By Jess Baron | Executive Director
Dear Wonderful Donor,
Thanks very much for your past contribution to this project bringing music to students in special education classrooms and programs in California and Arizona. We started this program last year at Giving Tuesday in order to assist a specific initiative at that time. Now that the short term goals of this work is complete, we are hoping you'll stay with us at Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom to continue supporting the cause of music inclusion for students with exceptionalities. We have a different campaign called Exceptional Learners Deserve Music, Too, and that will give anyone wanting to support this cause a way to help bring music to students receiving support services at school.
This is an important time to keep giving because more is being understood about so called disabilities. The more we know about the brain, the more we can help educators to apply music productively for exceptional learners.
This is very true when it comes to Autism. Autistic students have long been misunderstood, labeled. and isolated due to that diagnoses. But we have a chance now to understand how Autistic people actually feel, think, relate to others, and learn, and what can get in the way. The book Unmaksing Autism by Devon Price can be particularly helpful for anyone who is Autistic, or who cares for someone who is Autistic.
GITC aims to make a difference this coming year by helping teachers who take our free adaptive music training to understand their Autistic students better, and to provide them with positive musical experiences and opportunities that can empower them improve their own emotional and mental well being, and aid in their academic progress as well as give their creativity a beneficial outlet.
Current knowledge tells us that Autistic behaviors are very often misunderstood by neurotypical people, and that this misunderstanding makes matters worse for Autistic students if it brings criticism, rejection, or punishment. Behaviors like facial or vocal tics, arm flapping, shutting down, or becoming aggravated are actually responses to feeling overwhelmed or triggered. When Autistic students are triggered and do not have the wherewithall to intervene on their own behalf, these behaviors begin. We are training their teachers about social emotional awareness, and giving them ways to introduce and reinforce social thinking strategies, self advocacy, and interpersonal skills through the power of song, and playing music. It really works. We provide this training in our free courses on SEL (social emotional learning) through music, Contributions to this campaign help us make these free trainings, both virtual and in person, possible.
Teachers who register learn to lead and integrate music, singing, and especially playing ukulele or guitar with neurodivergent students to help them arrive at a calmer, more regulated state. Teachers who train with us can learn ways to give students more time to process information, to formulate their thoughts, and to respond in a variety of ways that do not require speaking. We also teach them songs to share with their students that give the students the chance to write their own lyrics about their feelings, and voice their own needs and best social thinking strategies for coping with those feelings. This technique absolutely helps. Autistic students in GITC classrooms are using music to help themselves on a regular basis.
When you donate to our charity, you are bringing the music to learning. But you are also bringing critical learning to the process of making of music. Please visit our project, Exceptional Learners Deserve Music, Too!" and we can keep going strong and stronger in 2024. When we stick together for the teachers of diverse learners, so many students can benefit for years to come.
Thank you for your help, your compassion, and your dedication! May these final weeks of 2023 become a time of caring, friendship, peace, understanding, and renewal for you and those you love.
in gratitude and service,
Jess Baron
Founder and Executive Director
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