This paper was presented at a Conference of the Drake Research Project, University of York, November, 1990.

 In this article the author discusses that one of the many roles of music teachers is to stimulate creative

thinking and creative activity in their pupils. This obligation of helping unlock latent musical talent in

young people is no less applicable to the disabled than it is to the able-bodied. Music technology plays a

very important role within this process. There are conditions for creativity, some of which may  have been

precluded from the disabled. It is necessary, therefore, for the music teacher to be aware of these

conditions, learning  the way in which a particular disability may bar access to any of them. The author

emphasizes  that music hardware or software designers need to be responsive to these factors, through

ongoing collaborative work.

The author mentions Malcom Ross (1980) principles upon which one may base the conditions for

creativity:

• Initiating: the original impulse;

• Acquainting : with a particular medium;

• Controlling: mastery of techniques/skills to manipulate;

• Structuring: gathering into a satisfying whole.

With a person who has special needs one has to think in which ways do this person’s particular needs

 inhibit any or all of the four  processes; what one, as an educator could do to enable this person’s

 full creative potential development..

 In the context of the four elements mentioned above the author sees that the initiating process, and the

 acquainting process seem to be predominantly governed by motoric/tactile interaction with the medium of

 sound. Playing with ideas, doodling, experimenting are physically dominated activities. Looking at the role

of technology, therefore, both these processes transfer to hardware/interface research and design issues.

For successful implementation in the musical education of those with special needs the hardware and

software are complementary in inter-reactive factors which arise for research and technological

development.

The author mentions also the role of the teacher to cultivate appropriate conditions for creativity, through

these approaches and to give feedback to those involved in hardware and software design for a continuous

improvement.