both to play French horn. I allowed both to play trumpet while creating a unique way to hold the trumpet and using the left hand to push the valves. I'm pleased to say that both students ended up being a successful performer all the way through high school!
edited by Scott LaBorde on 5/22/2016
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Juan Mayato Posts: 1
5/25/2016
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I have one kid I can think of who had autism. He was one of my favorite students. He was definitely high - functioning. He would work harder and harder if he didn't get something and actually achieved an incredible level of ability!
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Zachary Murdock Posts: 3
5/31/2016
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I had a student this year that has a hearing disabilty. She never used this as an excuse and always strived for perfection as a musician. Her senior year she made the All-County Band and by the way, she played both the bassoon and oboe very well. As for accommodations, she sat in the middle of the ensemble on the second row to ensure that she could see me. We have a hearing device set up within our classroom to ensure my voice is amplified. If she missed something, she would simply ask without hesitation.
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+1
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Jennifer Haber Posts: 3
5/31/2016
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I currently have a student with a visual impairment. I have enlarged all of the music on a photocopier to help her see. I also allow her to sit by herself instead of with a stand partner so that she can pull up the stand as close as possible to her. I have also made mp3 recordings for her to take home so that she can play along with them when practicing.
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+1
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Jennifer Haber Posts: 3
5/31/2016
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I have had many students with Intellectual Disabilities. They tend to get more frustrated if they aren't to the level of progress of the other students in their class. They give up more easily if they aren't "getting it".
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