Welcome to Neurodivergent Music Education!
Who am I?
My name is Erin Hopkins. I've been a K-12 music educator for 10 years with experience in primarily urban and Title 1 public elementary schools. I have taught mostly elementary general music, but have also taught middle school general music as well as beginning band and orchestra. Outside of school contexts, I have had the amazing opportunities to deliver onsite field trip programming and assist with online educational content creation as an education intern at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and to create and lead the Music Makers program for children with Down Syndrome at Gigi's Playhouse Cleveland.
I am currently a PhD candidate in music education at Case Western Reserve University. My research focuses on intersections between music cognition, neurodiversity, and music education.
I am also an autistic person with ADHD. Because of this, I identify as neurodivergent. I believe that any time we research or want to learn about people who are neurodivergent, we must center their lived experiences and expertise. I am passionate about using my research and experiences in two ways:
1. To help all music educators equitably serve their neurodivergent students, and
2. To help neurodivergent music educators have successful careers while maintaining good mental and physical health.
What does "neurodivergent" mean?
The neurodiversity paradigm poses differences between brains as a form of human diversity just like diversities of race, ethnicity, gender, etc. Every person’s brain is unique, and some people’s brains are more similar to each other than they are to other people’s, which we call neurotypes. Kassiane Asasumasu coined the term neurodivergent to describe people who have brains that are wired in a way that diverges from the typical. This may include, but is not limited to, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, OCD, PTSD, BPD, DID, schizophrenia, Tourette Syndrome, epilepsy, intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury, etc. People who have the typical sort of brain wiring are called neurotypical. When we have many different people with many different types of brains together, we call that group of people neurodiverse.
I highly recommend checking out Dr. Nick Walker's article to gain a full understanding of neurodiversity-related terminology!
Who is this blog for?
I intend this blog to be a resource for anyone and everyone interested in supporting neurodivergent music learners and educators. Whether you're neurodivergent, neurotypical, a school music teacher, a private lesson teacher, an ensemble director, a parent, a student, a musician, an aspiring musician, an aspiring music teacher, a music teacher educator... this space is for you.
My posts will address a variety of topics that come from my professional experience, my personal experience, and my research. If there is a specific question or topic you want to learn more about, or if you are a neurodivergent music educator who would like to contribute an article or resource, please comment or contact me! I especially invite those whose intersectional identities and experiences and/or neurotypes differ from my own to do so.
My goal is to build a community around making all music education spaces intentionally inclusive for neurodivergent teachers and learners. I hope you will join me!
-Erin