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Veronica Johnson Posts: 4
4/5/2022
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I teach Handbells and Chorus, and in handbells I had a student who was deaf in the left ear, but had hearing in the right ear. Further this young man did not make many vocal sounds, though he is capable of speech. One tool that we heavily rely on is being able to see the mouth as we watch, feel, and learn. Because of Covid, and the use of masks, it made it increasingly difficult in terms of communication. Imagine that in terms of learning and explanation of learning to read music, since all students start with the basics, it was extremely difficult because this student was first learning from home. When the students learned from home, I used technology to help me with visual aides such as Power Point, and YouTube presentations, requesting that anything that was sound based required for my student to be next to his speaker so he could listen with the stronger ear, as well as feel any vibrations. During that time we learned the basics of notation in distance learning. When we returned to school, even though I worked to speak clearly, the first step for me to address any deficit in hearing was to be certain that I used an audio assisted device, which was powered through the overhead speakers in the classroom.
Coming back to school was a vast improvement over being at home learning through a computer and an external speaker. However, it was like starting over because when I gave a preliminary assessment, I realized how little was retained from the previous year. What I knew was that this young man very much enjoyed music, so it became my goal to share it with him in a way that he could learn, experience and make music to a level of success that was fulfilling for him as well as learning the standards of music in Handbells. This young man had a difficult time in actually processing the information, whether it was written, spoken or demonstrated. There is some aspect of basic memorization in the beginning. So I had to cover very small chunks of the information, giving almost a one on one lesson while others worked at their various paces in class. Not simply memorizing the letter names of the notes, but actually placing the notes on the staff, identification and using videos with closed captions to reinforce the learning helped somewhat. In terms of the time element of music, rhythm was most difficult. The sound of a handbell if the pitch was too high, would be difficult to hear and feel the vibrations. This young man's parent did not wish to have any input from a speech therapist or an audiologist, which I found extremely difficult to work with. Ringing a lower bell created a greater vibration. I demonstrated first, he mimicked what I demonstrated, and then we did exercises in music together as he mirrored what I did, and then I paired him with a student who rang the same part so that he could experience some success in terms of performance.
This student is able to enjoy playing handbells in class, and has performed at least three times with the entire group. Being a part of a team is important because there is so much to be learned from others who play together, from being able to watch the performance afterwards and discuss, and working on new music for future performances. This young man does not contribute verbally, and my concern is that if he is not prompted to do so on a regular basis, he will become extremely withdrawn from his peers. His homework is always complete, and he reads on level in his core subjects, but his interaction is little to none. My communication is music, vibration, demonstration and working together. I made several attempts to move this young man into a class that was in a smaller group, and that moved at a more workable pace, but again, the parent did not want to have his schedule changed for fear that he would lose friends. The problem is that he does not interact with others, and I believe that the parent has actually interfered with this young man's success by not allowing a schedule change where he might develop closer partnerships in working together, but also be able to function with less extraneous noises. He wants to please... and I want for his continued success. He will say, "Did I do good?" I always find some positive feedback, as well as encouragement for him to continue working on his parts as well as in his communication overall.
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Veronica R. Johnson
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Veronica Johnson Posts: 4
4/5/2022
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I had a few typos, but the edit function did not work, so please excuse my errors!
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Veronica R. Johnson
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Charles Williams Posts: 3
4/11/2022
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I am currently a band director but i used to teach a class that was only students with disabilities. I had students with intellectual impairments, orthopedic impairments, and hearing and visual impairments. Our lesson would have listening maps, hands on modified instrumental components, all while I was wearing a microphone. I loved these classes most of all because of how the students faces would light up due to their success on the instruments and their ability to make music together.
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Sabrina Browning Posts: 4
4/12/2022
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I am currently teaching a student with autism that many teachers struggle to reach but he feels safe and respected in my environment therefore he has been thriving. He has a specific green foam square that he knows to grab and sit on that is only his square. I have had talks with the other students in the class in regards to how we treat him in my room. He does not like to touch hands so we have discussed ways that he feels comfortable in those kinds of activities. I also allow him his own instrument or set of instruments for certain assignments. He also has an aversion to smells. Certain hand sanitizers bother him, so I took the time to give him a few options. These all may sound like small silly things, but providing these small accommodations, make a student with disabilities feels loved, respected, and seen. When this happens the teaching and learning process is easy!
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David W. Mundy Posts: 3
5/4/2022
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I am a band director teaching high school students. My jazz ensemble had a hearing impaired drummer who needed special headphones and had to be very conscious of the volume level in the room. Although he was a very talented young man, he was often very insecure of his disability. The other students in the ensemble were very supportive and understanding which helped him throughout his high school career. I learned right away that during rehearsal the band needed to stop and listen to direction, givin Ryan time to take off his headphones and adjust to a speaking volume level. Positive reinforcement and constant cooperation with his needs was very important.
He ended up performing well and graduating.
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Helen Jones Posts: 3
5/4/2022
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I have a transfer student now who is triggered by loud noises....she is in band, my advanced band. This student plays oboe, and does play quite well but she cannot be in the classroom for long with my band. We worked out a system of non-verbal cues that she would give me when she needed a break from the band. If she could not get my attention, then she knew she could leave to the next room. In that room we keep a music stand and chair, so my oboe player can hear the band and play along with them, but would not be over stimulated by the direct noise.
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Jamie Hayes Posts: 3
5/6/2022
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I am a Chorus teacher in the past Ive had a few different students with varying disabilities. Behavior and ADHD- keeping things upbeat and moving helps keep things interesting. One year I had a student with Orthopedic Impairment and Intellectual disability. We sent home audio recordings of the song and her part. Learning audibly, especially singing, was always the best option for her. She was also in a wheelchair, which did not get in the way of performing hand movements during the performance.
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Christina Nichols Posts: 3
5/6/2022
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I am a band director and I teach middle school, grades 6-8. I have had a multitude of students who have come in to my program with disabilities. One that really comes to mind is a student who played baritone for me. He only had one arm and wanted to participate in the band program. After talking to colleagues, we were able to find an instrument for him to play that would allow him to use one hand. We also made alternative arrangements for him to transport his instrument to and from school. He ended up playing the baritone horn for three years in my program. He thrived and was one of my top players in my program.
Also, I had a student who had autism and required a para professional to be with him at all times. He was made part of our band family and learned social skills and thrived as a percussionist. He was able to have flexible settings when things became too loud in the room and had a "hot pass" for when he needed breaks.
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Lissette Merlano Posts: 3
5/9/2022
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I had a student with Autism who loved singing and playing the piano. In Chorus class, she would get frustrated easily, and would often claim that she understood concepts when she was completely lost. I was able to pair her with other students in the choir so she could focus on singing the same part as them, and luckily, most of the time Sopranos sing the melody in choir pieces, so she was able to sing her part with little difficulty. When it came to sight reading, I found that using hand signs and having her draw out melody lines was immensely helpful. The student took Chorus throughout high school (5 years) and always kept a positive and cheerful outlook.
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Elvin Hanna Posts: 1
5/18/2022
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Two years ago, I had a guitar student that suffered from orthopedic impairment. She had a genuine love for the instrument but her physical disability negatively affected her fluency on the instrument. One of her legs were shorter than the other, so I had woodshop create a custom foot stool help with proper playing posture on the classical guitar. When assigning individual class assessments, I provided her with more time to practice the music. During ensemble assessments I would alter her part with a simplified ostinato to provide her with fair opportunities to perform in a group.
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Matthew Seeman Posts: 3
5/23/2022
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When I was teaching high school band and chorus, I had two students (one in each ensemble) who were bound by a wheelchair. The initial differentiation was quite simple: The chorus member was placed in the front row, and the band member opted to play xylophone/glockenspiel. While most of the differentiations were physical (placement during small group instruction, etc.), I was extremely proud with the social benefit that came to including these students with a group of incredibly open-minded and inclusive students. This ultimately became a multi-tiered support system that included small group work, individual teacher-to-student tutoring, and individual student-to-student tutoring. Music tends to be a subject that accepts all - this experience shed light on music's ability to bring out a similar social aspect of inclusion that we all are capable of.
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Alexis Pletincks Posts: 3
5/24/2022
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I had a student who has a speech impairment and struggled to form words. In a choir class, the other students could tell she was essentially just singing on "ah," but she LOVED to sing. I had her for two years, and I began to notice at the end of the second year that she was started to create the vowel shapes necessary to sing solfege syllables. Even with those gains, she still struggled in her writing and reading. She was graded on participation when it came to concerts, and I would sit with her, watching her point to the answers at my desk.
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Jennifer Renfroe Posts: 3
5/24/2022
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I had a student while I was interning that had a severe Orthopedic Impairment in my keyboards class. She was confined to a wheelchair and struggled with motor skills. This included the ability to control where her fingers were on the keyboard, but she was overjoyed with being in the music class. Her aid and I had brainstormed and came up with the solution of sewing two gloves together so that she could move her hand on the keyboard over his hand in order to play the notes on the keyboard together.
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Anthony D. Barfield II Posts: 4
5/24/2022
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in 2015, I started a band program in elementary. Found a grant and was able to provide new instruments to the elementary students. While the brass and woodwinds practiced inside, the percussion practiced outside. All percussion were marching style percussion with straps and harness. I remember I student with a noticeable physical disability. It made the drum very uncomfortable for him to carry and play at the same time. But nonetheless he was determined to play the drums. I ended up placing the marching drum on a drum stand and attach it to a cart wheels. This gave the student the ability to push the cart and when it was time for him to play he would stop and play the drums.
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David Lawhead Posts: 7
5/25/2022
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I had a student with a hearing impairment. She didn't tell me about this until about half way through the year. I was listening to singers and moving them around to different areas of the rehearsal room. This student had a very nice tone and great pitch normally. When I moved her to a new position I noticed a difference. She told me after class that she could not hear in her right ear. After that, I made sure that she was placed where she felt comfortable and successful.
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David Lawhead
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Coleman Flentge Posts: 1
5/25/2022
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I had a student with an emotional/behavioral disability. The student responded adversely to a variety of stimuli within the classroom that negatively affected performance in class. Through consistent practice and conversations with the parents and administration, we were able to find success within the music room and the student eventually performed a solo.
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Stuart Campbell Posts: 3
5/26/2022
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I had a student with a physical disability. This student found difficulty standing for long periods in Choir class and needed to leave class early to avoid crowds. Through conversations with the parent along with reasonable accommodations to her physical participation in class, the student successfully performed the entire year with us.
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Donna Vojcsik Posts: 4
5/26/2022
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Administrator wrote:
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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Michael Loffredo Posts: 2
5/27/2022
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This year, I had a brilliant student with a very high interest level in music that was placed into the beginning band classroom the first week of December. He had a great interest with the mallets, but due to his inability to walk or stand without assistance and the physical nature of his hands and fingers, he struggled to manage the percussion instruments. After meeting with his one-on-one para and then subsequently with the student and AP, we agreed to alter his work and moved him to piano. He spent time doing rhythmic work with us at the beginning of class and learned mallet music using one hand, then transferred to the piano in the practice room. With this individualized time (following our carefully guided group instruction) he was able to thrive and played two solos at the Winter Concert after only 3 weeks of class!
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Kerrie Carrier Posts: 1
5/30/2022
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I had a student in choir with hearing impairment, which obviously impacted her ability to hear and match pitch. She struggled to learn her vocal parts, but found some success when utilizing learning tracks where she could listen to her part on her own at a volume that she was able to hear. I stood her in between strong singers.
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