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Sarah Baca Posts: 3
3/6/2023
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I have taught middle school band for 16 years and have had many students with disabilities. Most recently I had a student with a physical impairment. She was missing three fingers on her right hand. She was determined to play trumpet, so I let her try playing it with her left hand on the valves. After a week or two her success was not hindered due to her disability, we just realized the trumpet wasn't a good fit for her. She needed a larger mouthpiece to have a more successful buzz. She then tried the trombone which needed no adaptation on how she could hold and play the instrument. She is currently in high school playing to this day!
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Sarah Baca Posts: 3
3/12/2023
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Mnemonics: I use these in a variety of ways. One being to teach the order of flats and sharps in the key signatures. BEAD Greatest Common Factor. When they memorize the flats, they can easily reverse for sharps.
Differentiated Assignments: I've rewritten music at varying levels according to my students' learning needs. For example, I had a clarinetist with a learning disability that hindered her from learning the written part scored as quickly as rest of the band. I wrote a simpler part to match the melody and countermelodies being performed by that section. This allowed that student to still perform the music with integrity while learning all the ensemble skills that come with performance.
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Katherine Ng Posts: 2
3/18/2023
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I remember when I first started teaching orchestra for the first time. I had a student with Downs syndrome, Asperger's syndrome, and a hearing impediment. She had difficulty connecting with other students and she would always struggle with rhythms/timing in class. I paired her with a student leader who was stronger with rhythms and counting in class.
My student was a hard worker who would fixate on the little things. If she did not do it correctly the first time, she would redo a project over and over and over again. This student also had a tendency to pick at her fingers until they blend when she was anxious. After I did this switch, I noticed the difference immediately. She was starting to feel more comfortable talking to others in her section, and she was even helping her underclassmen with shifts and note reading. By being able to hear the stronger player next to her and to visually see his bowing, she was able to stay together with the orchestra, and build up her confidence as a player. After the helper graduated that year, the student really stepped and became a beloved section leader in the top orchestra.
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Lisa Goodson Posts: 3
3/18/2023
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I had a student with a visual impairment but this did not prevent him from excelling in class. I would alter all written materials with a larger font for easier viewing, as well as seat him near the front closer to the over head projection and white board. His peers were always willing to help by reading directions and repeating information.
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Sarah Baca Posts: 3
3/19/2023
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An adapted assessment I have used is exit cards. I have had students with disabilities that prevent them from wiring successfully in a short amount of time. I use Canvas as an accommodation for those students. They can type me a message at the end of class with more success than writing responses on an exit card.
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Jay Garrett Posts: 3
3/19/2023
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I taught a student with an intellectual disability. She played the clarinet in Middle School Band for three years. She focused on tone production and the first 6 notes of the B-flat concert scale during all her time in band rehearsal and performance. I helped her to adapt her basic skills to any musical piece the band played. Everyday involved repetition of the techniques and concepts from the first several months of the beginning band curriculum. She enjoyed playing along to all the musical arrangements, even if she just played several notes in rhythm with the other students.
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John Reeves Posts: 3
3/20/2023
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One of my students in my recording class has dyslexia. An accommodation that I give is to allow her more time to complete her assignments and extra time on tests. I also do not count off if a homework assignment is turned in late. If an assignment if giving my student with dyslexia problems, I will go over the directions with the student a second time and reword the directions so that it makes more sense for the student.
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Forrest S. Hartmann Posts: 3
3/21/2023
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I have had a number of students with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities and my admin team and I had to create different goal setting tools and objectives for that student to follow in order to maintain proper expectations in class. Many times, my one on one involvement, attention to detail, and relationship building with that student helped immensely. I've also taught many ASD learners as well and have had many instances where I've had to differentiate and modify lessons in order to ensure that the student was being challenged enough as well as being able to keep up with the pacing of the classroom environment. Usually I'll gave spare music that I find to be a level or two above the average that I'll provide for those students to keep them engaged.
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Kalyn Todd Posts: 1
3/26/2023
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This year, I have a student with autism. One of the assessments I use in my classroom is memorizing steps of effective practice. Typically, students will need to memorize the 7 terms and definitions and say or write them for me. This student often has trouble reading, writing, or speaking to communicate with others. With this specific assessment, I made him a quiz online where he could match the term to the definition. He successfully completed this with only a few attempts.
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Erin Cook Posts: 3
4/1/2023
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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 had Intellectual Disabilities, Developmental Delays, and Speech Impariments. She was a senior and wanted to participate in the Senior Awards night in a special way. I asked her if she wanted to sing or speak in front of our audience, and she rejected both options. However, I provided a twist. I told her she could stand with the Principal and be "Master of Ceremonies" with the Principal. She jumped at the chance to say a word or two and laugh with the principal. She did her best to sing all the songs that night and felt honored as one of my amazing Seniors. This same student was masterful at copying information given to her both auditorially and visually. Often, she would write what I wrote, or sing what I sang and then could tell bits and pieces of what it all meant. Her hard work paid off. She then went on to have a small part in the musical.
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Yeniffer Velasquez Posts: 4
4/3/2023
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I had a piano student with Intellectual disabilities and Autism Disorder. He was 9 years old and he loved music. He had great rhythm and creativity but reading the music was difficult for him. I had to accommodate the reading of the notes with colors. Each note would have a specific color for example: Do (red), Re (blue), Mi (green) etc. Then I added stickers with these colors on the keys of the piano to indicate the notes and he was able to read the music with a color matching system. It brought joy to him when he played the notes and recognize the melodies of the songs he was playing.
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Yeniffer Velasquez Posts: 4
4/4/2023
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Zachary Murdock wrote:
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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Ian Tapson Posts: 3
4/9/2023
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I have had the pleasure of instructing many students who displayed different disabilities in the chorus room. A few years ago, I had a student "M" who LOVED to sing and be in chorus but she seemed to have some developmental and intellectual delays. Although she had an amazing teaching assistant who could read music and assist, I made sure to have her surrounded by supportive and competent students who could assist her as well. When it came time for our performance, we had some simple choreo that we helped her with but it was her first time performing. I talked with her about her what she could do if she got nervous, where she could stand so she had an easy entrance and exit, and also made sure to communicate this to those around her. It was a successful experience for everyone!
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Thomas B Gaona Posts: 3
4/11/2023
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We had a trumpet student about 4 years ago who always had trouble with notes on the staff. Gorgeous sound and great style but really struggled to identify notes. We thought it was just a kid who got by with fingering and the middle school didn't fix their issues with reading. Come to find out through a theory work page and the fact they never missed B (middle line for trouble clef) he had dyslexia. Well, at the middle schools the teacher kept the letters so close together on the staff that they student turned them around. BOOM, identified, next is how do we fix this? I kept it simple and made flash cards with the note names in a line or space by themselves. Kid was reading music in 3 weeks better than anyone else. This students had all the knowledge but was not set up for utilizing it in a meaningful way!
edited by Thomas B Gaona on 4/11/2023
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Christina frierdich Posts: 3
4/12/2023
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I had a student who desperately wanted to play the violin. Said student was born without fingers on both hands. He took piano and was able to read music and play simple Melodies. I ended up teaching him to read musical scores and conduct the orchestra. As he transitioned to high school we were able to put him on Tuba. He could work the valves and read bass clef from prior piano experience
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Christian Gordon Posts: 3
4/14/2023
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All students, regardless of ability or disability, are able to move at their own pace in my class. I grade on a progress curve versus a results-based outcome. Because we use a pass-off system, students are able to select what they are assessed on. Students that have completed similar number of pass-offs are grouped together automatically when it comes time to deliver differentiated instruction. The pass-offs are accommodating to all because they can be completed at their own pace, attempted as many times as needed, and feedback is always provided with each attempt. Adjustments can be made to each pass-off if needed. They can be done online or in person.
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Joe Sipiora Posts: 3
4/17/2023
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I have a student for the last four years in my band class. He plays euphonium. This student has Tourette's Syndrome. His tick is to make head movements and vocalize loud sounds at the same time. These ticks cause him to not be able to play some classes at all or miss important parts in the music. He also feels embarrassed because it does happen while we play so it becomes part of the sound we are creating. This student has always been a strong advocate for himself and always introduces himself to new people with information on his condition. I have seen this student work hard to still learn and work through this disability and it has been very inspiring to see.
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Tavares Nottage Posts: 3
4/19/2023
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As stated by others, I have had many students with various disabilities. One in particular was a student I'll name George. George has Tar Syndrome. The task of the class at the time was to learn and play the recorders. Prior to the fisrt class I met with Geroge to get an idea of his attitude and concerns with the class. A little background info, George's previous music teacher was (and is) phenomenal in that George and his classmates had a foundation of great previous music experiences. George was confident in his ability to play the recorder regardless of his condition and was able to lead in making his own adjustments to met the needs of the task. When the task became challenging/ impossible due to his condition we both brainstormed ideas and decided to use an alternative instrument that would meet his needs. It was important to include his in the process as it allowed him to profess his confidence in his abilities.
The accommodations we made was to use an ipad and MIDI keyboard to allow him to continue to learn to read/play the music with the rest of the group. Later in the course I obtained more keyboards to allow other students to play along with George so that would not feel seperate from the group (not that he ever felt seperate). He literally "never missed a beat" in the transition.
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Kent Lambert Posts: 3
4/24/2023
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I have had a guitar player in the past that had problems with his fingers. He had injuries in the past that caused his fingers not to bend properly so we had to learn different ways to play specific chords and modify them for his specific needs. At first he was frustrated by it but slowly over time he learned how to make it work for himself. I took some patience on my part but at the end of the day he was able to succeed.
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Juan Vazquez Posts: 1
5/1/2023
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I had a student with dyslexia in band and we had his sight reading music for MPA enlarged.
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