Sensory impairment
In the UK there are 23,000 deafblind people. 8.9 million people have some form of hearing impairment, and between 1.5 million and 2 million are visually impaired.
Music involves sight, sound and touch. People with a sensory impairment often develop a greater responsiveness in the senses that remain intact and musical activity facilitates this.
Music can help stimulate residual sensory ability, since few people are completely deaf or blind. Active musical participation helps people to greater independence and functioning, learning to respond to and control their environment.
Visual impairment
Visual impairment can threaten the early attachment of an infant. Much early experience of socialisation may be missed, and people may face challenges in their ability to form relationships with others. Music-making can help in a number of ways including:
- reducing isolation by providing a natural way of entering spontaneous relationships
- refining listening skills (blind people are often particularly responsive to sound)
- stimulating movement and encouraging more conscious control of actions
- provides an expressive medium, helpful in coming to terms emotionally with the impairment.
Hearing impairment
Few people with a hearing impairment are completely deaf. Even those with little or no hearing are usually able to perceive some rhythmic vibration of sound. Music-making:
- improves communication skills:
- stimulating listening abilities
- providing an experience of conversation through sharing and answering of musical phrases
- helping language development through exploration and imitation of sounds and using rhythm and melody to accentuate words
- Aiding recognition and development of melodic aspects of speech.
- improving vocal intonation
- enriches social development
- helps Cochlear implant users to musically adjust to their device and participate in musical experience.
Look up the Research evidence for using music to help people with sensory impairments.
