Erin Adair

Erin Adair is an adaptive music educator based in Ottawa.

They hold an Honours Bachelor of Music and an MA in Music and Culture from Carleton University and are currently completing their PhD in Critical Improvisation Studies at the University of Guelph. Their doctoral research focuses on autistic sensory regulation and improvisation through music, and they have published three peer-reviewed papers on disability and music.

Erin has worked as a professional musician for 19 years as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, music academic, and recording artist, releasing four albums of original music.

Over the past several years, she has specialized in working with students who do not feel at home in typical music lessons. Many of the people she teaches are autistic, ADHD, anxious, sensory-sensitive, or simply learn in ways that do not fit rigid teaching styles.

Erin’s teaching approach is shaped by their background in disability studies, their own lived experience as an autistic and ADHD musician, research, and years of hands-on teaching in studios and community spaces.

Rather than following a strict curriculum, Erin designs lessons around how each person thinks, communicates, and experiences sound. Some students learn through instruments, some through improvisation, some through technology, and some through musical games. The goal is always the same: to create a space where music feels safe, engaging, and meaningful.

She teaches ukulele, piano, songwriting, composition, theory, general music, improvisation, and digital music, and runs small group music circles for autistic and neurodivergent teens and adults.

This is not music therapy. It is accessible music education.