Archive for May 2014
Josh Oshlack – Keynote speaker at SEPLA – Special Ed Conference
Josh Oshlack, founder of The Rhythm Village, was invited to be a keynote speaker at the 2014 NSW SEPLA Special Education Conference. He described how powerful music is within special needs schools and offered some amazing insights into what teachers can do within their own classrooms. The keynote presentation was interactive, engaging and high energy.…
Read MoreFrom drum sticks to spoons.
A twelve year old boy was encouraged to play the drum with a drum stick. His grip was not very strong so he often couldn’t hold day to day objects such as maracas, pencils or even cutlery. Over months of encouraging him to play the drum with sticks using both hands, his grip became stronger…
Read MoreLarge moves by a little girl
A sweet little seven year old girl presented herself with very limited muscle movement. When I would play my class welcome song on the guitar, I would get a big smile, but that was it, although we always made sure she had bells around her wrist so that a teacher could move her arm to…
Read MoreHe continued to move his hand high all by himself…
A teenage boy, who has no muscle movement that I had seen during music sessions, listens to the music and sounds but cannot physically engage that well. Recently, I walked around with my guitar allowing the students to strum the strings or to put their hand on the guitar (often with the teachers help) to…
Read MoreThe teachers had never heard her sing.
A young teenage girl at a special needs school rarely said anything but did engage in playing instruments from her wheel chair. After months of working at the school, I decided to bring in one of those plastic microphones that echo when talked or sung into. I gave her the microphone and to all of…
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