Teaching Music to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Date
June 9-August 1, 2025
Online
Course Code
MECA: 8175B, MMEd: 577 *
Credits
MECA: 3, MMEd: 2 *
Tuition
$1146
Course Description
This course will center on the book Teaching Music to Students with Autism (second edition) by Alice Hammel and Ryan Hourigan. We will examine the book as we study the ways cognition, communication, and socialization are all present within our classrooms as well as ways to make our process of music teaching and learning more applicable to students who learn differently. Students will engage in discussion boards and choose projects of interest to them as they work through the class.
Course Objectives:
- Demonstrate awareness of the political, social, and historical contexts of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
- Be prepared to work as a music educator within an inclusive and collaborative educational structure.
- Develop a keen awareness of, and strong commitment to, teaching the full range of learners with ASD.
- Anticipate high-priority needs, as well as effectively teach and make routine accommodations for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and 504 plans.
* This course is offered at two course levels. Students enrolled in the MMEd program at VanderCook are eligible to enroll for the 500 course number. Students not enrolled in the MMEd program who wish to earn graduate credit as a MECA Continuing Education student should register for the 7000 course number. The difference in credits earned and tuition cost is attributed to the difference in tuition rates for the MMEd and MECA Continuing Education programs. If you are unsure which section is best for you, please contact us directly at [email protected].
Instructor
Grammy Award Nominated music educator, Dr. Alice Hammel, was the 2023 National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Lowell Mason Fellow, Virginia Music Educator Association Outstanding Educator (2018), and is the current Past-President of the Virginia Music Educators Association. She is a widely known music educator, author, and clinician whose experience in music is extraordinarily diverse. She is a member of the faculty of The University of Arkansas, and has many years of experience teaching instrumental and choral music in public and private schools.
Dr. Hammel has put these varied experiences to great use while compiling a large body of scholarly work. She is a co-author for many texts:
- Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Label-free Approach (third edition),
- Teaching Music to Students with Autism (second edition),
- Winding It Back: Teaching to Individual Differences in Music Classroom and Ensemble Settings
- Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Practical Resource (second edition)
- Universal Design for Learning and Music Education.
Dr. Hammel is Past-President of the Council for Exceptional Children – Division for Visual and Performing Arts Education and was recently awarded their Past President Award for Excellence. Dr. Hammel has served NAfME as a member of the National Executive Board, The Equity Committee, and The Music Teacher Initiative. She is a proponent of Music Will and the Modern Band movement.