 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-01-27 14:24
Has anyone worked with a special needs child with music in general and/or clarinet?
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-01-27 15:38
none at the moment - but i would love to give special needs children the opporunity .....perhaps, autistic, downs, ADD, learning disabilities.
would you mind sharing your experience
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Author: Sarah Elbaz
Date: 2012-01-27 17:02
I live in Israel and in the last two years I am director of "Sulamot" program of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for children at -rist. The program is inspired by El Sistema , of course.
We work with children who were taken away from their parents , usually because of abuse. They learn to play orchestral instruments and they play in orchestra. We have alredy 300 children in the program and we double the number of the children every year.
The list of disabilities that you mentioned is problematic.
If you wish to teach music and clarinet you can work with children who has emotional problems, behavior problems etc.
If you work with SICK children (Down Syn. for ex.) - it is THERAPY and not music education.
I suggest that you teach children who CAN play an orchestral instrument. It takes longer than a "regular" child, but it really makes a great difference for the children.
You have to remember that if you start to work with children at risk, you have to work with them for a LONG time. You can't enter their life for a year and leave.
I know that there is such a program in the US in LA, leaded by Gustavo Dudamel.
If you are interested I can sent you more information ,privetly, because we can not expose any information about the children who study with us.
Until 2 years ago I worked only with outstanding talents, and I still teach at the school of music at the Tel Aviv Uni. But the work with children at-risk is the most challenging and most rewarding work I've ever done.
Sarah
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-01-27 17:16
your at risk program sounds really great!
but i'm more interested in working with children with disabilities. i believe they are capable of producing some type of music - perhaps repeating a rythm with shakers, tambourine, drum, keyboard and those who are more capable a recorder and/or clarinet. I think if they enjoy music they deserve the chance to learn an instrument. and yes, some of it will be "therapy" but thats okay with me. I'm all for doing something that will bring the child joy.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2012-01-27 17:56
Over my 30 years in public school music I taught a number of children identified as learning disabled and my wife in an equally long career also taught a few kids who had been labelled as autistic.
What you can teach them and how best to do it depends very much on what the actual type and level of disability are. Standard music therapy techniques can serve as tremendously productive ways to teach other (non-musical) basic physical and cognitive concepts to profoundly disabled children. A child with a milder form of autism can often learn physical and cognitive skills easily and as their teacher you run into most of your problems with them when you try to include them in performing ensembles. For those with more specific and less limiting deficits, it's sometimes only a matter of finding the most effective way of presenting things to get basically normal learning responses from them. For only one example (every child is different), some of my "LD" students had serious difficulties with the spatial relationships involved in reading notes on a staff but could play circles around their fellow students by ear, and both their aural perception and memory were often much keener than other kids' - probably because they'd had to learn to rely on those strengths throughout their lives to compensate for their visual perception weaknesses. Other "LD" students have difficulties related to auditory perception but can decode and read notation with no more than normal difficulty. Sometimes Attention Deficit Disorder causes exactly the problems you'd expect, but their learning problems may also lead to low frustration tolerance or resistance to correction.
I don't mean this to be an all-inclusive list of the kinds of learning difficulties the students you want to work with can have. But many kinds of problems can be overcome in a basically willing child in a one-on-one teacher-student relationship by carefully individualizing the instructional approach.
Karl
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-01-27 18:14
Thanks Karl - what you talk about is exactly what i have in mind.
i have ADD and CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disability) but i never let it hold me back. Have a had to work a little harder to keep up with my peers thats all.
I have had experience with a variety of disabilities. I plan to personalize to their individual Abilities. I think special needs children can benefit and deserve a chance - who knows what could happen if someone beleives in them.
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Author: clariniano
Date: 2012-01-27 18:44
I taught one high functioning autistic clarinet student over a continuous period of 5 1/2 years, he started lessons at 11 and stopped at 16 1/2, and actually wants to return to lessons with me after he's finished high school. He actually got to quite a respectable level, did all the way to RCM Level 4, and completed the exams with very good marks, 80% min usually. I actually didn't plan on having him do the exams, it's just that after a while he got pretty good and his parents wanted him doing them. The hardest part was by far embouchure. I've taught piano to several special-needs students as well. I found myself doing many away from instrument musical activities, especially on rhythm reading and ear training. He ended up being confident enough to sometimes play the second clarinet parts in his school band, but usually played third clarinet, and sings bass in his school choir.
Meri
Please check out my website at: http://donmillsmusicstudio.weebly.com and my blog at: http://clariniano.wordpress.com
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2012-01-27 19:08
My sister has severe disabilities and loves to sing. Sang in the high school choir all 4 years, would belt out "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" at open mics in front of the grocery store, etc. While not terribly great at the instrument, she also managed to hold her own with the recorder rep way back in 3rd grade. I'm pretty sure she does everything by ear.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Maria P
Date: 2012-01-28 01:08
I've worked as a special needs teaching assistant for the last 10 years. For the last 8 years it has been with children of high school age (11 to 16) and with a lot on the autistic spectrum.
The one thing I have found is that you never get two children alike on the autistic spectrum. Intellect and academic achievement varies greatly as well - but this can depend on other traits/disabilities as well.
For instance, I worked for a number of years with one boy with Aspergers Syndrome. He came from quite a musical family (both parents and older siblings played various instruments). He played viola from quite a young age - and had 100% enthusiasm for the instrument. However, he didn't progress to grading. Because of his condition he simply couldn't handle the pressure of being tested. He did, however go on to take his music GCSE.
Another child I worked with in mainstream music lessons had dyspraxia (another ASD). The teacher made the mistake in practical lessons of not asking him what he wanted to do - and made the decision for him when it came to instruments. In fact, at one point he was given a guitar to try and to play to the class. The poor kid couldn't even hold it properly never mind play. This didn't help his self confidence and he lost interest in music.
My son also has Aspergers Syndrome and dyspraxia - but I've tried my best to get him interested in music and maybe learning an instrument. Unfortunately he doesn't share my enthusiasm - but I think it's possibly because of the dyspraxia, as it affects co-ordination.
Maria
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-01-29 04:12
There is a need for music with these kids. In fact I remember you could get a degree in music therapy. It's been 30 years since my college days, but there must be a college out there that offers this, mainly because so many kids are getting sick, compared to 30 years ago.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2012-01-29 23:28)
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-01-29 07:26
Yes, all this would fall under the Music Therapy profession. I tried to look into this a bit, and if you can get a position, it's a medical license, so it could be rewarding as well as lucritive. If you want to interact with the disabled, I think it's best you get special and a generous amount of professional training. Not only would this be invaluable to you as a teacher/mentor, but also to protect yourself from any potential hazards that could occur. I commend your want to give to those in need.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2012-01-29 08:06
Professional training can definitely helpful, though in many cases a simple willingness and patience to work with the student can go very far, especially if there is a supportive family on the other end. Also, if you can find a way to include the student in classes/groups of the general student population, it can be an awesome learning/friendship experience for all involved. Sometimes the curriculum might need to be modified for the student, so they may not be doing the exact same thing as the others. Though, having seen some really great results from thoughtful IEPs (Individualized Educational Programs, IIRC), molding the curriculum to match the needs of the individual is something that EVERY student could benefit from, not just special needs.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2012-01-29 14:13
DrewSorensenMusic wrote:
> Yes, all this would fall under the Music Therapy profession.
I'm not sure what you mean by "all this," but the special needs groups janlynn mentions ("autistic, downs, ADD, learning disabilities") are not all within the area of music therapy. Music therapy is a separate field from music education that is aimed at using music as a medium through which to teach life skills and basic cognitive information to profoundly disabled people for whom learning these things in a more verbal, more direct way might be difficult or impossible. This can be a tremendously powerful way to help the severely autistic, Downs syndrome victims and other severely disabled human beings reach their full potential. But the point of the therapy isn't to teach musical concepts, and people who go into music therapy training with the hope of eventually teaching their students music sometimes end up disappointed at the low level of music function that is actually involved. Music therapy is *therapy* much more than it is music.
Children (and adults, for that matter) with ADD, various learning disabilities, serious, disabling emotional issues and other difficulties are mostly "normal" to high aptitude people who have trouble learning or achieving in a standard setting with a traditional teacher using traditional teaching techniques. The need is to find a learning style that will enable the student to get around whatever his/her deficit is. The teacher, to be most helpful, must understand (in a clinical way - I'm not just talking about simply being good-naturedly empathetic) what the student's deficit is and know techniques to tailor the instruction to use the student's strengths instead. The music teacher is trying to maximize the student's potential for participating actively in *music,* either as performer or listener.
There is certainly a need for both excellent, imaginative music therapists and excellent, imaginative music teachers. But the goals are different, and the training is different.
> If you want to interact with the disabled, I think
> it's best you get special and a generous amount of professional
> training.
This is absolutely true, whether a person goes into music teaching or music therapy. Intent without knowledge and technique isn't enough to be really successful at either. I would suggest to Janlynn that she try, if she has no training, to take a university course or two to get some insights.
Karl
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-01-29 15:47
Well, when you present music to those with learning disabilities, then it is therapy. I don't believe it's possible to teach children with severe disorders such as autism or downs music theory, but it is a soothing "therapy" that could open the doors of expression and joy. This is a medical field, not a musical field, and that is important to understand. Someone with these learning disabilities does not need to train to be a conservitory clarinetists, he/she needs someone that understands their disability to the highest capacity. The teacher can be a complete rubbish clarinetists, and with the understanding of the disability, be 100 times more effective then if they had Stanly Drucker as a teacher. Someone that has not had 4 or more years of training as well as supervised interaction should not take on this responsibility. It is a delicate situation that requires expert knowledge.
As I alluded to above, someone that would like to work with any of the disorders above must have more than 1 or two courses on the matter. Even the lower level disorders of ADHD and bi-polar disorder are a struggle and require expert knowledge. Not everyone with these disorders are nice. Some can be mean, pushy, agressive, abusive. They react to things that you do not perceive. They change manner on a dime. You could really put yourself in danger if you do not protect yourself by getting youself a good education.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2012-01-29 16:51
Are you suggesting, Drew, that someone with disabilities is not capable of approaching, learning, and enjoying music in the same way as someone without disabilities?
There are routes to music other than training to be a conservatory clarinetist, and I would hardly suggest that difficulty grasping music theory or developing fine motor skills should relegate a potential musician to the realm of music-as-therapy rather than music-as-music.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-01-29 18:17
You can note in the above asperger's case how fragile to the point of irrational this particular case is. The point here is not whether or not a person with a debilitating disorder can appreciate music, but the teacher's ability to teach someone of this nature. As a mentor, you not only teach music skill, but life skills. You lead by example, and you provide advise based on experience. If you have no experience with aspergher's syndrom, you are not qualified to teach someone who suffers from it. Your teaching will be lost in the child or adults strife to battle his or her own mental situation. It is not the problem that the child is uneducated, but that you are uneducated in teaching this child. 4 years of concentrated study as well as supervised sessions are what I would consider the minimum time to learn all that is necessary. You do not know which mental state will walk through your door, so you must be prepared for all cases. This is time consuming and tedious. I appreciate that everyone wants to help, but you need to understand the severe mental consequences of unqualified advice to such a fragile mind.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2012-01-29 18:50
I can agree with that. In my sister's case, the choir teacher didn't have special training, but there was always a trained aide at hand who was intimately familiar with my sister's capabilities and needs. Teaching special-needs students alongside an aide would be another way to go about it if you want to get started right away, and/or a way to get your feet wet while studying.
I'd say this is more a matter of special-needs training than musical therapy training, but that may just be a matter of semantics.
"It is not the problem that the child is uneducated, but that you are uneducated in teaching this child."
Key point there. I think too few people appreciate that, especially in special needs cases but also in the general case.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: theautistartist
Date: 2012-01-29 19:04
Thanks to whomever posted my blog. I'm glad you found it helpful. Mr. Sorensen, I just wanted to clear up a few things. First of all, I would appreciate if you could explain to me what you read in my blog that indicated to you that I am "fragile to the point of irrational." Secondly, I don't "suffer" from Asperger's Syndrome, I suffer from ignorant people who choose to speak on my behalf and the behalf of others with autism spectrum disorders despite an obvious lack of understanding. I am 18 and I have had two students with special needs: a 10-year-old piano student with severe cognitive delays, and an 11-year-old clarinet student with ADHD. Because each student faces their challenges differently, it helps only to a certain degree to be familiar with the symptoms of their diagnosis. For example, "cognitive delays" could mean many different things, but they manifested themselves in my student primarily as severe gross and fine motor delays and neurodevelopmental delays. I worked with this student's specific challenges to develop a piano curriculum which would help her to improve her ability to form connections with the notes on the paper with her fingers. After working with her for nine months there was a definite improvement in her motor skills. With my clarinet student I found that it was difficult to sit for the entire half-hour with him without him getting distracted, so I helped him to create goals to work towards--for instance, if he could play through a passage three times he could have a ten-second break. It was a small gesture but definitely improved his ability to focus on the music. So my point is that it is not necessary to spend four years of concentrated study or whatever to work with a student with special needs, because no matter what the diagnosis, you just have to be sensitive to their individual needs. Mr. Sorensen, please don't forget to tell me why I'm fragile. Thanks.
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Author: Maria P
Date: 2012-01-29 22:31
"I don't believe it's possible to teach children with severe disorders such as autism or downs music theory"
To the above comment Drew - I really don't think you know too much about Aspergers Syndrome, as you are linking these people the the category above. Like I have said before, I worked with a child with Aspergers who has gone on to take his music gcse. Also, Aspergers is not a mental disorder nor does it always mean that the person with it has learning difficulties. In fact, a lot of people with Aspergers have a very high intellect. It affects communication and the ability to read emotions etc - but it's definitely not a mental illness.
Maria
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2012-01-29 23:30
I think some of the problem in this thread comes from lumping a huge swath of disabilities and conditions into one category... ADD is a whole world different from Downs, which is a whole world different than Aspergers.
Also, in my experience, people tend to underestimate the capabilities of people who they believe are not at their level, due to disabilities, age, perceived intellect, experience, etc. Often, treating someone as an equal, capable of doing what everyone else is doing, will be all the encouragement that person needs to rise to the occasion, or at least to push themselves toward significant improvement. Coupled with a sensitivity to the individual's needs and interests, and an open-minded willingness to seek out solutions, this can be sufficient to work with most any eager student.
Additional training will better equip you to identify and apply nuance to situations, especially more complex situations, and I think special-needs training would benefit someone in interacting with ANY student, largely because it breaks down the one-size-fits-all model and encourages an approach that matches the individual. But I wouldn't shy away from working with any student (or interacting with a person in general) simply because you haven't received extensive training.
As far as capabilities go regarding aspergers, I once heard a quip from a university professor well-versed on the condition, to the effect of, "Sometimes we'll try to guess which professor or two in the liberal arts department has aspergers. Then, if we want a real challenge, we try to find a math or science professor who doesn't."
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-01-30 00:00
My sister in law uses music all of the time for autism. I can say the kids are a lot better with music, but I cannot say they will be cured, because they usually won't, but facing the world usually makes a difference to these kids.
OT , occupational therapist, say that autism is growing fast, something around 25 out of 100 kids suffer from it, of course some kids are much worse off. She uses music a lot, just to settle down kids and be able to work with them.
Kind of cool, yet we need to find out why there is such a big increase in autism. Is it the foods we eat, pesticides, childhood required shots; there has to be some sort of reason and music therapy seems to help for whatever reason. Therefore since it works/helps in general.
janlynn should follow her emotions and her heart involving something so fulfilling and special.
janlynn - this is really great and if you'd like more information write to me off line and I'll get you in touch with my sister-in-law. She's been in this field for 40 plus years, and goes to about 5 or 6 classes a year, keeping up with the latest.
Chances are she will be able to find - refer some people OT's near where you live. Pretty exciting. She wants me to get into this, but for now I will wait until I'm able to retire. Hopefully that will be in 2 or 3 years. She lives in San Jose so I'd need to move, but for now she'd like me to record. Thats where we are at the moment. I want to get some friends into this and make some trios, quartets and quintets, types of music for these poor suffering kids.
Anyway, email me and I'll help you out, if I can, by talking to my OT sister-in law.
savagesax@aol.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-01-30 00:01
Kind of cool seeing all of these musicians post their feelings and help. Way to go fellow friends.
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Author: Maria P
Date: 2012-01-30 00:04
"Sometimes we'll try to guess which professor or two in the liberal arts department has aspergers. Then, if we want a real challenge, we try to find a math or science professor who doesn't." I like that EEBaum lol.
There are a lot of professors/intellectuals/famous people out there with Aspergers. And like I mentioned before, you hardly ever get two people the same with Aspergers. But please Drew, stop talking about Aspergers in the same context as 'mental state' as I reiterate again, Aspergers is not a mental illness. Oh and as for having at least 4 years training for special needs - yes it's good to have this, but it's definitely not the be all and end all of knowing everything there is to know about it. Working with people who have disabilities is a lifelong learning curve as every person and every situation is different.
Maria
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-01-30 00:31
Maria P wrote:
> There are a lot of professors/intellectuals/famous people out
> there with Aspergers. And like I mentioned before, you hardly
> ever get two people the same with Aspergers.
I wonder how many people are there that aren't diagnosed with Aspergers just because it wasn't a suitable (or fashionable) diagnosis back then?
It might not change much for these folks now, and in a way I challenge the idea that every "deviating" behaviour must be labelled with a scientific tag, heck, it sometimes is just "unique" without that sickly taint.
When I was young, there were "active" children before they were diagnosed with AHDS and whatnot, there were absent-minded friends who were just "daydreaming" and a whole lot else. We loved them nonetheless (or were loved nonetheless, who could tell?), just because we were friends and, in our childish little world, cared for each other.
A scientific tag may help you get healthcare subsidies (which I welcome), but it never will replace a friend's hug.
--
Ben
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2012-01-30 01:50
tictactux wrote:
> I wonder how many people are there that aren't diagnosed with
> Aspergers just because it wasn't a suitable (or fashionable)
> diagnosis back then?
DSM-V will probably delete the diagnosis of Aspergers because the definition is too loose.
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-01-30 02:06
Nicole-
This was posted on a clarinet board, not a medical field board. It is quite possible that you are going to get varying uneducated opinions on the matter. I've obviously offended some of you, which is a shame. I only offer my opinion, which I am entitled to, and I do not find my opinion unfounded. You are completely welcome to disagree (gracefully) or just ignore me completely. We are all sensitive (fragile if you will). I recall reading "rehearsing a million times in my head, this can cause major misunderstanding and frustration." Now I'm not here to pick on you, or any sort of community whatsoever, so I'm going to move back to the original point.
I am ignorant of the capabilities and needs of those with special needs. However, I do understand that I would be quite hesitant to take on a pupil in this state, because I know that is not my profession or my education level. And that is still the point.
I cannot do anything for you, nor can I possibly even get through to you at this point, because I have offended you, and your mind is now closed to me. Not saying you asked me to, I just feel I'm probably talking on deaf ears right now. Understandable, and I'm sorry for that. If I, however, were offered a student with special needs, there would be quite a process I would personally have to undergo in order to prepare myself to handle the added pressures of the position. Talking with the parents. Reading about the mind in it's particular state. Consulting professionals. Furthermore, it is my understanding that the original poster wanted to teach more than one child, and listed several conditions. She wanted to become a professional in the field, not just teach one child. If this were so, it would require more training and knowledge of individual needs.
Nicole- I'm sure you are a very strong, mature young woman. I admit I did not expect to have you post on this chat board, and probably should have done some more research. I have my opinion because we all must take a step back, and clearly think about the choices that we make, and not jump into things too quickly that we cannot handle them. I guess maybe I should follow my own advice.
Maria- I realize I am ignorant to the nature of the conditions posted above. I lump them all together, not with any disrespect, but in a lump of "I know nothing about the conditions and needs of these people, nothing more." I only posted with the intent that if someone were to go into a career of working with those with special needs, that they professionally train to do so.
(Sorry, I think I sorted out the direction of this now. I'm finding it hard to edit, as I've apprently angered many people on this subject, and am defending my position on multiple fronts. Anyhow, my main point is if you want to go into it as a career, get a professional education. Everything else is just blown way out of proportion, mostly my fault I believe. My apologies)
Post Edited (2012-01-30 02:31)
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2012-01-30 02:59
FWIW, I have one student who has been diagnosed with ADD. She's 14 and began taking lessons from me when she was 10. She has informed me that she does take a medication to control her symptoms, and she is a wonderful student. Yes, sometimes she has moments when she seems distracted, but when this happens (usually when I'm describing something orally) she actually ends up having understood what I've said. At the music store where I teach there is a classical guitar teacher who has a student with Down's Syndrome. They always seem to be having successful lessons when I pass by the glass-doored studio. I think as long as the student and his parent understand his learning style, and as long as the parent is active in the child's education that they can (and should) be taught to play an instrument they want to play.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2012-01-30 03:48
Yes, I once had a student who simply could not place his left thumb on the clarinet thumb hole or the saxophone thumb rest. It was some kind of muscular problem.
While I don't know how he turned out, I believe that a selection of a different instrument could have benefited him. For example, a trombone or euphonium could have been a better choice not requiring a left hand fingering. Even a cello might have worked, depending upon the disability. Good luck!
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Author: theautistartist
Date: 2012-01-30 03:58
Drew,
I'm sorry if I came off as being angry, it's easy for me to become defensive in situations such as these. I just feel that there is no need to undergo special training for students with special needs. I think teachers should be sensitive to the challenges of all students and that it doesn't matter whether a student has a DSM diagnosis because every student should be approached with this sort of sensitivity. I was not diagnosed with Asperger's until I was 15 but I had had a piano teacher for 11 years by then who was always sensitive to my challenges.
-Nicole
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-01-30 13:34
let me clarify what I would like to do.......
work one on one with a special needs child. Not knowing what kind of condition the child might have - I threw out several possibilities based on my own experience.
I have grown up surrounded by special needs children. My sister has Cerebral Palsy and I also have special needs. Had an IEP and special education classes with a variety of kids with special needs. I can relate to them, and i'm very patient. I went to a special needs camp and then became a counselor there.
My experience came through my life - not in a classroom. I would never make it in college - as I tried after high school and couldnt.
I have a soft spot for children who learn in there own special way. And I do believe I have what it takes even tho Ive never tried it before.
Despite my own challenges I am determined and ambitious.
I would like to thank EVERYONE for their thoughts, stories, comments - I appreciate them all and each one will help me with this endeavor.
Janlynn
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2012-01-30 13:39
ps - my goal is not to make a 'career' teaching music to special needs children exclusively. it is to offer music to children with special needs in addition to my other students.
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Author: Maria P
Date: 2012-01-30 22:14
You sound very committed Janlynn and I wish you well with this - it's very rewarding working with special needs children.
Maria
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-01-30 22:57
I first want to apoligize again for how I came off in the beginning.
I wonder if matter of special needs really need a reform in name and understanding. It seems that there may be a lot of instances where a person is completely capable of doing most things, and wouldn't be as debilitated as some others. Unfortunately it all gets encompassed under one name, and it's so hard to retain all the information about all cases.
As someone who has to work and progess on matters outside of this subject, it is very difficult to know how to proceed. The term to me has a more severe connotation than it probably should, and it is quite confusing.
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Author: Maria P
Date: 2012-01-31 00:24
Don't worry Drew - a lot of people have these opinions of special needs, or find it confusing because it is such a generalised term. The last place I worked had mainstream special needs children that varied from severely autistic to hearing disabilities. Then they merged some pupils from a local special school (up to then completely non mainstream) and they needed a lot more help (learning difficulties and physically disabled) as well as differentiated lessons because they weren't working at the same level as mainstream pupils. It just shows what a wide area the term 'special needs' covers, and I think even if you work in that field, you're still learning all the time (I have for 10 years and I'm still learning).
Maria
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