AMBER's Children  A Child like Katherine
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Over the last year, ten-year-old Katherine has developed a real love for
the violin and eagerly awaits her lessons every week. AMBER’s support
has enabled her to join a local String Group, where she is able to practise
her violin playing, as well as learn to work in a team of sighted peers.
It also allows her to have one-to-one lessons with an experienced teacher
who is able to adapt the lesson and materials to Katherine’s needs. All this
has given Katherine the confidence to perform in front of large audiences
both at school and in the String Group.  Katherine continues to grow in confidence. Her music groups provide a
wider social network for her to share her enjoyment of music and she is
now far more at ease in front of groups of unfamiliar people. Her social
skills, including communicating effectively with sighted peers, have
improved immensely and have helped her to prepare for secondary school.
Katherine says:
"Music helps me to think of creative things – without music I wouldn’t have such
a creative mind to think up different tunes and how to play them. Learning to play
an instrument can make you feel very successful. My teacher congratulates me
when I have done things well, which encourages me even more. I hope that
through my experiences and achievements I can show people that even though
I look different and can’t see as well as them, I am still similar.
In my lessons I find many challenges which I sometimes struggle with, but with
the help of my teacher I can achieve the challenges and move on with a more
positive attitude. If I am unhappy, soft and relaxing music can help me think how
to solve problems and make me less stressed."
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Company No. 3117803
