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Tracey Nix Posts: 1
6/7/2017
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After having been identified as an Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities student while in Pre-K, the student entered the kindergarten general education classroom. Daily she drew on anything and everything, she would cut her clothes or hair if she could find a pair of scissors, and she would frequently become angry and throw objects and screech (among other behaviors). She was eventually moved in to the full-time ESE class setting. While there, a very nurturing teacher worked with her over the years to manage her frustration and anger. At the end of her fourth grade year the school had a talent show, and this student decided to dance. Her teacher helped her to get an appropriate outfit to match the music, but the truth was that everyone was holding their breath to see what this student was going to do. She absolutely owned that stage and left all who were watching spellbound and in tears. When the dance was over, she was overwhelmed by the applause and curtsied which in turned caused the crowd to cheer louder. The confidence she gained that day carried through her fifth grade year,
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Anthony D. Barfield II Posts: 4
6/12/2017
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I have a student in one of my second grade classes that could be labeled as behavioral defiant or emotional/behavioral disability. The moment he comes into Fine Arts, it seems like his agenda is to create chaos and disorder amongst the students and myself as a teacher. Even with redirection, rewards, and consequences in place, he has to be the center of attention. I did notice that one on one he is focused with the assignments given. However in a class room setting, he craves for attention in a negative way. So now when he comes to my classroom, I immediately direct him to the seat next to my desk and go over the lesson for the day with the class room. The students thinks that I am addressing him only, But I am addressing the entire classroom at the same time. Not all of my lesson plans work with him in the classroom. He seem to have a liking to rhythm and sight reading. I would let him demonstrate the harder rhythms first and the classroom would repeat it.
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David Lawhead Posts: 7
6/12/2017
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A few years ago, I had a student in my choir with Intellectual Disabilities. He loved to sing and had a very nice singing voice but he was not always successful at singing the right pitch. He was very good at imitating but his reading skills were low so I learned that it was crucial where he was placed in his section. When I worked with him one on one he was accurate with some of his pitches. If I sang along with him he was not only accurate but totally awesome. If he sang next to a soprano, he would tend to wander to the soprano part almost unaware that he wasn't singing the right part. By placing him in the center of the bass section, everyone was happy.
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David Lawhead
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Deborah Walker-Tannehill Posts: 7
6/14/2017
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I have had the pleasure of a male student in my art class for two years. First, in Kindergarten and then again in first grade. He is listed as ADS and is assisted by a paraprofessional during our 40 minute class due to behavioral challenges when he becomes over stimulated through usage of art materials. My "Kyle" does not handle the sensations of touch when using liquid glue, ceramic clay, or any like materials which cause his hands to become dirty or sticky. Together, we have learned to adjust his working space so that he feels comfortable and in control of his art-making processes. He is allowed to substitute with glue sticks, tools for clay work (blunt pencils, a strip of tag board to cut clay), modeling clay rather than ceramic clay, and washcloths/baby wipes to immediately clean hands in case of distress. He prefers to sit at "his own table" with his helper, due to his tendencies of hurting others when he becomes excited (he twists others writs, pinches their shoulder, throws crayons, snatches materials and apologizes). He tries so very hard to obey classroom rules. On a good day, he will ask a friend to sit with him and I certainly allow that. On a bad day, he will yell NO! and cover his table to protect his work space. Kyle is amazingly talented in painting and could paint for hours. His erratic scribbling methods with crayons all but disappears with the exchange for a paintbrush. He is my cleaning helper because collecting materials gives him something constructive to do yet remain active, while the other students are lining up to leave. Otherwise, Kyle would not handle waiting in line for others and hurt someone. He loves art and has slowly ventured past paint to gel pens, paper sculpture with glue sticks, and even made a ceramic sea turtle near our sink area "just in case".
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Georgia Haymans Posts: 3
6/19/2017
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I currently have a student with autism, and he is very sensitive to sound. Since eliminating the sounds aren't an option, we use sound blocking headphones to drown some sound out. It works wonderfully!!
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Maribeth Mundell Posts: 3
6/21/2017
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As a long time vocal coach, I find that as of late, many of the students coming to me have disabilities! I have an adult I teach via Skype, and he needs to hear how to vocalize certain emotions within songs as he is very literal (sad-get quiet; angry get loud). Another student I had with ADD could concentrate far better on the mechanics of his singing with therapy putty and walking around the room in circles as he sang! But I work with a classroom teacher who has an ODD student (2nd grade), and we use private guitar lesson time as a classroom incentive, and in my music class if I give her a job as she comes into the classroom (handing out materials, keeping game scores on the phone, making sure everone has a mallet for xylophones) and these musical incentives seem successful.
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Deborah McBurney Posts: 3
6/23/2017
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An example of an adapted assessment that I have successfully used with one of my favorite students, a bright girl with moderate orthopedic impairment due to cerebral palsy was a modified answering system I used for the Music CGA test. Although ambulatory her movements involved a great amount of spasticity; which resulted in severe speech impairments. Her ESE placement was in a self-contained PI/OHI classroom. She was always willing to answer questions in regular music class but her articulation difficulties, confined her answers to "yes" or "no", with a head shake but anything else, was mostly unintelligible. For the test, with suggestions from her teacher, I made a 4 box answer grid, she could point to as she spoke her answer (she always wanted to try to speak the answer) and was sure to make it large enough to accommodate pointing inaccuracy from spasticity. She did very well on the test, making great gains from the pre-test!
edited by Deborah McBurney on 6/23/2017
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Allison Arthurs Posts: 3
6/23/2017
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I have had several students throughout my teaching career who have had a range of disabilities from ADHD to a student with Spina Bifida who played the piano. But the story that sticks out to me is betterseet. I had a young man who was coming to me that I was told had an amazing voice. He'd been a soloist in his Jr, HIgh school Chorus and I was looking forward to working with him in my Choral ensemble. Months passed before he came and I discovered that he was a student in our EBD self-contained unit. That didn't matter to me I always welcome kids who love to sing especially boys. They are a rare commodity. When he finally came to class, but due to his anxiety and new and consistent stresses at home he was literally and physically unable to sing aloud with the class. He had completely lost all confidence in his ability to sing in front of people. We tried and tried lots of things to encourage him but nothing worked. Finally after several frustrating weeks he was withdrawn from the class. However......Sometime later he was able to perform at our school's talent show where he and I reconnected. I found out that his homelife and the issues causing his anxiety had improved and he was able to come back to our class where he performed beautifully. He was a wonderful addition to our Tenor section. Unfortunately he moved away but he was hoping to return and vowed to rejoin us if he did move back to the area.
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Michelle Chapman Posts: 1
6/30/2017
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I had a student with autism this year and the class was learning to play recorders. It was very hard for the student to finger the notes, so I had her play the rhythm on sticks and certain notes on the xylophone.
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Brenda Pence Posts: 3
7/7/2017
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I had a student who was visually impaired - actually legally blind. Part of his accommodations were that printed materials should appear on 11x17 paper. When I had printed material for the class I made sure that his copies were on 11x17 paper.
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Heather Hatfield Posts: 3
7/7/2017
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I am a music teacher in an elementary school and I had a student last year who had trouble with staying on task, impulse control, and appropriate behavior. She often shouted out in class which distracted other students. After speaking with her mother to help figure out a strategy to help the child, I tried giving her a ball that she could squeeze during class while she sang. Her mother told me that she needs to be moving or doing something with her hands in order to pay attention and focus. This strategy helped tremendously. The child participated well and sang with enthusiasm.
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Raymond Vans Evers Posts: 3
7/18/2017
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I have a student who was in 3rd grade last year. Autistic. Functioning, but Autistic. Parents won't get him assistance or a formal diagnosis, but hey, that's their choice. So this kid's functioning, like I said. He doesn't work in groups, AT ALL. At the beginning of the year, this always confuses the other kids, but I've gotten used to it. "C" gets to work by himself, emerges from his "shell" to demonstrate mastery of a given topic or perform on his violin, then goes right back to rocking back and forth, or staring off into space. Doesn't often call out or disrupt class, but he just keeps to himself, listening to me, and learning little by little!
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Dretha Fennell Posts: 3
7/25/2017
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I have a visually impaired student who was born blind. She has come to me for music from kindergatern through 3rd grade so far. She sits with her specific paraprofessional teacher in the front of the music room near the sound system so she can hear easily without distraction. I also have direct access to her for additional hands-on experiences. For instance, when I am demonstrating an instrument, such as a trumpet or a violin, I bring it to her so she can touch the instrument inorder to associate the size and shape with the sound and instrument's name. When possible, I also have her play the instrument with my guidance or feel the vibrations as I play. She is excellent at singing and loves to sing into the microphone for the class. She enjoys exploring the sounds of the piano one on one with me during short intervals in the self-contained music class. I have taught her to play a C scale and simple melodies by feeling for home keys and using the black key 2-3 pattern as anchors. She participates in movement activities with assistance and enjoys holding on to the parachute as her classmates move it to show the form of the music. It makes my day to see her smile and giggle with delight! She loves coming to music class.
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Shelley Wishart Posts: 3
8/2/2017
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I have 3 autistic units at my school as well as some mainstreamed children with varying disabilities. One child in particular has an aversion to sound of any kind (loud, soft, talking, shouting, singing, etc) and wears headphones at all times. He also comes with a one on one aid, who has a thick Bulgarian accent which might hinder him a bit as well. This effects his learning as I don't think he is hearing everything I'm saying and isn't able to pick up on what we're doing all the time.
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Daniel Boyd Posts: 3
8/4/2017
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I can recall a young man with an Orthopedic Impairment (hip/leg). This student was a percussionist, and enjoyed all aspects of concert and marching percussion. In the classroom, I provided height appropriate stools that allowed the student to perform with proper posture and visual line of sight. The marching band was rather small and was without a pit. I recruited other percussionists to start a pit while maintaining a drumline. The student noticeably enjoyed band so much more knowing his physical pain was no longer an issue.
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Kim Dickman Posts: 3
8/15/2017
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I had a Kindergarten student in the piano lab last year with ASD who wore headphones to dampen sound. This child was very uncomfortable with social interaction. By using split mode and adjusting his personal keyboard volume, he was able to participate on the keyboard without noise anxiety. He was allowed to choose his keyboard partner from the class, which gave him a reliable set of three classmates to give him support during classes. He was one of the most successful students in the class in remembering and reproducing patterns on the keyboard.
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Erin Thomas Posts: 3
8/19/2017
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I had a very young student who was visually impaired in my classroom. When we had written assignments, I made sure that his print was enlarged. For some projected assignments/lessons, he held an enlarged copy or would prefer to sit close to the screen. He had the option to do what was most comfortable for him that day.
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Amy Dagenais Posts: 1
8/21/2017
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I have a student in my general music class who is confined to a wheelchair. The student is currently in Kindergarten and I like to do a lot of movement with the young grades to help them with following directions, gross motor skills, moving to the beat, etc. She can't march her feet around the room, but she can pat and clap. If students are moving around a circle or in their personal space, then I will move her chair so that she is participating in the activity. She doesn't seem to think any different about herself from her peers.
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Lisa Lehmann Posts: 1
9/7/2017
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I had a student with severe cerebral palsy that was wheelchair bound. He was somewhat verbal but it required a great deal of effort. However, he liked being able to sing a vocal response and I quickly learned that he could sing when given enough time to respond. Because I was patient, he was quickly accepted by his classmates and he knew he could contribute equally to the class.
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Paul OConnell Posts: 2
9/7/2017
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All my students sing and move in my music classes. Students with disabilities love to participate. I usually put a good singer/
dancer next to an special needs student. They help them when needed. I also keep them up front right by me. I constantly praise them for their
efforts in front of the whole class. I will use them an example for their efforts. Not looking for perfection but participation and feeling
good about themselves. A SMILE goes along way!
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