Teaching music to students with differences and disabilities, 2026

  Why I Chose This Domain: I chose the behavioral domain because this is the domain that I have the most experience with as a math teacher and it also feels the most relevant to the type of music I am interested in teaching, which is a jazz band/modern band ensemble. In these ensembles, behavior has a direct impact on the individual learning of each student but also the entire success of the group, so it’s extremely important to be able to manage behavioral challenges. Music is unique because of how much of it revolves around whole class collaboration, but this also means that one student not aligning with the behavioral expectations will really stand out. Disability Description: Behavioral disabilities are typically related to difficulties with self-regulation, focus, and social interaction. These behaviors are often linked with students who have diagnosed disorders like ADHD or other emotional or behavioral disabilities. Students with these challenges may end up making impulsiv...

I chose to write about emotional disabilities because they’ve always fascinated me - From the vast range of what emotional disabilities can be, how they differ in symptoms from childhood to adulthood, and different ways one can adjust for them in the classroom. “Emotional Disturbance” affects students’ education due to varying conditions that exhibit themselves over an elongated period. Some characteristics of emotional disturbance are as follows: An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors, an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers, inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances, and a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.     Some disabilities that fall under the category of “Emotional Disturbances” are bipolar, depression, sc...

Aamon A. Richardson I chose this domain because I want to better relate to my students and my career as a music teacher.  Also, I want to improve in classroom management, and I have learned from our course how behavioral and emotional challenges are intertwined.  Students come into class with a load of emotions, and everybody feels different things on different days.  It's important to know how others are feeling in situations, so it's ok to ask "how do you feel?"  After reading the article "Music Teachers and Music Therapists: Helping Children Together." by Allyson Patterson, I found the role of music educators and music therapists are different, yet the most important goals of the two are the educational growth and development of the student.  The article is about the relationship between music educators and music therapists, discussing their participation in special education services.  The article shares the process of incorporating music therapy in sch...

  Communication Domain     Throughout my teaching, I had never fully encountered students who are unable to communicate without assistance. That all changed at the beginning of 2026 when I started teaching my current adaptive music class (my favorite class, but don't tell my other students!). I chose this domain because it is the one I encounter most often in my adaptive music class, and it affects 90% of the class. I want to gain more knowledge to improve my teaching in my adaptive class. The communication domain focuses on how language is used in education, specifically, receptive (understanding) and expressive (using) language. Focusing on verbal, non-verbal, written, and signed communication. To quote the book, "It is valuable for music educators to understand that language development is critical to the success of students in the music classroom. If a student cannot understand instruction, their skills and understanding will not increase." The Research I have de...

     For my blog post I decided to focus on Cerebral Palsy (CP) a disability that falls under the Physical-Medical domain but also has major impacts on communication. Here in Central Bucks our students with more severe CP are typically placed in our MDS classrooms and my experience working with CP students has mostly been paired with a number of other disabilities including vision impairments, communication disabilities, etc. However, due to the complex nature of CP it can really cross multiple domains and lead to challenges beyond just the physical-medical. It is often primally categorized in that domain due to its primary issue of motor impairment. While there are numerous ways in the music classroom to work on physical and motor based IEP goals for the sake of this blog I wanted to dig into a communication and AAC goals that I have had some success with and would love to share/brainstorm additional applications for with you all. Before we get into that... lets start wi...

 Emotional Domain I have always found the brain, emotions, and patterns of behaviors very interesting.  I also currently teach a few students who have the domain of "emotional disturbance" on their IEPs.  I have always been slightly confused by that category and what exactly it means.  I understood that it is a disability that involves emotional disregulation, but beyond that I was unsure of the details.  I wanted to research this domain because it is very interesting to me, and also because understanding it better I think will help me help my students more. The first thing I learned from researching is that the federal definition of the emotional disability domain is laid out in 5 categories: "The term means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: 1) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or other heal...

  Sensory Disabilities in the Music Classroom What are Sensory Disabilities? Music classrooms are often a place where students can come together, find a place of belonging and community, and enjoy artistic peace and expression. However, for some students, the music classroom can be incredibly overwhelming. Students with disabilities that fall under the Sensory Domain usually struggle with impairments in vision and hearing and a sensitivity to sounds, sights, touch, smell, and/or taste. These students may struggle to even be able to identify or communicate what they are experiencing when in a sensory overload. It is estimated that 5-16% of the general population has symptoms associated with sensory processing disorder. Though I never had a formal diagnosis or accommodation in school, as an adult I've finally been able to recognize and name my own sensitivities with sensory input that can often accompany my anxiety disorder. I now have the tools and language to recognize sensory...