8/7/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Andre Dubas
|
I had a young pianist in my "Intro to Music" class this past year. He is extremely high on the autism spectrum. While he has trouble doing some basic things that most students do with ease, he is quite smart, and a very capable pianist. His social interactions and verbal responses are tortured, but his understanding and writing skills are good. A direct question to him in class will not elicit a response - he needs time to process. However, he will come back the next day with a neatly typed out response that is very detailed! In terms of piano playing, he can play moderate level literature quite well, but will occasionally develop a bad habit. These are very hard to break, but, once he truly understands the issue, he will work very diligently to do so. Simple repetition and modelling seem to be the path to success here. One of the topics we cover is audience and performer recital etiquette at recitals (which we have once per month). Simply knowing when it is his turn to play, how to walk on stage, when to start playing were all things that took drilling. A solution that worked well was to have a "buddy" alongside him to help him with what he should do next. In my class we made a pretty big deal of when and how to applaud after each performance. He took this to heart! When he would finish, he would stand up and applaud himself!
Still working on this one! Patience, repetition, and the buddy system seem to be keys to success. |
8/12/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Andre Dubas
|
In the case of an autistic student who understands verbal instruction but needs much more time to process it and respond, you could have him use technology such as an IPAD or phone to record your lesson, then take it home and work on it at his/her pace.
In addition (I'm thinking of one such student who loved using colored pencils) he could use his colored pencils to make cornell notes or diagrams of your lesson. |
8/15/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Andre Dubas
|
In the case of an autistic student who is being asked to perform a very specific task in a very specific way (for example: play a major scale 2 8ves, using eighth notes at mm=90, staccato ascending, legato descending), you could have him show the fingerings (or finger pattern), name the notes, play it very slowly and gradually increase the speed, have the teach name the next note followed by them fingering it, then playing it.
This approach would make the task less overwhelming to the student, and more "doable".
You could make a game out of it, where every correct note or fingering is a point. This would make it fun and challenging for the student. |