Supporting Students with Disabilities in Music Lessons

Supporting Students with Disabilities in Music Lessons

Supporting Students with Disabilities in Music Lessons

Different school educational policies clearly define inclusive education and lay out the
legal requirements for aiding students with disabilities. In general, inclusive education can be
understood as a process in which all members of the school community are valued, Supported,
and encouraged to participate in learning, grow, and flourish within the context of the inclusive
school philosophy. Every student has the ultimate right to quality education regardless of their
physical condition. In this regard, the right to music education also belongs to every learner.
Thus, the best resources and opportunities for all students, including those with disabilities, must
be made available by music teachers, administrators, learning center instructors, music
therapists, paraprofessionals, and general education instructors. Furthermore, educating pupils
with impairments in the least restrictive setting is necessary. Students with all kinds of
disabilities, mental, physical, or emotional, can access education in the school setting thanks to
inclusion. This essay will discuss inclusive education for disabled students in the community and
how I have achieved this philosophy in teaching music lessons.
The study of music is expensive and, in most cases, so demanding, like learning technical
courses. This assumption made me think music lessons were relevant to a specific group of
learners, not the disabled. However, my perception changed after critically analyzing issues
facing disabled communities in the modern educational sectors. In this analysis, I discovered that
music teachers often discriminate against disabled learners because some have poor motor skills
and underdeveloped social-cognitive skills. Additional concerns raised in the examination of
issues faced by disabled people in studying music include the fact that the majority of them have
trouble finding teachers who can fulfill their needs, not knowing where to locate instruments that
can be modified, and not knowing how to get money to enable music-making (Bell, 2017).
However, these forms of discrimination only foster hatred and disunity between disabled learners

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and those who are not physically or mentally challenged. I believe that disabled communities
have endured much social injustice in the education sector and various communal spaces. Based
on these discriminative practices, disabled communities deserve a rest from the enmity and
hatred they are exposed to.
I perceive the disabled to be eligible for quality services like the other members of
society. They should be included in various programs that the rest of the community members
enjoy. Disability rights, as well as human rights, both support participation in music. According
to Fuelberth & Todd (2017), music is necessary for humans. Similarly, inclusion is a developed
ability that benefits human survival. Music regulation is similar to authoritarian control over
ostensibly enjoyable but essential human activities like sexuality and gender expression, all of
which are connected to disability in that the oppressed groups are also pathologized. Denying the
pathological population access to music and other rights and privileges fosters unfairness and
isolation in our societies. In contrast, inclusive education is the proper response to the problems
faced by communities of people with disabilities.
Therefore, as a music teacher, I should accommodate all students in my music programs
without being daunted by the presence of different types of learners in my classroom. Thus, I
will adopt the following approaches to promote and incorporate inclusive practices into my
music classrooms. First, I will enhance neurodiverse music environments. In this approach, I will
see my students for their strengths rather than their (dis)abilities (Annamma et al., 2013). I will
recognize that each pupil has unique interests, opinions, drives, identities, backgrounds, cultures,
etcetera. Besides, I will honor that every one of my pupils learns differently. Generally, in this
strategy, I will create a learning environment around the needs and interests of my students rather
than forcing them to fit the mold of the classroom. I will adopt the Universal Design for Learning
approach (Connor & Gabel, 2013). As a music teacher, I will use Universal Design for Learning

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(UDL), which removes any barriers to a student's learning or physical environment to the
advantage of all of our pupils at once. Besides, I will try to incorporate any assistive technology,
like iPads or visual aids, th

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