While considering topics for my Master's Research Design Project, I decided to pursue something I truly care about that addresses a weakness of mine as an educator. I determined I had limited educational preparation and experience accommodating special needs students. I knew of the joy special needs students experience from music and the sense of community one feels in an inclusive environment where they are valued. For instance, special needs students indirectly enhanced the environment of my choral classroom. Michael and Amanda (whose names have been changed) elicited compassion and kindness from their classmates. Without being asked, those students seated around Michael would retrieve his music, turn to the correct page, and point to the lyrics as all sang. Amanda couldn't help dancing and clapping to her favorite choral piece. If there was extra time at the end of rehearsal, the choir could request a song to sing. Students consistently chose Amanda's favorite song "because the music made her so happy." It is evident from these moving memories that Michael and Amanda helped create a closer choral community.

Though I valued having special needs students in my choir, I had few strategies for accommodating their needs in my classroom. I found special needs resources related to the general education classroom, but it was a challenge to apply them to music ensembles. I found myself relying on the paraprofessionals in my classroom who accompanied these students, though most had little music expertise. This lack of resources within my field led me to choose "Accommodating Special Needs Students in the Music Classroom" as my Master's Research Design Project.

Initial research on special needs accommodations in the music classroom showed that other music teachers had similar challenges. One study found that there is a "pressing need to expand research in inclusive music education settings and answer the many questions about students' participation and effective teaching strategies" (Jellison, 2015, p. 325). Another study revealed that lack of support and training in music education negatively affected teacher attitudes (Hamblin, 2013). Hammel (2011) argued the importance of including the framework of special education into professional development in order for music educators to understand their role in the education of children with special needs. Finally, a study by Hoffman (2012) found that the most problematic concepts to teach students with special needs include sight-reading, performing and/or reading rhythms, and memorization.

My research study was conducted to learn about as many "tried and true" special education accommodations for music teachers as possible. Who better to seek knowledge from than music teachers themselves? The research included surveying a convenience sample of 65 music educators with various special needs teaching experiences. The participants represented elementary school, middle school, high school, and college-level music education levels. They were asked what accommodations they used in their own classrooms related to four areas: instruments, singing, music notation, and movement/dance. Many responses appeared in more than one area, therefore, for brevity's sake, I organized them by accommodation type. Direct quotes from several participants are included, along with helpful links for more information.

One-to-One Instruction

• Play instruments with students using hand-over-hand instruction
• Hold instruments for students while they play
• Exaggerate movements next to students while playing instruments
• Tap beat on students' shoulders
• Track music (pointing to notation, correct Orff bars, or piano keys as students play or sing)
• Help students move arms/hands/wheelchairs for dance/movement
• Schedule lessons or meet with students outside of class
• Create videos, recordings, or lyric sheets for students to practice outside of class

Adapted Music (Create alternate versions of music for special needs students)

• Simplify rhythms and pitch patterns
• "Provide text-only music sheets instead of octavos. These students have special needs that prevent them from processing as much information as a sheet of music would require."
• "Often, it's as simple as providing a copy of the music that only contains their part instead of four more. The removal of visual distractions is very helpful."
• Ask students to keep a steady beat on one note instead of playing melody on instruments or ask them to play only the rhythm of the melody on a drum.
• Color-code pitches or highlight vocal line
• "I have used color-coding and even used Popsicle sticks to create "Braille" music notes for a blind student. This allowed the students to participate and hopefully gain an understanding of music notation."
• Write in counts, note-names, solfège, and/or finger placements
• Replace lyrics with icons, pictures, or contour lines
• Enlarge print, project music onto screen, increase spacing between notes
• Write lyrics and keywords on the board

Adapted Instruments

• Wrap mallets with compression tape or use mallets with T-bars
• Add Velcro handles or use shorter handles for small percussion instruments
• Use a wheelchair mount to hold instrument in place (Information on adaptive mallets, Velcro handles, and wheelchair mounts)
• Use slider bars for guitars or shorter guitars
• "When students are playing the barred instruments, I will take off certain notes so they can see very clearly which notes they are to play. I also use stickers on barred instruments to help them find the ones we are using. I have color-coded solfège that I use on the barred instruments as well. When playing the recorder, I color-code the notes on the Smartboard. All the B's are red, etc."
• Place tissues in recorders to muffle the sound
• Use a "Skoog" -- an electronic, customizable instrument that adapts to various needs of special needs students. (For more information on Skoog, refer to their homepage or watch this video explanation.
  
  

Adapted Choreography

• Simplify movements (i.e. only move arms)
• Allow student to move around room without requiring fine motor skills
• "If a student has a physical challenge of some kind, I will sometimes offer two different movements for all kids to do and they can choose which is most comfortable for them."

Substitution

• Substitute alternate melodic instrument for recorder (i.e. xylophone or piano)
• Give student a simple instrument for band
• Have student add "color" instruments
• "When the class was learning to play "Who Has Seen the Wind?" on recorder, the special needs students created wind sounds with hand drums and wind chimes."

Grouping/Preferential Seating

• Place students with a "Folder Buddy" or compassionate peer to help them
• "I think partners or small groups are the key. Not necessarily with the best students either. By students helping each other out they are only reaffirming their knowledge."
• Seat students near the front of the room
• "I place students in choir seats where they will be easily able to see and hear me, and often next to or in the area of stronger singers. This allows them to "piggyback" off of stronger singers."

Rote Learning

• Invite student to echo your modeling instead of reading music
• Isolate small sections of music, repeat small series, then scaffold music by ear
• Use memorable, silly phrases when teaching notation
• "I try to relate rhythms to common phrases. For example, an eighth note triplet pattern becomes: pine-ap-ple, pine-ap-ple, pine-ap-ple."
• Movement
• Mimic shape of melodic contour for singing
• Add actions to songs to help memorize
• Employ body and tactile percussion while learning notation
• Use Curwen hand signs

Manipulatives

• Use manipulatives for notation, composition, or music literacy (i.e. Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, Legos/blocks, Velcro cards, pool noodles cut to specific lengths representing values of notes)
• Use scarves, paper plates, or instruments to express movement for those with limited mobility
• Use hula hoops or dot spots to set boundaries for movement and for spatial awareness

Other Accommodations

• Create adapted assessments
• "Many of my students who have cognitive or developmental disabilities also struggle with "finding" their singing voice and matching pitch. So, sometimes simply participating is the goal."
• "Instead of sight-reading pitches, they might be asked to identify if the music is getting higher or lower. Or, they may be asked to echo a rhythm pattern instead of reading."
• Download iPad apps for recorder
• Provide noise-cancelling earmuffs for students with sound-sensitivity
• Create a new ensemble to meet needs of students
• "We created a front ensemble in marching band for students with physical limitations who could not march on the field. This way they still play but do not have to march."
• Ask special needs students to help with accommodations
• "One of my students only has the use of one hand. One day she had sand blocks and she figured out how to hold it with her foot. I give freedom to the students to find adaptations that work for their situation. This gives the student power over his/her own learning."

Please note, certain accommodations may be better suited for specific ages or special needs, while others are more universal.

This research provides a small sample of accommodations for several grade levels, special needs populations, and musical areas from music educators. In order to better communicate these results as well as those of the future, please access the Special Needs Accommodations In Music Education group via Facebook. This forum provides an easily accessible venue for teachers to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and stay current in the latest trends of special needs accommodations.

References