Music and Early Childhood Education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

1. Music and Early
Childhood Education for
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Students
By Rebecca Tumbarello

2. Initial Questions
 What is the current state of early hearing detection and
intervention (EHDI) services in the US?
 Are effective methods in place?
 Is there room for growth?
 How can music be used in deaf and hard of hearing early
childhood education?
 Are effective methods in place?
 Is there room for growth?
 How is musical sound perceived?
 Idea: music can be used in early childhood education for the
deaf and hard of hearing

3. Search Process
 Began search on ERIC – Education (EBSCO):
 Early intervention and deaf
 EHDI
 Early childhood and music
 Benefits and music and early childhood
 Benefits and early intervention
 Deaf and music
 PsycArticles
 PsycInfo
 ERIC
 Academic Search Complete
 Interviews:
 Deaf adults
 Professionals in deaf and hard of hearing education

4. EHDI Trends and Needs
 Technological advances and new state
legislation have created a need for further
development of EHDI services
 Screenings for newborns
 According to CDC, 97.9% of all newborns are
screened before leaving the hospital (“Hearing loss
in children,” 2013)
 Although advances have been made in EHDI
programs and methods, these advances are not
moving at a rate as quickly as the timely
diagnoses (Bradham & Houston, 2011).
Retrieved from cdc.gov

5. EHDI Trends and Needs
 EHDI services are crucial to language development of deaf and
hard of hearing children
 If EHDI begins at or before six months of age, children are more
likely to develop age appropriate language skills (Meinzen-Derr,
Wiley & Choo, 2011).
 “Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of effective
newborn hearing screening, diagnosis, and intervention, progress
has been gradual and much work remains to be done.” (White &
Blaiser, 2011)

6. Music and Early Childhood
 There is a direct correlation between
the introduction of music to hearing
babies and cognitive development.
Early childhood researchers including
Montessori, Piaget and Pestalozzi
have discovered benefits in the
exploration of sound, and specifically
musical sound, as it relates to literacy
(Bernstorf, 2013).
 Further, Bernstorf states (2013),
“Interprofessional research has begun
to document that while music and
language are different entities to
adults, there are many parallels and
some overlaps for music and language
processing in young children.” (p. 24)
Retrieved from little-folks-music.com

7. Music and Early Childhood
 Benefits include:
 Enhanced auditory processing of a nature that supported stronger
responses to sound than their nonmusical peers
 Better attention and working memory
 Better processing of speech in noise (Bernstorf, 2013)
 A recent study of approximately 7,000 students (with typical
hearing) in the state of Pennsylvania concluded that state test
scores were significantly higher in students who were involved
in music as compared to those who were not (Thornton, 2013).

8. Hypothesis
 Based on the following facts:
 EHDI services is a growing field, in need of improvements
 Early childhood education is paramount for the success of this
population
 Music is a proven useful tool in early childhood education
 It is my hypothesis that the effects of using music with deaf and hard of
hearing children will be similar to the positive effects shown in their
hearing peers.
 The introduction of music as part of early childhood education
for the deaf and hard of hearing has the potential to enhance:
 Language acquisition and development
 Speech production
 Phoneme recognition
 Pragmatic skills
 Academic achievement
 How exactly can music be used in early childhood education for
the deaf and hard of hearing?

9. Approaching Music Differently
 There is proof that deaf individuals have the ability to appreciate music
 “…tactile receptors in the skin and auditory receptors in the cochlea are structurally
similar; both are mechanoreceptors whose bending in response to pressure changes
triggers neural impulses sent to the brain” (Russo, Ammirante and Fels, 2012)
 We have the ability to decipher musical timbre based on vibrotactile information alone.
 Vibrotactile stimulation facilitates speech production
 Vibrotactile aids are proven to enhance audiovisual speech perception in profoundly deaf
students (Kishon-Rabin, Haras & Bergman, 1997).

10. Approaching Music Differently
 Musical ability and inclination has nothing to do with the ability to
hear
 The capacity to perceive and assimilate vibrations in music resides in
the brain. (Yennari, 2010)
 Many students with hearing losses enjoy participating in musical
activities, such as playing instruments, reading music, writing music,
moving to music, and singing (Darrow, 2007)
 Musical activities can be pleasurable for hard-of-hearing/deaf
children even if their perception of music is different from that of
individuals with typical-hearing. (Chen-Hafteck & Schraer-Joiner,
2011)
Retrieved from commercialappeal.com

11. Opposing Views
 Stigmas
 Deaf population and music
 “…presumptions are often made about individuals with hearing loss
that underestimate their ability to perceive sound and enjoy music.”
(Chen-Hafteck & Schraer-Joiner, 2011)
 Funding
 Arts based program, EHDI
 If arts programs are cut, they are generally taken first from pre-school
level rather than high school level (Bernstorf, 2013)
 Time
 Better spent on teaching language development, literacy, other academic
pursuits

12. Grant Proposal
 Implementation of music as part of early childhood education
curriculum for deaf and hard of hearing students, including
but not limited to the following elements to eventually develop
evidence-based practices:
 Vibrotactile stimuli
 Visual stimuli
 Moving to music
 Playing instruments
 Singing
 Reading music
 Writing music
 Our video clip is for those who may think this may be too
ambitious an idea…

13. Evelyn Glennie
 Profoundly deaf by age 12
 Started losing hearing at age 8
 Explains how a music lesson for a deaf individual might work
 Concepts of how sound can be perceived
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3V6zNER4g
(6:54 – 9:54)

14. References
Bernstorf, E. (2013). Reading acquisition in music and language: The cry for
preschool music endures. Kodaly Envoy, 40(1), 24-28.
Bradham, T. S., & Houston, K. T. (2011). Future directions for EHDI programs:
Recommendations from a strategic analysis. Volta Review, 111(2), 281-288.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (September 2013). Hearing loss in
children. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/ncbddd/hearingloss/ehdi-
data2011.html
Chen-Hafteck, L., & Schraer-Joiner, L. (2011). The engagement in musical
activities of young children with varied hearing abilities. Music Education
Research, 13(1), 93-106.
Darrow, A. (2007). Teaching students with hearing losses. General Music Today,
20(2), 27-30.
Glennie, E. (February 2003). Evelyn Glennie: How to truly listen. Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html
Kishon-Rabin, L., Haras, N., & Bergman, M. (1997). Multisensory speech
perception of young children with profound hearing loss. Journal Of Speech,
Language, And Hearing Research, 40(5), 1135-1150.

15. References
Meinzen-Derr, J., Wiley, S., & Choo, D. I. (2011). Impact of early intervention on
expressive and receptive language development among young children with
permanent hearing loss. American Annals of the Deaf, 155(5), 580-591.
National Institutes of Health. (October 2010). Newborn hearing screening.
Retrieved from
http://report.nih.gov.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/nihfactsheets
Russo, F. A., Ammirante, P., & Fels, D. I. (2012). Vibrotactile discrimination of
musical timbre. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and
Performance, 38(4), 822.
Thornton, L. (2013). A comparison of state assessment scores between music
and nonmusic students. UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music
Education, 32(1), 5-11. doi:10.1177/8755123313502339
White, K. R., & Biaiser, K. M. (2011). Strategic planning to improve EHDI
programs. Volta Review, 111(2), 83-108.
Yennari, M. (2010). Beginnings of song in young deaf children using cochlear
implants: The song they move, the song they feel, the song they share. Music
Education Research, 12(3), 281-297.