Instructional and Behavioral Strategies for the Special Education Classroom

In today’s classroom, teachers are constantly searching for new and engaging ways to instruct and teach all students. But the term all students most often includes those who are typically developing individuals and not always those with disabilities. This is not to say that teachers aren’t looking for ways to instruct their students with disabilities, but the array of disabilities that exist is so extensive and one method of instruction is not always suitable. Instructing such exceptional students in the music classroom brings forward its own unique set of challenges, particularly for those teachers with little to no experience with teaching such diverse learners. But along with those challenges comes the joy of knowing and seeing that every child has the ability to learn the craft of music. It’s up for us to meet them where they are.

This article will explore the most pervasive disabilities in schools today and offers guidance on best teaching practices and behavioral strategies for music teachers in inclusive classrooms.

What is Inclusion, Mainstreaming, and the LRE?

There are several terms that are used interchangeably by educators today to label and define what environments with students with special needs are called. These include terms such as inclusive or inclusion, mainstreaming, special education, and more commonly the least restrictive environment (LRE). Under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004), LRE means that children with disabilities should be educated with children who are nondisabled, to the maximum extent appropriate. Such inclusion is necessary in order to provide students with disabilities access to a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE), and this requires teachers to accommodate and/or differentiate their instructional strategies in order for these students to participate actively in the music classroom.

But what do these strategies look like? Well, this varies according to the unique needs of the students in your classroom.

How much do you know about disabilities?

Most music educators receive their preliminary instruction in Special Education in colleges and universities, but often times this is the only preparation that teachers receive, including classroom teachers. Within the realm of disabilities, there are Intellectual Disabilities (ID), Learning Disabilities (LD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities (EBD), and each of these is its own Umbrella Term that encompass their own unique set of varying disabilities. An example of this is with ASD, in which the spectrum of autism varies greatly from student to student. Some students can be high functioning while others might have trouble simply communicating their needs.

Disabilities and Definitions

• Intellectual Disabilities - Also known as ID, involves impairments of general mental abilities that impact adaptive functioning in three domains, or areas. These domains determine how well an individual copes with everyday tasks:
  • The conceptual domain includes skills in language, reading, writing, math, reasoning, knowledge, and memory.
  • The social domain refers to empathy, social judgment, interpersonal communication skills, the ability to make and retain friendships, and similar capacities.
  • The practical domain centers on self-management in areas such as personal care, job responsibilities, money management, recreation, and organizing school and work tasks.
• Learning Disabilities - Also known as LD, are disorders that affect the ability to:
  • Understand or use spoken or written language
  • Do mathematical calculations
  • Coordinate movements
  • Direct attention
• Autism Spectrum Disorder - Also known as ASD, is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave. This is considered a “developmental disorder” because symptoms generally appear in the first 2 years of life. People with ASD often have:
  • Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people
  • Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors
  • Symptoms that affect their ability to function in school, work, and other areas of life
• Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities - Also known as EBD, is an emotional disability characterized by the following:
  • An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and/or teachers. For preschool-age children, this would include other care providers.
  • An inability to learn which cannot be adequately explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors.
  • A consistent or chronic inappropriate type of behavior or feelings under normal conditions.
  • A displayed pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
  • A displayed tendency to develop physical symptoms, pains or unreasonable fears associated with personal or school problems.

Familiarize Yourself

There are ways for teachers to familiarize themselves and become more familiar with the variety of disabilities that affect nearly fifteen percent of students in public school settings. Having little to no background in special education can make us feel inexperienced, and being thrown into a room with special education students can be daunting for even the most seasoned educator. Becoming comfortable is essential to not just the active involvement and inclusion of these students, but also a teacher’s perception on teaching such individuals. Here are some suggestions for educators seeking to improve their knowledge base:

• Enroll in further coursework and practicum experiences. When I enrolled in a master’s program in Special Education, this greatly increased my knowledge base.
• Collaborate with your schools’ special education teacher, paraprofessionals, guidance counselors and school psychologists, administrators, and of course…parents.
• Read books and search the internet for information and resources.
• Try to be actively involved in your students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) and consider what strategies are already being implemented in other classes that can be adapted for your own environment. Look through the entire document to see what the students’ strengths and weaknesses are and build upon them.
• Get to know your students with disabilities. Observe them in alternate environments and try to take note of possible positive reinforcers. You should familiarize yourself with their behaviors, incorporate the same language so the student’s transition into your classroom is smooth and recognizable, and develop a trusting relationship with them.

Instructional and Behavioral Accommodations for Teaching Students with Special Needs in Music Classrooms

With students who display disruptive behavior disorders, such as those with LD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and EBD, teaching and classroom management can be challenging.

Behavioral Accommodations for Classroom Management

• Keep the room arrangement consistent from day to day.
• Use assigned seating and keep students away from distractions and close to the teacher.
• Follow a consistent routine in each class so children learn what to expect and can modulate their behavior accordingly and post the agenda.
• Mnemonic devices are excellent in helping students minimize the amount of information they must recall, but also in teaching routines. This can be an acronym, such as the word SMILE, where each letter in the word SMILE stands for a particular action the students must do (i.e. assemble their S tand, organize their M usic, get their I nstrument ready, L isten for further instructions, and finally prepare to E ngage in the lesson).
• Set clear expectations for desired behavior by discussing, posting, and frequently reviewing a brief list of classroom guidelines, stated in positive terms. For example: “Respect teachers, respect peers, and respect property.”
• Minimize downtime during transitions.
• Prepare children for transitions by giving them a countdown to the end of the current activity and reminding them of the next activity.
• Give clear, uncomplicated directions. Students often misbehave when they are confused about what they are supposed to do.
• Use the student’s name and look at him or her. Students are more likely to misbehave when they think they are anonymous.
• Be consistent in administering consequences for misbehavior. Often, students misbehave because they do not know what behavior is expected and because the teacher is inconsistent in administering consequences for breaking class rules.
• Make a desirable activity contingent upon a less desirable activity.
• Think “do” when you think “don’t.” Asking students “to do” something is a more positive approach than telling them “don’t do” something.
• Think “approval” when you think “disapproval.” Reinforce when a student “is doing” what you want him or her to do versus when they are “not doing” what you want them to do. This creates a more positive learning environment.
• Utilize opportunities to reinforce the behaviors of those students who generally act inappropriately in class. This will help them feel good about themselves and reinforce their good behavior.
• For Special Education students, set them up for success based on their strengths and weaknesses

Teaching Instruments to Students with Specific Disabilities

When students are selecting instruments, teachers should be aware of the student’s strengths and disabilities beforehand. By doing so, they can help that student select an instrument they will be successful on. Below are some suggestions of what types of instruments may work best for students with specific disabilities. However, teachers should always keep in mind that regardless of what instrument we feel a student may be successful on, the biggest motivation for learning an instrument is the student making the conscious choice to learn that instrument. Students with disabilities often look for opportunities in which they can control the outcome and make their own choices, and sometimes that desire alone can be enough to overcome their disability and find success on their chosen instrument.

Behavioral Disabilities

• For students with ADHD and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), instruments such as the string bass, saxophone, and mallet percussion instruments because they were free to stand up and move, which helped them to focus more clearly.
• For those same students, they might find success on instruments like the sousaphone with the sousaphone chair holder. Since the student is completely engulfed by the instrument, it keeps them sitting in one place and from getting distracted.

Hearing Impairments

• For students with hearing impairments, instruments such as the violin and viola, where they can feel the vibrations from the instrument through the jawbone, and the clarinet and saxophone, where they can benefit from feeling vibrations through their teeth on top of the mouthpiece. Even instruments such as the bass drum can be good options since students can often feel the vibrations through the floor.
• Brass instruments are challenging for students with auditory learning disabilities or hearing impairments because they very often cannot hear the right overtones.
• The percussion section is beneficial because a variety of these instruments enable most music teachers to find at least one instrument for a child to be successful on. These instruments are often less frustrating because the tone is acceptable right away.

Visual Tracking Impairments

• Students with visual tracking problems may find mallet instruments to be difficult because they will need to see the music, look for the correct bar to strike, and look at the conductor. Using tabs (or Post-Its) might help students on these instruments, which can be put on keyboards, melody bells, or mallet instruments. A teacher can assign one color to the left hand and another to the right.

Physical Disabilities

• For students with physical disabilities (such as fine motor skills), attaching pencil grips to the bottoms of mallets and strikers can help students who have difficulty manipulating them. With a two-handed instrument like the clave, teachers can attach one side of a Velcro sticker to one clave and connect the reciprocal piece of Velcro to a desk, allowing a student who has difficulty manipulating objects to play a two-handed instrument.
• Instruments like the bass clarinet, which uses an endpin to support the instrument, the saxophone, which uses a neck strap for additional support, and the tuba with a stand that holds the instrument are excellent choices for students with physical disabilities.
• The French horn works well for students with physical disabilities because they can partially support the instrument on one leg.
• Students with physical impairments, such as missing fingers, can find success on brass instruments as long as they have three functioning fingers. Likewise, the violin or viola can be restrung backwards with the bow being held in the left hand and the instrument played with the right hand’s fingers.
• Brass and percussion instruments often require fine motor skills in only one hand, so many players with a physical disability in one hand can play these instruments normally or can simply switch to use the nonconventional hand.
• The cello and the trombone are great for students with gross motor disabilities. The cello is larger so there is more room to maneuver uncoordinated fingers, and the trombone is easy because students can coordinate the slide more easily than with valves.
• Woodwinds may also be difficult for students with fine motor control problems, as these instruments require students to coordinate their fingers in multiple combinations.

Physical Breathing Disabilities

• Students with cystic fibrosis and other physical disabilities that affect breathing can play string instruments because the instruments are played with the hands and arms.
• Students with asthma may find success with brass instruments as these instruments can help students increase their lung capacity.

Speech Disabilities

• Students with speech problems—such as those with Down syndrome—may have difficulty on woodwind instruments because they are required to articulate so it can be difficult for them to coordinate their tongues.

Reading, Writing, and Playing Music

We often say how relatable music is to other core subjects taught in school, but this also means that any disabilities students manifest in their other classrooms can (and often do) transfer over to the music classroom. Students with learning disabilities that affect math learning like dyscalculia and reading disabilities like dyslexia are likely to struggle with reading music. Students with dyscalculia may have trouble translating musical notes and symbols into meaningful information, because music is similar to math in that the symbols must be translated into something else. Students with dyslexia may not be able to recognize where notes appear on the musical staff and may fall behind when playing in a large ensemble. Below are some examples of ways to accommodate and differentiate instruction for students with disabilities that will affect their ability to read, write, and keep time in music:

• Students with difficulties in mathematics can use manipulatives such as rhythm cards to help them understand the ratio of length to sound (a one-inch card could represent a quarter note, a two-inch card could represent a half note, etc.).
• Allow students to label note names, as this allows them to reduce the amount of information they need to process. They can now focus on fingering the note and understanding the duration of the note. Still, teachers should never stop trying to find ways to transition students into reading standard music notation

• Try printing music on yellow or blue paper, as this makes it easier for students to see music notes. You can also use colored acetate paper and place it over their music.
• Simplifying the music for students who have difficulty reading can be helpful. Consider simplifying rhythms, eliminating dynamic and expressive markings, enlarging the music, highlighting spaces with different colors or even music texts for chorus, and even creating an alternate modified notation system.
• Aides or paraprofessionals can also be helpful in guiding students who have trouble tracking music from left to right by reinforcing where in the music they are. I’ve had paraprofessionals tell them they actually learned how to read music themselves by doing this for their students.
• Seating students with visual impairments close to the conductor may help eliminate any difficulties students have with viewing both the conductor and the music.
• Using manipulatives for students with reading and writing disabilities when teaching students how to write music can be beneficial. The word manipulatives will often be noted in the student’s IEP. Try having students use a felt or magnetic board to physically place notes on the staff instead of drawing them.
• Try using individual white boards and markers because the surface of a white board is larger than a piece of paper and the markers are larger than a pencil or pen. This would benefit a student who has difficulty responding verbally.
• Tabs, like Post-Its, can be used for students to mark music, such as a certain spot they may need to practice or to point out a fermata. These tabs can also be put on keyboards, melody bells, or mallet instruments.

Our Language

One of the biggest and most positive changes we can make in teaching students with special needs is actually altering our language. Always think about how a sentence can be converted in a more positive way. For example:

• The weaknesses a student has helps us to modify and/or accommodate our instruction, but never forget to look at their strengths. I had a kindergarten student on the spectrum who hardly spoke, but when I would play the piano, she would figure out the chord progressions in the bass line without being taught. I then kept transposing the tune to different keys and she was able to adjust. At one point (I think we had gotten all the way to C# major and, mind you, I’m not a pianist), she helped me by placing my fingers on the correct notes.
• Think student-first! Instead of saying that autistic student or down syndrome kid , place the student first: that student with autism or that student with down syndrome. The disability a child has is a part of them and doesn’t define who they are.

Recommendations and Conclusions

Teaching music is a rewarding experience, and teachers should keep in mind that students with disabilities can not only personally benefit from inclusionary practices in the music classroom, but can also find the same success as their typically developing peers. Some even flourish in the music environment, as it’s often a break for them since much of the day they are inundated with intense academic instruction. I’ve had students with communication disabilities learn how to speak in full sentences because they were singing the words to a recognizable tune.

My point is - don’t give up! Let these students be a part of the group, and do whatever you can to help them be successful. Educate yourself and try as many different approaches until you find one that works for that particular student. Just remember, one approach doesn’t work for everyone, but you can start building up your toolbox and use them when you need to.

As always, good luck!