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Do you ever incorporate instruments besides piano into your lessons?  I know, I know. We’re piano teachers. We should be teaching piano and playing the piano, right?  When I worked in a classroom as a “music specialist” in an inclusion school, part of my job was to find or come up with songs about academic

I wish I could take credit for this autistic student’s composition skills, but it’s all him.  Every part of this came out of his head and fingers – I was just the scribe (pardon my rudimentary transcribing – that wasn’t the point of this exercise).  I mean, how cool is this piece??? The way it wavers

I have a confession to make…Confession: I started learning piano when I was 5, but I didn’t learn my first piece of music by ear until I was 13 years old. Like, it didn’t even occur to me that that was an option until 8 YEARS into my piano journey. I remember it distinctly – the dim

You wish you knew what the problem was. Your student struggles with note reading. You’re confused, because he seemed to get it last week. Even when he gets it right, you fear that he might be just guessing.His mother told you he’s autistic. He tends to “space out” and looks up at the corner of

The iPod-Hurricane-Freight-Train Experience “Imagine being tied to the front of a freight train during a hurricane with an iPod on the highest volume of the most annoying song you know.”- Melanie Johanson, from the article, “21 People Describe What Sensory Overload Feels Like” by The Mighty. This is a vivid description of one woman’s experience with sensory