Klarinet Archive - Posting 001199.txt from 2004/03

From: "Rupert Kahn" <Rupert.Kahn@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] not just the music department
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 19:04:35 -0500

I wish you would explain what I misunderstood in the post I responded to. I
havn't read every post in this thread, because the list is so busy recently,
but I did read Dave Blumbergs original post and then your reponse which said
amen to it. (Though I'll accept that this was followed with a more positive
statement). Perhaps you misunderstood Dave Blumberg.

But as far as I can tell you are off with the Six Sillies again seeing all
the problems and none of the solutions or opportunities. It's clear from
the original post that we are not talking about someone who is blind but
someone who is partially sighted. I mentioned Stevie Wonder only to make
the (blindingly) obvious point that perfect eyesight and musical ability
are not correlated. But you persist with a combination of the worst
case/toughest call for a blind person situation. Talented musicians with
very limited sight or who are blind may never get a job in a symphony
orchestra, but thats not to say that they won't be able to contribute to a
school music program or benifit from it and also aspire to a career based in
music. My guess is that school music programs would collapse without
students who were unlikely to get jobs in symphony orchestras.

Rupert

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausmann1@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: 20 March 2004 04:40
Subject: Re: [kl] not just the music department

At 12:39 PM 3/19/2004 +0000, Rupert Kahn wrote:
>Bill Hausman Quoted and responded to Dave Blumberg's post:
>
>DB:"The other issue that I though of with it was "ok, if the kid can't see
> >the music very well, how will she see the Director? "
> >I don't believe in mainstreaming as it slows down the higher learners.
> >To undereducate the smart as well as overeducate the slow is just
> >wrong!
> >
> >Teach them both at their own levels."
>
>BH: "AMEN! The objective is not "equality." It is achieving the highest
>possible level for each student!"
>
>
>Maybe I've misunderstood Bill Hausman's and Dave Blumberg's posts here but
>the tone stikes me as extremely negative. In the real world, people with
>sight problems have strategies for working round their disabilities. This
>may be as basic as turning up early or skipping breaks to take the extra
>time needed to look at parts. Is it really the job of schools to pretend
>that these strategies aren't realistic and practical.

Clearly you HAVE misunderstood, since I have been speaking IN FAVOR OF
accommodating the students' individual limitations. However, I believe
that, in many cases, those accommodations are being made AT THE EXPENSE of
the other students, which is not right.

>...I mean really, its not as if talented blind and partially sighted
musicians
>are unheard of, did Stevie Wonder ever do a sightreading test.

Sightreading tests for the blind make no sense. For a school setting, some
different sort of test would be needed. However, when it comes to applying
for the symphony job, I'm not sure the committee will be so accommodating,
nor should they be, since it is part of the job!

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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