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Marc Kolodinsky Posts: 2
6/17/2021
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While I’ve had many students with a wide array of disabilities, the one student I’ve had that stands out amongst them all was visually impaired. Standard sized music and instructions were not easily read and i would regularly enlarge his music to 11x17 and even contacted a local print shop in town to enlarge music further. As his conditioned worsened we needed to move his music to Braille. He worked hard, harder than most other students and turned into a phenomenal musician.
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Erin Scully Posts: 3
6/17/2021
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I used to have a student in my men's chorus with autism. Getting him to simply hold and read sheet music was a challenge. I quickly figured out that he always needed to have his phone or ipad in his hand. I was able to accommodate him by getting him download ForScore on his ipad and sending the music to him digitally to use. Once he was able to read the score on his digital device, he became more focused on the music in front of him which then solved some of his other classroom behavior issues.
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Gerard Madrinan Posts: 3
6/18/2021
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I had a student with Tourette's Syndrome. High stress situations enflamed her symptoms. Together, we learned how to manage this through both marching band and concert band. Especially in long band camp days, as she grew more exhausted, her "ticks" (as she called them) would be more prevalent. We were able to design breaks for her throughout our rehearsal process, that allowed to her to accommodate the added stress along with her Tourette's. By her senior year, we had fine tuned a process that both student, teacher, parents, and other chaperones were able to function as a part of to support the student and facilitate her success.
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John Kendall Posts: 3
7/7/2021
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Recently, I had a student with numerous learning, physical and behavioral challenges. His ability to function in a typical beginning orchestra class was severely affected by these challenges. He initially chose to learn the cello. Learning the skills necessary to perform on this instrument in the traditional orchestra environment proved to be more frustrating than productive. Consequently, his frustration manifested itself in vocal outbursts and fidgeting on his instrument. Overtime, progress was made but at avery delayed rate with many frustrations and teacher interventions during class time. One -on-one instruction was used on many occasions but in this environment, the student had the same challenges and frustrations. Eventually, he just shut down.
However, there is more to the story. I happened to need a percussion part for a piece we were learning in class. I asked my student if he would like to try this part on the Cajon. He was very excited at this opportunity. In the days that followed, I had never seen him as focused and genuinely involved in the process as when he was playing the Cajon part. He still had challenges in the ensemble, but his behavior turned from negative to positive and he now felt like he was part of the group. This positive development prompted me to seek out music that could feature or at least include him in the performance. We lost a cellist, but we gained a much happier and fulfilled young man who enjoyed the process and community of music making!
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Alexander Javizian Posts: 3
7/9/2021
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Think of a student with a disability you have now or in the past. Describe ways in which their disability affected their learning in your class.
Years ago, I had a student (who I'll refer to as Frank) who was on the autism spectrum. While it was clear that Frank didn't react to classroom rules and procedures the same way as his fellow students, he was excelling beyond his peers as a musician. He was able to sight read music better than his peers, and was able to play multiple instruments at a near-professional level.
The biggest lesson I learned was that open and honest communication with parents/guardians can pay off extremely well. After talking to Frank's mother, she was able to tell me that he thrives on routine. After reviewing my rules and implementing more routines (writing the times we work on pieces on the board, starting with the same warmup before moving on to a new one, setting aside extra time to clean the classroom before transitioning), Frank began to thrive in all aspects in my classroom. The idea of talking about an ESE student's disability can often feel as though it is a taboo subject, but when you learn to be open about it with your school's ESE team and your students' parents, it will help you understand your student's abilities and how your classroom can be more accommodating towards them.
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jonathan brodie Posts: 2
7/23/2021
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In recent years I had a student who was on the spectrum. Very good with computers and understanding the science of music who loved Band. His success was in hearing the music and coordinating the sound to the fingering first before the note on the staff. I used my superior tech skills to create practice tracks and increasing tempo's so that he could better correlate the rhythms of the music and the notes on the page in his home practice. This combined with regular band class and some reminders from me have made him a successful continuing member to the band. he might not be able to verbalize it perfectly in words but he doesn't mess up the parts when we play.
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James Posts: 3
7/27/2021
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A student came to me with a physical disability that in which he had little to no fingers on either hand. I teach music using the World Music Drumming curriculum. My first question was if there was any kind of pain involved that would prevent him from playing drums using his hands. His answer was that there was not pain but would prefer not to use his hands as he felt uncomfortable touching the drums and worried how that would be perceived by his peers. That is a whole different discussion/blog post. While aside as my students performed ensembles student lead, he and I worked on solutions. I asked if he could hold sticks or mallets? He asked what did I mean? I quickly thought mallets. Bass steel pan mallets. The ones I have are big. I showed him. He smiled and said can I use those. He used the mallets for all the drums in all the ensembles and was able to use mallets I made for him to play the gyils and marimbas.
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James Posts: 3
7/28/2021
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Two strategies that i have used thus far, and will continue to use frequently, is cooperative learning and peer partners. They were both effective in working with the students with disabilities in the way that the students felt non-threatened as the concept was taught through cooperative learning. Peer partners made it easier for the students to assimilate into the ensemble as their partner assisted in the development of the materials (parts) being learned.
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James Posts: 3
7/28/2021
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I have modified assessment of skills in the music class for a student with disabilities by having the student perform part of the part with the ensemble while the ensemble performed all together. The student was able to understand when to respond during call and response of the music. The student was able to perform most of the part when the music ended the call and response and developed into samba. Though the student only played part of all the responses and part of the part as an ensemble, the student still performed the music with class and felt like a member of the ensemble. The student created the part modifications himself.
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Mary Lubaroff Posts: 4
7/30/2021
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As an orchestra teacher, I have a particular experience with a child diagnosed with autism in my class. She was not sensitive to sound, but I adapted learning style activities for her such as learning by ear, singing the tune, rote practice. Students in the class were eager to see her succeed as we started with small goals and helped her grow to participate in the full class performance experience.
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Terice Allen Posts: 3
8/1/2021
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I had a middle school cello student who had a physical disability making it necessary to play the cello backwards. I had multiple conversations with the family and the final decision, based on those conversations, was that the student did not want the cello restrung in reverse, but instead preferred to play the cello as it was. The student simply played the cello in reverse. I changed my terminology from 'right hand' to 'bow hand', and from 'left hand' to 'instrument hand'. I also made sure to refer to a 'down bow' being from 'frog to tip' instead of 'to the right', and an 'up bow' being from 'tip to frog' instead 'to the left'. I also worked with the student on which way was most comfortable to hold the bow, and the most comfortable sitting location in the classroom. The student was quite successful.
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Mary Lubaroff Posts: 4
8/4/2021
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Cooperative learning and peer partners have been helpful strategies for me in the orchestra classroom. It is an effective and non threatening way to encourage students with learning disabilities to participate to their fullest extent without feeling like they are "behind" or "not performing to the level of the rest of the class." Mainstream students are eager to help and feel such a sense of accomplishment when they can help others. Using technology for a student with a disability in orchestra can be in the form of note reading on musictheory.net.
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Mary Lubaroff Posts: 4
8/4/2021
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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.
During the last school year I had a student with an extreme cases of ADHD with attention getting behaviors that made it difficult for students to relate to him. I found great success with an increased attention to routine and detail with rehearsal etiquette, setting high expectations, and consequences are immediate with attention to redirection.
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Mary Lubaroff Posts: 4
8/4/2021
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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.
I had a student who was missing fingers on her right hand. We adapted her bow hold to allow her to use the bow effectively. She was so proud and her self esteem grew as she felt she could participate fully in the orchestra class.
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Constance Jill Pollina Posts: 3
9/28/2021
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I have had students in the music class that really enjoyed the beats of the music and others that became overstimulated with the sounds. Paying attention to the needs of the students was very important in helping them to have a successful and happy experience. I have found that many of my students with behavior disorders enjoyed the music and became engaged quickly in the activities. However, students intellectual abilities may be a bit hesitant at first and take a while to understand the processes of the class. Using various instructional methods, music can reach students with visual, hearing impairments as well. It is wonderful to see the students engage in the universal language of music where they can all communicate with one another
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Teri Bruse Posts: 3
9/30/2021
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I had a student a couple years ago who was diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta - brittle bone syndrome - from birth. She was wheelchair bound and a transfer student from a neighboring state. She had already been placed on clarinet, and had really good fundamental knowledge. She did run out of air quicker than others. We had to make modifications for Football Band, but her parents were amazing and such strong advocates for her, and helping with transportation. We chose to have one of her friends push her wheelchair on the field for halftime. The kids became very protective of her, and strong friendships were made. That was a fun year.
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Rachel Mann Posts: 3
10/5/2021
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I have taught many students with disabilities, but one in particular stands out, as she had a hearing impairment (Cochlear implants) as well as ADHD, combination type. She was a most excellent student, but there were several accommodations that she needed in class, including a microphone for me to wear, to sit in the front, and for me to always be visible so she could read my lips while speaking.
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Meredith Hollowell Posts: 7
10/6/2021
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Administrator: "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."
I teach a student with a physical disability in my Orchestra class. She only has four fingers on her right hand. Working together, the student and I came up with a modified bow hold so that she could comfortably hold the bow. I also modified my instruction to include her when I was discussing the way to hold a bow with the whole class. I used terms that all students could understand and use to create a successful bow hold. This was important to me as to not alienate her when the class was discussing proper bow hold.
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Chelsea Carr Posts: 1
10/19/2021
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I use music to teach fluency, verb conjugation, expression, and vocabulary in Spanish. I had student who had hearing issues. I provided them witha headset where they could control their volume isolate sound. They were giving a lyric sheet and also and link to karaoke video in order to track along with the song.
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Iris Fulton Posts: 1
12/14/2021
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I worked with students with disabilities as well. They were very special
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