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Administrator Administrator Posts: 18
4/11/2016
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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.
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KAREN ROMINE Posts: 4
4/25/2016
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I have had many students with a variety of disabilities as I teach at two schools that are specialized for students with severe behavior and learning disabilities. I have had students who were profoundly mentally handicapped and those who have been physically handicapped. I currently have several students who are hearing impaired and a couple who are visually impaired. In addition I have several behaviorally challenged students in my choral program. I'll share about the blind student. At the time, I was teaching band and chorus, and he was in the band. In addition to his visual impairment, this student had been diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome which made social situations in a group performance class challenging. He loved the piano and was quite gifted, however he was very set in his ways regarding what he wanted to play and when. He also had difficulty learning that other people and musical parts were as important to the whole process of performing. The accommodations I made included making a recording of his part that he could listen to and learn. I provided time for he and his para-educator to have access to the piano for practice. We worked as a class on taking turns and letting one instrument be heard more predominantly to teach him how to blend and balance his instrument. It was also important to have a plan for the rehearsal time and let him know about it in advance so that he could mentally prepare for the pieces that we would be working on as a class.
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Chorus Teacher Middle/High School
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Kendall Carrier Posts: 3
5/2/2016
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I had a student for four years in band who was steadily declining due to muscular dystrophy. When he was a 9th grader, he was able to play snare drum and bass drum comfortably from his wheel chair. During his junior and senior year, he lacked the strength to play on the normal equipment so we used an electronic drum kit and a mallet Kat (electronic sound module). This technology allowed the young man to successfully participate in marching band and concert band. It was a great social environment for him and he felt great knowing that he could contribute to the band musically. I would high suggest this technology for anyone with similar disabilities.
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Lisa Testa Posts: 3
5/22/2016
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I had a blind student in my choir class. Since she was learning to read braille music, we made key signature flash cards. When we reviewed and tested key signatures, she would whip out her key signature flash cards. They had the braille for her, but the key signatures written, so I could check to make sure she was correct.
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Cassidy Gleaton Posts: 3
5/10/2016
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I've had a student for a year in band with a seizure disorder that causes him to miss school often, and the medication makes him slower to respond or react to tasks. Lack of oxygen can bring on the seizures, so we chose percussion for him. Playing percussion also allowed him to stand still or sit in a chair while playing, instead of marching on the field carrying something that could potentially hurt him if he had a seizure. He usually plays a part that is simplified and/or doubled on another instrument so he can hear the part while playing. This helps him stay with the ensemble.
His parents and I provided training to the students in his section so they knew our procedures on how to handle a seizure if he should have one during a practice, class, or performance, and the students were able to help and not panic each time it happened. These accommodations have allowed him to feel comfortable and welcome in band, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to work with him.
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Julie Hebert Posts: 6
5/12/2016
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I taught a young man with physical hand impairments. Playing recorder was a big part of our curriculum. But this young man could not properly finger the notes. I purchased an adaptive recorder that provided individual moveable joints for each hole on the recorder. We were able to move he joints to accommodate the size of his fingers. It wasn't a perfect solution, he still had difficulty playing. But it did allow him to participate and enjoy the experience with the other students.
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Elizabeth Phillips Posts: 3
4/30/2016
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I've had a number of students with orthopedic impairments. This has never kept them from performing with our choirs pertaining to choreographed selections. We have modified choreography to allow the student to succeed and participate within their limitations. Students have been successful with improving their upper body strength through choreographed selections and have felt part of the team in all aspects of the performance.
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Mike Wilson Posts: 3
5/17/2016
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I have a high-functioning student with autism this year. He is a member of my percussion section. In 6th grade he wished to start in the percussion section because he felt the other instruments were too loud for him to concentrate. He would often choose to not participate in band classes because of the fear of not playing an exercise perfectly. He would get physically very upset and would distract other students around him. He would also seem to be so distracted by other sounds around him that he would not be able to continue. This year, we were able to give him his own space in the percussion section where he can keep all of his equipment in order using his own system. He knows where everything is and is able to get right to work with anything we are doing in the band class.
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Josh Eury Posts: 3
5/14/2016
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One way that I used technology to help a student with a disability was to use a copier to enlarge his band book and his music due to a severe visual impairment. We also used a computer based version of his method book to allow him to hear the music more times while he was practicing in order for him to learn it by ear. So far, this has worked very well and the student has been very successful.
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Chris Endsley Posts: 4
5/16/2016
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I recall having a high-functioning autistic student who enrolled in my AP Music Theory class. I was concerned at the beginning that the class was too difficult for her, but after hearing her play (she was a pianist) and visiting with her private teacher, guidance counselor and parent, I decided to let her stay. I did have to make some modifications in that I often had to provide extra explanation and I found that teaching her at the piano really helped. I also had to "stick to the plan". For instance, I announced at the beginning of the year Wednesdays would be sight-singing/ear-training days. Well, the first day I skipped that to continue with a lesson from the previous day, she said to me, "I am really disappointed we didn't do ear-training today. You said Wednesday is ear-training day". So, if I had to alter the schedule I made sure to let her know in advance so she could have an opportunity to process the change in schedule. She also carried a slinky that provided some sort of outlet for her. When she needed to play with it, I let her without drawing attention to it. I was also able to pair her with another student who was vision impaired and they had done Very Special Arts together. They helped each other out during the year and both young ladies earned a 5 on the AP exam. It was an amazing experience!
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Lawrence Young Posts: 4
5/11/2016
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I have a young man who is autistic and has some physical disabilities as well. He joined the marching band (he plays the sousaphone). He had quite a few challenges the we had to make exceptions and adaptations for. The sousaphone was initially too heavy and complicated for him. We (myself and student leaders) spent additional one on one time with him to show him how to hold the instrument. We also work with his parents to construct some padding that made de the instrument more comfortable for him. Lastly we limited the amount of time he had to hold/carry the instrument. We would begin with holding it1-2 minutes at a time. We increased the amount of minutes daily until he became used the holding it. by the time football season rolled around no one was aware that he had any disabilities. He is one happy and proud band member. He loves band.
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Kenneth Phillips Posts: 3
4/29/2016
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Mneumonics: music teachers sometimes use mnemonics to introduce rhythm patterns to students. For example, a quarter note might be represented by the word "truck". Four quarter notes would sound like "truck, truck truck, truck " An adaptation for a student with a speech impediment would be to use a word that the teacher knows this student pronounces well, perhaps "bear". That would allow the student to participate in the music making activity without drawing attention to that student.
Task Analysis: This would be great for teaching improvisation. Teach the student the first pitch of the key. Have the student perform with the rhythm section. When the student demonstrates they can play the one pitch with a steady groove, teach the student another pitch. Now the student has two pitch with which to improvise. Continue this process until the student is using the desired number of pitches in a variety of patterns.
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Zachary Murdock Posts: 3
5/31/2016
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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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Jennifer Haber Posts: 3
5/31/2016
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I currently have a student with a visual impairment. I have enlarged all of the music on a photocopier to help her see. I also allow her to sit by herself instead of with a stand partner so that she can pull up the stand as close as possible to her. I have also made mp3 recordings for her to take home so that she can play along with them when practicing.
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Richard Sorey Posts: 3
5/22/2018
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In my first-year teaching high school music I had the pleasure of teaching two visually impaired students. After speaking with both students about their musical goals I made an accommodation plan for each student. Student A was going to have to learn to read braille music; which was a new concept for her. Student B would be performing in a typical band class and therefore would not be able to receive visual cues from a conductor.
Student A was eager to learn to read music and we spoke with the school vision teacher to have the piano text book brailed for her. Student A did great with understanding the content but would need physical guidance on hand placement at the piano, hand shape, and finger patterns. Student A did really well with these accommodations and excelled at the piano.
Student B was in my percussion class. Student B did not know how to read braille music and was not interested in having the music brailed for him. With Student B we did a lot of audible testing (checking understanding of terms, listening and describing), and echo teaching. Often, a peer or myself would play a rudiment for him and he would echo it back to us. We would describe the technique, physically guide hand shape and stick grip, and coach through the learning process. He would regularly perform with the schools Wind Ensemble after learning his part through coaching completely by memory and with subtle cues from his peers.
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Jillian Savia Posts: 9
6/21/2018
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My first year of teaching I taught a music class to all of the self contained ESE students at my school. One student in particular with Autism and a severe speech impairment had been struggling with several of the musical activities I was planning at the time. Her speech impairment made it difficult for her to succeed in activities where she needed to "describe or name" what she as hearing. Her hand flapping and trouble focusing made activities that used coloring, singing lyrics, and trying most instruments difficult as well. One day, I decided to experiment with bucket drums and teaching notation/rhythm by using food associated words that fit the syllables of the rhythms. An example of this would be using the word "pear" for 1 quarter note, the word "Apple" for 2 eighth notes and the word "Watermelon" for 4 sixteenth notes. The same day, this same student, who had struggled with so many other aspects of music, played all of the rhythms perfectly on the bucket drums with drum sticks. I put up various rhythms for her and she continued to get them all right when other students would struggle. That day we found what she excelled at and her main teachers as well as parents were informed so that they could begin incorporating rhythm into other aspects of her learning.
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Ian Black Posts: 3
7/11/2018
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One summer, a rising junior brought in his little brother to meet me. His brother had not been in band before, and the purpose of meeting was to find where he would be a good fit in our program. What I did not know until several weeks later was that his younger brother was had an intellectual disability after we already decided that since he liked french horn, he would play that and march mellophone.
I was a relatively new teacher at the time, so I wasn't really sure how to handle the difficulties brought on by engaging in learning an instrument AND moving around. Over time, I worked with ESE staff to find ways to keep this young man involved in marching band while making it more approachable and achievable for him. The easiest answer was to limit his movement responsibilities, but it was my goal to make his involvement meaningful. He ended up having a solo of sorts (unleashing a sail from a giant "boat") that was at the climactic finale of the show. The night of our last performance, however, the knot holding the sail was tied far too tight by an overzealous band parent.
As the boat raced across the field, I watched from the sidelines as he struggled to untie the knot. When it became clear that he could not untie it, he surprised me in the most amazing way possible: He simply turned around and saluted the audience as if he were captain of the ship. We had not rehearsed this possibility. We had not talked of this possibility. He came to that solution on his own. I could not have been more proud of him.
Over the next few years, we transitioned him off of French Horn into Percussion. He continued to have difficulty reading music, so we devised alternate notation for him. He learned all of his 12 major scales on mallets by ear, and was able to approach most percussion instruments with proper technique if he had repeated exposure and hand-over-hand instruction.
The best things about this young man were his attitude and his passion for making music. His ESE teachers consistently told me that he would mention band constantly, and that his behavior was never an issue ("because he knows that if he got in trouble here, he'd be in trouble with you!").
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matt stott Posts: 3
7/27/2018
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A student with a traumatic brain injury was a joy to have but required many modifications. He was significantly behind in technical and reading skills. I found volunteer tutors from the community to come in to work with him regularly. He did better in a small group environment as opposed to the large ensemble, so a peer tutor was also helpful. We chose a selection of solos that he could listen to recordings of and practice with confidence and created alternate assessments.
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Emily Mahlmann Posts: 2
6/4/2020
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In one chorus class I had 2 EBD students, a student with autism, and a student who was hard of hearing in one ear but no hearing aid. Each had their own challenges but also their strengths. I built a relationship with one of my students with behavioral challenges by accident and necessity. If his assigned seat was anywhere else in the room he would get off-task and bring 9 people off-task with him. I assigned his seat to be directly in front of me and when I saw his attention waning or his fidgeting getting distracting for others, I could give him a small reminder that didn't embarrass him in front of the class. Thankfully he responded positively and not with opposition. When reminders didn't work, I asked him to move his seat to one of our vacation spots just a few feet away from other students so he was still part of the activity but not tempted by peers immediately around him. After a while he would notice when he was distracting or other people would bother him and would ask if he could go to one of the vacation spots. He did very well with his grades with these reminders and his self advocating.
My student who was hard of hearing is also a terrific singer. The classroom change for him was most likely the simplest to implement. He is only hard of hearing in one ear, so his assigned seat and all the rest of the boy's section was moved so his good ear was positioned toward me, and he sat in front. I made sure I slightly exaggerated my lips as I spoke important points or when the rest of the room was working and I was speaking to just him.
My student with autism was enthusiastic but just needed reminders to stay on task, gentle wake up reminders as she curled up to sleep, or given an opportunity to demonstrate a concept in a different way. The biggest challenges were some other students mimicking her flapping hand movements. I tried to educate and set up buddy situations for empathy, but we didn't overcome this bullying.
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Janani Shanmuga Posts: 3
12/21/2020
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During my 5 years so far teaching, I have had many students with various disabilities. One of these students had Spina Bifida. This was during my first year of teaching and putting on performances and concerts was already something that was new to me. I really had to carefully plan out how she would go on an off the stage and have someone to help her get into the position. She was more than willing to stand with the rest of the students during rehearsals in class but sometimes you could tell she was doing it just to not stick out. She wanted to take part in all the movement exercises we did in choir but I had to make modified versions of these or sometimes she had to do them from her seat. It was important for her not to feel left out, I could tell she had issues with that in the past. For the most part she willingly participated in modified versions of activities.
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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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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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Jillian Savia Posts: 9
6/29/2023
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James Cochran wrote:
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.
I had a student that was visually impaired. Even with glasses she was unable to read the music well. She was determined to learn to play the baritone. I would adapt the music by blowing it up to a larger size so she could read. She now has a BM in music and working on her MM.
That is wonderful that the accommodations you provided to your student in the past resulted in them finding success in the performing arts and perusing music as their career!
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