Working with blind / visually impaired students
Found in: Special Needs & Learning Differences
Joy O., Alabama
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 of the SHMs are not accessible to her when she uses a screen reader software or voice over on Apple iOS devices. Also, in some videos, the information is visual and not fully described. We would love to work with Simply Music to get the materials fully accessible for blind people.
I’m looking for other teachers who are blind or work with blind and visually impaired students. What have you done that has worked? What needs to be done?
Stephanie M., Australia
I’ve had experience teaching before Simply Music, which I think made the videos easier to understand. First of all, if your daughter uses Chrome with an iPad, the videos will work with voiceover; I can’t comment on other devices or a screen on a PC or a Mac, as I don’t use them for my SM stuff.
This is a situation where I feel private lessons will work much better, as you can put the patterns into the hands, and make sure that the student is understanding what you are doing. It’s a much more tactile experience. The videos will be a good reminder of what to do, but obviously, the reference to the diagrams etc are useless. Even as a teacher, I have not yet found a way of using the diagrams in lessons as I don’t have access to them and don’t understand them at all.
Another thing that needs to be thought about is the reading program. I haven’t taught that far yet. However, a blind person will not be able to use the real or the end programs. Braille music is totally different to print music, and not even remotely the same and the concepts used will not translate to SM. By the time you get to this point, if a blind student wishes to learn Braille music, they would need to probably learn it separately from SM.
Joy O., Alabama
I am actually teaching my blind daughter in a group lesson right now. I nearly always start with her at the keyboard, and show the group what I’m doing using her hands. She understands what I’m doing. I assign for all of the students to watch the videos during the week. Videos that say, “Play this, then that,” are not much help to her. She does use an iPad and iPhone, although I’m not sure what browser. She interfaces usually with the iPad using a refreshable Braille display. I have a friend whose daughter is blind, taking SM lessons, and I know she has some diagrams that are made into tactile format. Her mom has a Bachelor of Music degree and ha begun to put her music into Braille.
Mara K., Australia
Re the Braille: I have had transcribed the beginning material – i.e. Reading Rhythm, Reading Notes, and Time for More Music. I have just started teaching this to sighted students – I only have sighted students at present. I have had success with Safari in iPad, but if you find out what browser your daughter’s using we can help more with the technicalities.