As I wait (and wait and wait) for an admission decision for my oldest, I am thinking a lot about my middle son and how he would handle the entire admission process. My first and second sons are both vocalists. (My third son likes to sing, but not as much as he likes other things.) Whereas my oldest has a really high level of musicianship, my second son struggles with theory and keyboard, despite attending a boarding school for choirboys (which had daily theory and piano lessons) from grades 3 to 5. He is now attending a public performing arts school and a precollege program, but he has been in the same theory level for three years now and still hasn’t managed above a C. And while he sight sings just fine, , rhythm is his bugaboo. His voice is easy and he is a natural, fun-to-watch performer and and his Italian, German, French and Latin are great. However, his school grades are all over the place, from a hard-earned 74 in Geometry–brought up from a 67!–to an 86 in Humanities to a 99 in both concert choir and men’s choir. He has very little mental stamina for essay writing. (Thinking of all those essay questions on the applications!)
Anyone else have a kid with similar challenges who has gone to music school? How was the admissions process for him/her? And, how is he/she liking school? Did you find yourself steering your child to or away from certain schools due to his/her learning challenges? Curious to learn other families’ experiences.
My kid has dysgraphia (like dyslexia, but with writing) - diagnosed in third grade and he’s been keyboarding on a computer ever since then. Essay writing for many years was a struggle until he could get the brain processing and the keyboarding matched up. Now he’s a great critical thinker and writer - but it really took a long time.
You might want to consider having your middle son tested by a neuropsychologist to understand what is going on. Having the diagnosis helped with so many things for my kid - and college disability services are so good now. Before he started in the fall, he registered with them and they take care of his testing and even send letters to his professors. There are so many options now for students with learning disabilities - even compared to when my kid was in second grade (and spending most of the day in the principal’s office)…
Oh, the principal’s office. Yep, I know that routine well! Thanks @Lendlees --he does have a diagnosis of Dyslexia and ADD. He also has a 504 for extra time with exams. And yes, speaking of keyboards, the piano was a nightmare for him! I’ve heard there are schools that are super great about accommodations for college students. I am not getting a sense how the conservatories handle ld’s (this is the route, as of now, he says he wants to take). That said, I haven’t really been looking for any of that info. So who knows?
You can contact schools or look at websites to explore disabilities services at conservatories. I randomly picked NEC as a sample, because it is a freestanding conservatory https://necmusic.edu/disability-support-services
University-based conservatories and schools of music would presumably have larger disability offices and more experience.
Most schools will have piano as part of theory of course. We have some experience of leniency with this, but I am not sure how formal that leniency was and so it may depend on the professor, and school.
Extra time for exams should be provided everywhere with proper documention and his history of having a 504 plan in high school.