Technology and Music Education for the Deaf - A Retired Teacher Looks Back Maureen Butler NJMEA Special Learners Chair maureenbutlermusic@gmail.com
At the time I’m writing this, a new school year is halfway over, and for the first time in 25 years I have not been actively teaching. I retired in June of 2020, and as I look back, I think about how much has changed in those years in the fields of technology, education, and hearing loss. As it has improved so many areas of our lives, technology has transformed vital communication for the deaf and hard of hearing population - access to sound through improved hearing aids and cochlear implants, access to media through subtitles and captions, and improved access to family and friends and the world at large through the internet and video and text. That’s before we even needed to consider virtual learning as a viable format for instruction in our schools. Technology (regrettably, not available for all yet) has helped us continue to provide music education during a time of global pandemic. Today, you may have deaf or hard of hearing students in your music classes who have benefited from this technological growth. Indeed, twenty-five years ago, many of them would not have been included in your music class because of the limitations of technology. When I first began teaching at the Lake Drive School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Mountain Lakes in 1995, our large student body came from all over northern New Jersey. Students and staff utilized sign language, most students wore analog hearing aids, and a mere handful wore cochlear implants. Today, many families choose to send their children, aided by cochlear implants or digital hearing aids, to their own school districts. Much has changed in the span of twenty-five years, including an increased focus on an auditory/oral approach that capitalizes on improved access to sound. Let’s take a look at the some of these improvements and see how we can better include students with hearing loss in our music classes in hybrid, virtual, or in-person settings. TEMPO
Hearing aids and cochlear implants The newest digital hearing aids have come a long way from analog hearing aids that amplified all sounds equally. The latest models use directional microphones to recognize the location of the primary signal, as well as timing differences to distinguish primary sound from background noise. Additionally, better technology analyzes sound to determine which sounds to filter out. In my work with hearing-aid users, I’ve noticed significant difference in what they are now able to hear, distinguish, and appreciate in the music room. For example, students seem to be better able to perceive differences in pitch and in melodic direction, although much depends on the severity of the hearing loss and other factors that may impact their perception and interpretation of sound. Getting to know your students with hearing loss will help you understand what skills are available to them, and how to modify your expectations of their abilities. The development of the cochlear implant has had a huge impact on deaf education. These devices consist of internal and external components, and, like hearing aids, have become increasingly smaller and sophisticated. You may have noticed some of your students wearing a speech processor behind or above the ear, which receives sound and converts it to FM radio signals. These signals are transmitted to the implant embedded under the skin, and then travel to an electrode array that has been inserted in the cochlea. The auditory nerve fibers are stimulated and send the sound information to the brain. Results are seen after dedicated time and practice, as the brain begins to make sense of the auditory input it receives. In 1995, the criteria for children to have this surgical procedure was quite restrictive and precluded the availability of it for most children. Today a large percentage of children with 32
MAY 2021
