Music in the Lives of Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants

Abstract

Present-day cochlear implants provide good temporal cues and coarse spectral cues. In general, these cues are adequate for perceiving speech in quiet backgrounds and for young children's acquisition of spoken language. They are inadequate, however, for conveying the rich pitch-patterning of music. As a result, many adults who become implant users after losing their hearing find music disappointing or unacceptable. By contrast, child implant users who were born deaf or became deaf as infants or toddlers typically find music interesting and enjoyable. They recognize popular songs that they hear regularly when the test materials match critical features of the original versions. For example, they can identify familiar songs from the original recordings with words and from versions that omit the words but preserve all other cues. They also recognize theme songs from their favorite television programs when presented in original or somewhat altered form. The motivation of children with implants for listening to music or melodious speech is evident well before they understand language. Within months after receiving their implant, they prefer singing to silence. They also prefer speech in the maternal style to typical adult speech and the sounds of their native language-to-be to those of a foreign language. An important task of future research is to ascertain the relative contributions of perceptual and motivational factors to the apparent differences between child and adult implant users.

Music activities and responses of young cochlear implant recipients

“…Considering the average age at initial tuning for the group was two years, it appears that some of these children respond to parental singing shortly after implantation and soon begin to imitate this behaviour for their own enjoyment. This fi nding is supported by Trehub et al (2009), whose preliminary results indicate that, within few months of implant use, toddlers prefer an audiovisual display of a mother singing a play song to the same display without audio.…”

Music and Quality of Life in Early-Deafened Late-Implanted Adult Cochlear Implant Users

“…For example, a song could sound natural to an EDLI but mechanical to a NH person listening to CI simulations because of the different states of the auditory exposure and memories of individuals. As a result, different listener groups may be making their music judgment using different standards and reference points (9,23,33). Moreover, the additional benefit of the implant for music perception compared with the music perception during the period of deafness using a hearing aid may also differ.…”

Music Therapy for Preschool Cochlear Implant Recipients

“…Because speech sounds are effectively transmitted through current implant technology, it is not surprising that the lyrics of songs are often more accessible to CI recipients than pitches or melodic patterns (Olszewski, Gfeller, Froman et al, 2005). School-aged pediatric CI recipients can recognize familiar nursery songs most readily when the song lyrics are included (Olszewski, Gfeller, Froman et al, 2005; Olszewski, Gfeller, & Zhang, 2005; Trehub, Vongpaisal, & Nakata, 2009). Thus, the presence of lyrics can be a distinct advantage as young implant recipients engage in music activities.…”