Music Therapy and Hearing Loss: A 30-Year Retrospective

ABSTRACT: This article focuses on past, present, and future trends regarding music therapy and hearing losses. The article first reflects back on the policies, clinical practices, and research findings of the last three decades and then notes societal and scientific factors that have lead to current-day knowledge and clinical approaches. Finally, future directions for research and clinical practice will be discussed. In 1976, the United States was awash in red, white, and blue as Americans celebrated our country's Bicentennial, the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which espoused equality and unalienable rights for all. How appropriate that such a year should also mark initial implementation of PL94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. This legislation called for free and appropriate education for children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. PL94-142 has had an enormous impact on the education, rehabilitation, and the social integration of children with disabilities, including those who have significant hearing losses. Prior to 1976, many children with significant hearing losses were educated in residential schools for the deaf. These institutions were homes away from home for many children, in which they were acculturated into the communicative (e.g., oral or manual communication), social, and educational norms of the school. In some schools, the primary mode of communication was manual-American Sign Language; in others, oralism (the use of spoken communication) and optimal use of residual hearing were promoted. Although one might assume that the choice of manual or oral communication would emanate primarily from the hearing profile of the child (e.g., onset and severity of deafness), the decision of sign language or speech has often been based upon socio-cultural or political factors. For example, deaf parents may promote manual communication, while hearing parents may support spoken communication; deaf educators and audiologists have often endorsed the philosophy they learned in their own professional training. The voices of those with vested interests, along with political or even religious movements, have shaped the policies of state schools for the deaf regarding manual or oral communication (Baynton, 1996). The history of deaf education in the United States has been characterized by on-going and vigorous debates regarding manual vs. oral communication (Baynton, 1996; Darrow, 2005). Because music is an auditory form of communication, the place of music in the lives of persons with hearing losses has been a part of this debate. Historical records note the presence of music programs in some schools of the deaf as early as 1840 (Darrow & Heller, 1985). By 1976, clinical resources had been published describing music curricula and instructional methods for children who were deaf. Some articles suggested that music instruction might also enhance spoken communication. Music action songs and rhythmic exercises were recommended for improving body image, body vocabulary, socialization, speech production, and auditory acuity (e.g., Epley, 1972; Fahey & Birkenshaw, 1972; Galloway & Bean, 1974; Gilmore, 1966; Hummel, 1971; McDermott, 1971; Riordan, 1971; Stern, 1975; Vettese, 1974). Prior to 1976, these resources tended to be primarily curriculum-oriented or anecdotal accounts of personal experience (Darrow, 1987b). A handful of articles from that era included empirical studies on music perception which could inform music educators in terms of suitable instructional objectives (e.g., Korduba, 1975; Madsen & Mears, 1965; Raleigh & Odom, 1972). 1976-1986: The First Decade Following PL94-142 In the decade following the passage of PL94-142, there was a gradual shift in instructional placement with increasingly fewer children being educated in schools for the deaf. As more children enrolled in regular classes within their home school districts, music educators faced the challenge of making an auditory art form meaningful to children with significant hearing losses. …