This article reflects upon the potential mediation of medical and social interpretations of disability through informing instrumental tuition with the strengths recognised in the learning profile of children with Down Syndrome. The learning profile is explored and critically discussed, and its reductionist, deficit-based potential identified;…

The guitar has a high value in cultural capital and we are immersed in a culture in which the guitar is the predominant vehicle of music-making. Given the guitar's mass popularity, it follows that the guitar-learning community is vast and diverse. Subscribing to the social model of disability, I problematise the guitar as being disabled and…