Making music accessible for students
Ignasi Cambra, a Jacobs School of Music student, has been blind since birth.
The Jacobs School of Music creates an inclusive environment for all its students.
Indiana University strives to create an environment that allows all students to thrive, including those with disabilities. In the IU Jacobs School of Music, arranging accommodation can be a puzzle, as some of the standard strategies—for example, allowing students with learning disabilities more time to complete an exam—don't fit neatly into a curriculum that centers on musical timing, sight reading and piano proficiency.
For its diligence in overcoming these challenges, the school recently received an Access Education award from the IU Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS) in recognition of its outstanding work with students with disabilities. From custodial staff making elevators more accessible for students who use wheelchairs to professors ordering sheet music in Braille, the faculty and staff at the school have showed extraordinary commitment and ingenuity in creating an inclusive environment for all its students.
“Finding appropriate ways to accommodate music students is a major collaborative effort, requiring that Jacobs staff spend their valuable time educating DSS into the many musical intricacies of such matters as course content or the rationale behind hours of programmatic content or even of the basics like scales, arpeggios and chords,” said Martha Engstrom, DSS director. “It is only with their extensive help and cooperation that we know better how to coordinate services for the students.”
