Dr Shannon Coates will be keeping us company over the next two weeks to help us understand how we can build neurodiversity-inclusive voice studios. Shannon is a singer, voice teacher, and educator who began developing training and educational resources specifically for independent voice teachers. She works with smaller groups of teachers in an eight-month training called the VoicePed UnDegree that runs each year. This week, Shannon helps us to understand the terminology of neurodiversity, and we start to explore how we can be inclusive for the likes of dyslexia and ADHD.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
BEST MOMENTS
‘Not being associated with academia doesn't mean that you can’t be a specialist voice teacher’
‘In the process of working with my own children I also began to see some of those similar things in the studio’
‘Practising the new thing is always in my brain, I want to get into it and the novelty of it, ADHD singers will love it’
‘No matter who we’re working with, the most effective reframing is asking what they focused in on and found interesting’
EPISODE RESOURCES
Guest Website:
Social Media:
Relevant Links & Mentions:
ABOUT THE GUEST
Shannon is a singer, voice teacher, and educator with nearly two decades of experience running a successful independent voice studio. She develops training and resources for voice teachers worldwide, focusing on inclusivity and neurodiversity. Shannon holds three vocal performance degrees from the University of Toronto and offers subject-specific training, including Neurodiversity-Affirming VoicePed and Contemporary Voice. She promotes best practices in teaching and advocates for inclusive voice spaces through social media.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
BAST Training is here to help singers gain the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a great singing teacher. We can help you whether you are getting started or just have some knowledge gaps to fill through our courses and educational events.