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Rodney Brown Posts: 3
5/7/2020
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I had a student that was in a motorized wheel chair. For our 5th grade performance we develop our own STOMP type program. This requires the students the work together in small groups and design every part of their musical performance. In the beginning process we drum on the floor with sticks to develop rhythm. For this students group we allowed them to use clip boards with mouse pads in their laps so they could all work together. The next step was to choose the instrument type. His group chose the large rubber trashcans. We cup the front of the trashcan out so that his wheel chair could fit inside, this allowed him to look and perform just like the other students in his group.
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Cathy Fant Posts: 3
5/9/2020
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I am actually a retired special education and regular elementary education teacher, who happened to teach piano privately for a few years after retiring from the classroom. As a classroom teacher, I had one student who had ADHD. He comes to mind in responding to this question. As his kindergarten teacher, I regularly used music in my classroom. This student truly enjoyed music, but became overly excited at times. I found it helpful to seat him near me and give him frequent reminders to stay on task or make accommodations for him in order to keep him under control. If we were playing rhythm instruments, for example, I might ask him to sit in a chair and "lead" the class, rather than sit in the circle on the floor. This would avoid him hitting another child with an instrument or rhythm stick. Activities that involved music combined with movement were helpful to this student, as he really did need to move around more. So, while music presented some challenges for me in keeping his movement and activity level under control, it also served as a motivator and a release for this particular child.
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Jennifer Burrows Posts: 2
5/12/2020
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I had a set of twins that were both visually impaired. In class, they were placed front and center, with the best visibility in the room. In addition, they were given permission to move to the front of the class whenever we were using the board/overhead. They both joined band and we ordered the band book in as large a print as they could make. In addition, I gave them Cd's of the music to listen to so that they could practice by ear as well. They both were able to be successful.
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Sarah Driggers Posts: 1
5/13/2020
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This past year I had a student with autism. She was a high functioning student, and was in the second grade. We had a lesson on matching what rhythm I played on a percussion instrument using a set of rhythms I gave each individual group of students. I did not put this student in a group because I know she works well by herself not really close to other students. This seemed to be very successful for her. On a side note when it was time for standard state testing her teacher had a 504 plan for her to take the test by herself and needed a place for her to learn while her class was testing. When asked what subject/teacher do you feel most comfortable with she said me, so the teacher sent her a packet of work and she did fantastic.
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Jency Meche Posts: 5
5/20/2020
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I have a first grade student with autism and ADD/ADHD. He is a bundle of energy and is happiest when he has your full attention - no matter how he can get it. He is also a very good singer, can maintain a steady beat like nobody's business and remembers everything that he learns about the instruments of the orchestra.
He gets very frustrated if he doesn't get to answer a question first, or isn't chosen first to demonstrate learning or move to a station or instrument that he wanted. I have found that giving him choices works best - examples: "You may move to either the handbells or xylophones first." "You can decide if you share with the red group or green group."
I also keep him in close proximity to me as much as possible - so that with a smile, eye contact and maybe a pat on the shoulder he is getting the encouragement he needs - ignoring behavior as much as possible - such as calling out to me, patting and pulling my arm, or acting out in frustration - sometimes with a little reminder to him that I'm waiting for him to join me when he can pull it together.
There is a system in place for him when he goes to "specials" that is a board that he carries around with our pictures on them. When he is able to participate and let others learn as well, he earns a star for that class and gets little rewards at regular intervals. That school wide support has been wonderful.
He loves coming to music and since he was with me in Kindergarten last year as well, is really making great progress in recognizing that, at least in music class, he is performing with an "ensemble" - not always, but we are getting there. 
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Jency Meche Posts: 5
5/20/2020
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Oh I love the idea of having them be the "conductor" standing at a distance. There are days when it is simply to overwhelming for some of my autistic students to play the Orff instruments with the group. I usually have them in a separate space either on a different instrument or with a scarf - but will definitely put this in my "tool bag" as well.
ursula von bargen-seitz fortner wrote:
In the elementary Orff music environment, my young autistic student would be the 'conductor', standing at a distance, while we practiced with the Orff instruments as a whole group, rather than play an instrument in the whole group setting. She would create her own melodies and play them on the xylophone while the other students worked quietly with materials. Similarly, this student enjoyed dancing, one scarf in each hand, in front of the group, at a distance. Having this personal space away from the group and doing something singular and repetitive on her own reduced the need to hide or rock in the face of sensory overload and/or inundation of personal space by people.
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Jency Meche Posts: 5
5/20/2020
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Thank you for sharing! I'm so happy that you could help her work through her disability to find the joy in playing music - so much so that she made a career of it.
Sarah Hamilton wrote:
I had a flute student in a high school band with Asperger's. She took everything literally, had a difficult time with changes in routine, and had a difficult time relating to her peers. I had to be extremely careful in setting an environment where everything was consistent. If anything changed abruptly from her expectations, she would have outbursts and possible meltdowns. She wanted to perform well and I also had to be sensitive in correcting her. Despite her disability, she worked very hard and performed very well. As long as I was sensitive to her needs, helped prepare her for changes, assisted her with appropriate classroom behaviors, she did very well. Her dedication and hard work allowed her to gain respect from her peers, although she did require quite a bit of coaching in interpersonal skills. She ended up majoring in music therapy in college.
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Elizabeth McAllister Posts: 1
5/25/2020
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I have a student with cerebral palsy. I begin teaching recorder in the 3rd grade. I use a recorder karate program. At first I wasn't sure how I could adapt the program to accommodate her limited motor control. It was clear she wasn't going to be able to play the recorder. Instead, I modified the handles of a set of mallets so she could grip them easier. I used a xylophone with limited tone bars. ( BAG to start) I spaced the tone bars two or three spaces apart to give her a greater chance of accuracy. She "earns" her recorder belts on the xylophone. I still keep her recorder in the class bin and tie on the colored strings as she earns her "belts". She enjoys coming to music because she can really participate and she has much more peer interaction in my classroom.
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Ewa Anna Gupta Posts: 2
6/1/2020
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I had a 4th grade ESE student with Autism mainstreamed in my general elementary music class.Student was overstimulated by the sound which demonstrated by making crying sounds, covering his ears, and movements of his body. Any movement activities would end up for my student in running around the music room while trying to hit as many instruments as possible, particularly pianos and gong.I let the student use a keyboard with headphones and experiment with the sound in his own personal space. After only a few weeks my student surprise everyone by playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" song. After the loud applause from other students Jonny would still cover his ears. Gradually Jonny was able to sing some parts of songs and stay on pitch. Jonny was allowed to modify his participation in classroom activities and was able to function and follow direction most of the time. Jonny was able to use Smartboard educational games, surprising other students by his quick correct answers.
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Gwenn Weston Posts: 3
6/2/2020
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I've taught EBD students for years. I find in genteral that they need more action in class and more prescribed movement.
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AUBURN LINDSAY Posts: 3
6/7/2020
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I had a student with a physically impaired arm. His other arm was fully functioning, so the only times he was disadvantaged was when an activity required use of both arms, but we would often work together to determine an alternative movement, or he would play in conjunction with a partner, or with only one hand. He often volunteered in the decision making as to how he could participate.
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Anita Malcolm Posts: 3
6/25/2020
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I have a kindergartener who is blind. While I teach many students with disabilities, this is the first time I have taught a blind student. She comes with a para who is wonderful. I have seated her next to me so that she can hear me clearly. I have velcro spots on the floor for students to sit on, and her spot is next to my desk, so we taught her to walk to the desk and then feel her spot on the floor, which she does independently now. If there are motions to a song, I describe them as I teach the song with motions, or I show her hand over hand while I am singing with the class. When we do movement/dances in a circle, her para usually dances with her first and then she continues on by herself. We have also taught the other students to reach out to her if they are the next partner in the circle or say "I'm here" so that she knows where to toss the bean bag/stuffed animal/scarf. When there is movement around the room, her para generally goes with her, but she has learned the layout of the room pretty well. When we play xylophones, I have showed her how to feel the big to small sizes and say the letters from C to whatever we are playing. She has not mastered this, but it is a start. She is a joy to teach, and I look forward to working with her as she gets older and more skilled.
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Kelsey Reynolds Posts: 3
6/26/2020
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I have taught a student with ADD/ADHD and the two strategies I would consider implementing to benefit this child in the classroom would be task cards and mediated scaffolding. This child has a difficult time remembering directions when given all at once at the beginning of a class, so allowing him to have frequent visual reminders of what he is to do next would be beneficial to his productivity as well as the productivity of the entire class. This would also be integrated into the mediated scaffolding. This student often makes errors because they are easily distracted by the world around them and forget the task at hand. Allowing more teacher support at the beginning of a task and scaling back when appropriate will help the student establish focus skills as well as the ability to see success.
The use of technology to keep this student focused has been with computer testing. While this accommodation has been made for many students due to convenience, in this student's case it is necessary for them to keep their eyes moving as well as interacting with a screen.
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Rodolfo Del Hoyo Posts: 3
6/29/2020
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I have a 4th grade student that is Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing D/HH and Developmental Delay DD as diagnosed in his IEP. He loves music and looks forward to making music class once a week. He comes in with another peer D/HH student and a paraprofessional that helps translate via Sign Language. I have learned simple sign language sentences and phrases in order to better communicate throughout the years that I've had the privilege to teach him. One of the most successful accommodation that I've made was to transfer his Recorder Song progressive performances to the Xylophones. I noticed in 3th grade that he was having difficulty with the Fine Motor coordination when covering the holes of the recorder. Therefore, he was not progressing through the different song assigned. I asked him to try and follow the music while playing on the xylophones using mallets and the letter note names on the bars. I began working one-on-one with him with prompting, mirroring and repetition while teaching both the student and the paraprofessional /translator. Today, he can independently read the music notation and play the notes on the xylophone with limited to no assistance. He is also excited when he learns a new song and is able to successfully perform it for his peers and me.
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Kenneth Solomon Posts: 2
6/29/2020
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I have recently graduated a student with Asperger Syndrome as diagnosed in his IEP. He was very passionate about learning to play his saxophone better and developing into a leader throughout his tenure. I quickly took notice to his inability to to learn music and understand basic Rhythms with master by displaying in front of his peers. It then forced me to reevaluate my approach to teach not only The student but my entire band. Many of the students was afraid to play by them selves in front of their peers. So, first took several steps back and started to dig for prior knowledge of the concepts being taught. So the students can transfer prior knowledge to the current assignment and got them to connect the new concept with and old concept. We had several discussions about the the concept and Gary was extremely knowledgeable about the concept. Due to him going and researching info on the concept and he actually taught me a few things about the concept that i did not take value too. The next time I evaluated the class as well as the student I evaluated the class individually and i notice more of the students as well as Gary understood the concept better and they could explain the concept to me as if i was a new student in the class and I never learned this concept. Gary graduated this year and will be attending JU in the fall with a band, ROTC, and academic scholarship!!!!
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Lisa Coder Posts: 6
7/1/2020
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I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but one of the technological tools I have used for students with disabilities is an ipad with various music apps and games. They can play these games which often support and extend the content I am teaching, and they provide immediate feedback as well as motivational aspects such as avatars, badges, costume options etc.
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Valerie Smith Posts: 3
7/7/2020
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I have a student who is ASD and EBD. He wants to be included in every part of the lesson and loves to answer questions. In order to encourage him to participate, I gave him simple tasks and would always do my best to give him one question, if not more to answer each music class. He would help me in explaining concepts to his fellow students. His classmates would always help him calm down if he got upset about something by using visual cue cards. Eventually, he didn't need them anymore and could calm himself down quickly.
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Andrew W Smith Posts: 3
7/7/2020
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I recently had a student who had spina bifida that was wheelchair bound. This was also accompanied by an intellectual disability that left her without the ability to verbalize properly. There were two main ways I was able to modify for her were by giving her visual cues that she could respond to. Often it was through a story in which I would ask her to identify different different objects on the page by pointing or touching. The other was through the use of instruments to help with motor movement. I would often give her an object she had to grip firmly and would have her use each hand independently. If she was able to do that then we would work to have her move both hands together. Finally I would see if she could keep a steady beat with hands independently and together. Often I would have to assist her at first before she could do it independently.
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Tami Williams Posts: 3
7/15/2020
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I had a student who was on the Autism spectrum. He was high functioning, but lacked social skills. He actually did very well in my class because music was his passion, it was where he felt he could express himself freely. He joined our chorus and our percussion group and excelled. Although he didn't seem to socialize with the other kids, he seemed to be completely comfortable and totally in his element in my class and during rehearsals. The other kids loved him and respected him.
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Pauline Latorre Posts: 4
7/27/2020
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I have had a student with autism that was very sensitive to noise. Whenever we did anything that was loud, like bells, he would cover his ears and I could tell it really bothered him. When we would play handbells during the holiday season, in order for him to comfortably participate, I would have him use noise cancelling headphones while we played along with a dvd or youtube video. I would give him the choice to play the bell with the headphones on, or play an online keyboard app like Musicca.com. He enjoyed having the accommodation because he was able to participate with the rest of the class.
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