The daily use of music in a Kingston, Ontario, Canada, special needs classroom motivates severely neurologically and mentally handicapped students and encourages their communication skills. In a special project, handicapped students use tape recorders with special switches to indicate to nonhandicapped elementary students what music appeals to them. With IPAINT, a computer program, the nonhandicapped students then create a visual pattern of colors to illustrate the music composed by the handicapped students. IPAINT notations increase student ability to understand music and deviate from standard musical notations in the following ways: (1) the music's texture is depicted by color; (2) the visual forms correlated with sound allow the music to be more easily "heard"; (3) interpretation of the notations can vary to create new compositions; and (4) IPAINT musical notations are accessible to all students. In the future, special touch sensitive switches will be attached to the computer and adapted music software provided so that handicapped students can create their own compositions. (DJC)