Don Isabelle
all messages by user
1/2/2023
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Don Isabelle
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I have a student who is autistic and naturally talented in music. He came to middle school as a cello player, we do not have an orchestra at our school, but we do allow string bass. This is his third year in my program and he started with a lot of questions. This generally is not an issue, but the class sizes are generally 40 - 70 students with only 45 minutes per period. The initial goal was to make him feel as part of the group and to make his questions turn into thought patterns. I would redirect the question to "what do you think about....." That generally helped him reassess his actions. He made nice progress, although it was slow moving. I noticed that the general ed students were patient with him, but I decided to ask him to show the class his piano skills. I knew that he played piano. He seemed to memorize his music and he was happy to play. After playing for the entire class the students had an appreciation of his abilities. After that, they wanted to offer their support and help with him during the regular instruction. Peer acceptance was an important step for him to feel that he was a part of the entire ensemble. Throughout the past 3 years he has gained the ability to focus his questions only to the necessary subject matters. |