Special Needs & Learning Differences
Recital ideas for student with broken arm
I have a very big recital party coming up and a very enthusiastic early level two student that really wants to participate, but she broke her right arm. She is in a shoulder cast so it will need to be left hand only. Anyone have…
Student picks up songs quickly
A delightful young adult with autism had his second lesson with me tonight. He loves patterns, numbers, and music, so of course Simply Music i?s a great fit. After playing Night Storm for him once, I told him “This song is all about 2’s. May…
Working with blind / visually impaired students
One of the reasons we got connected with Simply Music is because my oldest daughter is blind. She uses the SHM videos from my teacher access (but not the teacher videos), and she’s in one of the groups I teach. We have found that some…
Non-verbal autistic student
I’m going to be starting an autistic student who is non-verbal. I’m thinking I should create picture boards to set up the activities in the lesson. Can anyone offer other ideas/resources to assist in starting up this student? Also, do you have specific questionnaires that…
Adapting to weak fingers
I have an adult who will come to a FIS and he is very excited, but three of his RH fingers (fingers 3, 4, and 5) are very weak/sensitive due to some previous injury (doubtful that practicing will fix that). Any suggestions? What I am…
Teacher feels out of depth with gifted student
I have a student who is very naturally gifted with composing his own songs. His songs are good enough to be on mainstream radio and his father is recording his songs at the moment through a sound recordist to mix and produce it. My issue…
Slow progress
I suspect that one of my students (9 years old) may have some learning disability as she is learning slower than I have every witnessed through she is really enjoying the process very much. Her family are refugees from Africa so I suspect some form…
ADHD student in shared lesson
Has anyone had a successful experience of teaching a student with ADHD in a shared lesson? Student is an 8-year-old boy recently diagnosed. Grandma has taught him a little but hasn’t had any formal lessons. I only teach private lessons. I have one with ADHD.…
Frustrated student with dyslexia
I have a dyslexic student who is 8 years old. She gets frustrated and cries at home for days and says the videos don’t help. Personally, I think the mother is a big contribution to this “giving up” because with me the girl does well…sometimes,…
Students with multiple learning challenges
I teach a pair of siblings with autism, dyslexia, and dysgraphia among other things. The boy sits at the piano and refuses most of the time to play. He is very intelligent and when I can actually get him to play, he bangs out the…
