Neurodiversity and Learning Challenges: Toward including all students

Sometimes, a student struggling to learn an instrument can be a signal of a learning difference. As a teacher, it is my job to ask myself what I can do to help this child learn. I have at times felt awkward addressing this question. Should I ask the parent if the child also struggles with school? Should I ask if the child has ever been diagnosed with a learning difference? How important is it to assess the exact challenge of the student anyway?

Often, as Suzuki teachers, we work off of a limited picture of a student. We are only able to work from our own observations and what a parent tells us. Even if a child struggles at school or has been professionally assessed for learning differences, we might not be privy to that knowledge. Assessment and medication are serious, personal choices that both parent and child may be weighing. Not all parents will want to have their child assessed or prescribed medication, and those that do may choose not to share it with teachers because of fears related to privacy, stigmatization, or a host of other legitimate concerns. In the end, diagnoses and medications matter less than our willingness as teachers to meet each child where they are in the learning journey. In our society, there is still a lack of awareness, empathy, and understanding about how people learn differently from each other, and a lack of comfort and openness in discussing these matters.

I don’t have all the answers by any means. I’m not a psychologist or doctor and was never formally trained to address these questions. Resources on neurodiversity for music teachers, in particular, are few and far between. But as a teacher to many neurodiverse students over the years, I have learned some things about best practices to optimize learning. These students are an important part of Shinichi Suzuki’s vision, and we have an opportunity for growth in the Suzuki community.

What language should we use?

Given that our society has a difficult time discussing learning differences, it is no surprise the commonly used language is not adequate. More typical students are often described as “normal.” But that language suggests that students with learning differences are “other,” or “abnormal.” Our society has so often discriminated against the “other.” History is full of creative people, including composers and musicians, who faced marginalization, discrimination, and rejection—how many of them learned in a way that was considered “outside the norm”?

Having worked with hundreds of different students in more than twenty years of Suzuki piano teaching, I try to remember that every person is unique. Every year I know I will meet children unlike any other that I’ve ever met. To me, it’s one of the joys of teaching, and it’s also humbling to realize how different we each are.

Expectations about how people learn are entrenched in schools and in society in general. I’ve had several parents ask me questions like, “how many years should it take to finish book one?” or, “what is the average amount of time to finish this book?” We know that listening, practicing, and the environment are huge factors in the rate of learning, which is what I tell parents instead of giving them a numerical answer.

Language matters, and I have been looking for an appropriate term to describe this learning diversity. One possibility is the term “neurodiversity,” which the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines first as “individual differences in brain functioning regarded as normal variations within the human population.” The second definition is “the concept that differences in brain functioning within the human population are normal and that brain functioning that is not neurotypical should not be stigmatized.” The third definition is “the inclusion in a group, organization, etc., of people with different types of brain functioning.” I appreciate this definition’s attention to inclusion, so I have made it a part of my vocabulary. Language changes over time, so there might be a new word in the future.

‘Every child can learn,’ and ‘character first, ability second’

Dr. Suzuki’s belief that “every child can learn” includes neurodiverse students. When I struggle with finding a way to connect to a student’s needs, I imagine Dr. Suzuki observing the lesson and ask myself what he would do.

Our society is full of speed pressures: we value the fastest computers, fastest runners, and fastest food. Thus some students may feel pressure to learn quickly or play quickly. I explain to my students that we each learn differently. I tell them that even for me as a teacher, there are people who learn songs faster than me, and that’s okay. A comparison I often make is to driving: it’s more important that the parent has driven the child safely and carefully to the lesson rather than as fast as possible, so I ask the student to practice the piano carefully rather than quickly.

All students get frustrated at one point or another. I acknowledge their frustration and find an appropriate step for repetitions. Some students may need to find some joy in the practice, so this is a time for me to create a new game, tweak an old one to meet their needs, or have an extra celebration for a successful repetition.

Neurodiverse students may have a unique perspective on music and learning, such as noticing patterns, hearing things differently, or exhibiting greater patience with their fingers than neurotypical students. Neurodiverse students may have the advantage of gaining skills in perseverance and learning about how they learn, which could be a giant takeaway for them from their music lessons.

In my experience, neurodiverse students also rarely complain about repetitions or recoil from working on the basics, perhaps because they are used to putting in extra effort in school. Learning the value of putting in effort and not expecting life to be a breeze is surely an aspect of character development for us to remember. Neurodiverse students tend to be more accepting of mistakes as a regular part of the learning process.

For all of my students, I regularly remind myself of Suzuki’s intention of not training professional musicians, but rather, fine human beings. Even if my student needs more time to learn the songs, I want to give them skills that they can use in school and beyond, such as problem-solving, breaking a challenge into smaller steps, and figuring out the best ways that they learn and subsequently what they can still work on, and how to keep improving.

I often make comparisons between music lessons and other things in the student’s life, whether it’s learning how to read, basic multiplication, or being part of the soccer team. School strategies can help with music learning and vice versa. Just as elementary school classrooms may have the alphabet posted at the front of the class, students can post the notes of the treble and bass clefs on their home bulletin boards or fridges. The student who is memorizing their notes on the staff may use the same strategies to memorize their times tables. The student who has multiple sports practices every week may better understand the value of regular piano practice after a discussion about interleaving, which can lead to more effective home practice.

We as teachers may realize that the same strategies we have usually used may not work at all for a neurodiverse student. I try to be as flexible as possible, avoiding making plans full of rigid steps that may not work for a particular learner. In a world changing faster all the time, I hope that helping our students move away from strictly linear thinking will be beneficial and that learning how to experiment can be a transferable skill.

Possible approaches

I do not have all the answers, and every student is different. But I can share techniques that tend to work, which I have learned from years of experimenting.

Learning styles, such as visual, aural, and kinesthetic, also apply to neurodiverse students. I tend to capitalize on the ways it’s easier for my students to learn, but also utilize other styles to build well-rounded students. A very aural student may need extra encouragement with reading. A very visual student may love to use the book as much as possible and neglect their listening.

If the student struggles to notice details or remember an assignment, I try different checklists, ask the student to report their practice to me daily, and ask them to make a video recording of their practicing so I can follow up on how the practicing is going.

If the student has trouble with the physical components of music-making, the student may need new and creative ways to do repetitions, breaking physical challenges into micro-steps, or doing something similar physically away from the instrument. In piano, the challenges of hands together playing can loom very large for some students, so they may need very short recordings for listening and repetitions.

Sometimes it seems that information is just not clear for the student, which could signal they need more time to process information. I may ask the student to “be the teacher” and to “teach me” to see what their understanding is. Sometimes the parent can also help with a different way to explain something to a student. Some less verbal students need different approaches, such as me talking minimally and not asking a lot of questions, or waiting a seemingly long time for them to answer since they are busy processing. I smile and wait, and signal to the parent to wait too. Some students may “shut down” when they feel frustrated about not understanding, so then it can be a question of trying to understand that frustration and making sure that my questions or requests are easier to achieve. I often need to keep trying different approaches, and to check with parents outside of lesson time.

If information gets mixed up, I present it differently. Some students need more visual, oral, or aural information, and some need more movement. For a student who routinely is unclear about up/down, left/right, and finger numbers, I may use other language. For example, I can point to the direction for “down,” or point to the right hand and say “that hand,” or use the words “pointer finger” and “pinkie” rather than “finger two” and “finger five.”

Creating a culture of inclusion

Our Suzuki community should be more inclusive for neurodiverse students by removing the focus on perfection. Of course, we want students to play the songs correctly, but perfection doesn’t need to be the bottom line. Our society emphasizes speed much more than beauty, so students may feel discouraged with high numbers of repetitions and may need extra encouragement and celebration of small steps. I find that most students who struggle in piano lessons also struggle in school, and they have only so much time and energy to commit to both activities. That being said, many neurodiverse students will still be able to play the notes correctly with enough repetitions.

I often wonder if all of our programs make neurodiverse students feel welcome. The master class format of a student, teacher, and observers for workshops may not be optimal for all students. It’s also challenging when guest teachers work with neurodiverse students for the first time, as they may not be aware of a student’s learning differences. The language we use matters.

I had a student for whom piano was quite difficult despite regular listening and practicing. She participated in a workshop in tenth grade, playing the first piece from Book Three. It had taken her ten and a half years of lessons to get there. As per usual, my student had some mix-ups in her performance, and the guest teacher asked her if she had just started lessons, to which she replied that she had taken over ten years of lessons. That was not an inclusive moment. My student never participated in a workshop again.

If questions about neurodiversity were obvious, we would have figured out the answers already. The needs of neurodiverse students can be broad, difficult to assess, and of course, change over time. Reading general literature that is not music-specific does give some helpful information, but I have not found an excellent resource to use.

Training can never fully prepare us for what we will experience teaching every day. Students can have such a wide range of needs, and they can be so different depending on their age and their parental relationships. I have found value in the teachers and parents who share their ideas and stories at conferences, in articles, and via Parents as Partners Online.

The basic ideas that are part of Suzuki training, such as providing a supportive environment, breaking a challenge into smaller steps, and finding an appropriate method of eliciting repetitions are all important for neurodiverse and neurotypical students alike. We have the basic tools already. We may just need to use the tools in new ways to support all of our students as musicians and lifelong learners.

References

“Neurodiversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neurodiversity. Accessed 15 July 2021.