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nafmeadmin.
nafmeadminDoes anyone have experience teaching a student who is blind to read music? So far I have been able to adapt activities for her so that she’s not missing out on our curriculum, but now that we’re getting to reading written notation, I know essentially nothing about what to do. My student’s braille teacher started looking into it and got five binders worth of braille music systems, but it’s all extremely complicated, and I’m not sure if that’s the best route to go right now. I’m looking for a way to effectively teach her to read quarter note, double eighths, and quarter rest patterns to start. We’re not using the staff yet. Anyone have tips or experience with this? Thanks!
nafmeadminWhat a wonderful teacher you are to seek out additional help for this student beyond your immediate support. There is a helpful article that was published in the MEJ 1998, “Resources for Helping Blind Students” by Mary A. Smaligo, a music teacher experienced in this area. Just go to the link. I hope this helps. https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr18/issue1/f180105.htm
nafmeadminThank you so much!
nafmeadminDoes your state have a Commission for the Blind? We recently contacted the commission in Texas on behalf of my father-in-law. The wealth of resources they can help you access is huge! Good luck!
nafmeadminInterestingly I just got finished a conference call with the NAfME Council for General Music and one of the action items we discussed was to produce a multi-part webinar on Music and Special Education. This will address strategies for students with physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities. Although, sadly, this isn’t immediately helpful to you it is a resource you can look forward to using in the near future. Your student is lucky to have a dedicated teacher like you!
Mary Anne Zupan
Retired K-5 Music Specialist
nafmeadminThank you! I’ll look for this in the future. So far we’ve created a system to use of foam shapes to represent the notes (triangle, square, circle) with magnetic backings that we arrange on a whiteboard so she can feel them. It’s not perfect, but at least it’s something we can do for now. We’ve discovered that the actual braille system for music is too complex for what we’re doing right now; each rhythm has to be associated with a note name, which we’re not doing yet.
nafmeadminHello,
I have a lot of experience with teaching special needs students in the general music classroom and ensemble classes. I am more than happy to share what I know and share what I do with my students. Is the student legally blind, or completely without vision? Feel free to e-mail me gonzalezv@dadeschools.net
Christopher M. Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy, is currently the Chair of the Music Education and Music Therapy Department and Director of the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Johnson earned his Ph.D. from the Florida State University.
Since his arrival at The University of Kansas, Johnson has taught courses in Instrumental Conducting, Teaching Instrumental Music, Managing Behaviors in the Music Environment, Psychology and Acoustics of Music, and Research Methods in Music Education and Music Therapy. Johnson served two terms as the editor of the International Journal of Music Education: Research, the research publication of the International Society for Music Education. He is currently serving his second term on the National Association for Music Educations Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. He also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education, and one earlier term as the Chair for the MENC Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. Johnson also served as the Chair for the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education.
Johnson’s research interests include applied research in music education, and basic research in all aspects of the psychology of music. He has published articles in many journals including the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music Education, the Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Band Research, Contributions to Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, among others. Johnson has also been an active member and contributor to the Research Seminar of the International Society for Music Education and World Alliance for Arts Education.
Johnson received a university teaching award – the Ned N. Fleming Award for Excellence in Teaching and received the recognition for Graduate Teaching Achievement from the Center for Teaching Excellence. Johnson was also awarded a lecturing & research award as a J. William Fulbright Scholar and recently received the Ella Scoble Opperman Citation for Distinguished Achievement from the Florida State University College of Music.
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