18th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 3-5, 2019 • Chicago, IL
Tell Me a Story, Sing Me a Song; Musical Theater for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Research has shown that some children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) struggle with early developing skills such as auditory perception, phonemic awareness, pre-literacy skills, and social-emotional development. These are all vital foundations for the development of speech and language, literacy, and social skills. According to best practices, these skills need to be specifically targeted and taught during early childhood when it is developmentally appropriate. Musical Theater, a combination of story telling, music, and dance, is often viewed as an art form for older children and adults, but there is a growing literature that suggests it may be used as a powerful early education tool. It has been used successfully with children who have visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, and autism. It can be adapted specifically for children with hearing loss in the early education school and home settings to target vital developmental areas. This session will discuss the specific benefits of Musical Theater to children who are DHH and how to introduce and incorporate it into the classroom, therapy, and home settings without requiring parents or professionals to be experts in music or in theater. Topics will include how to work as a facilitator for dramatic exploration through movement and music, the elements of teaching music and singing, breaking down a story into critical parts, and naturally incorporating listening and spoken language strategies into classroom instruction and fun family home activities. The presentation will describe the availability of a written comprehensive booklet describing these components of musical theater for children who are DHH using listening and spoken language, available free-of-charge on heartolearn.org.
- Participants will discuss the importance of music and theater in the home and in early childhood LSL programs, and the language skills that musical theater can promote.
- Participants will describe how to naturally integrate LSL strategies into a musical theater program without being an expert in music or theater.
- Participants will discuss the upcoming availability of a comprehensive guide to implementing a musical theater program in the classroom and carryover into the home.
Poster:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.
Presenter: Alexandra Lewis
Alexandra Lewis, BA received her undergraduate degree from Whitman College. She is currently a second year graduate student in the Deaf Education program with an emphasis in Listening and Spoken Language at Utah State University. Through her minor and experience in theater, Alexandra was intrigued in the possibility of bringing theater and performance to early childhood education. In 2017, Alexandra co-taught a musical theater class at Sound Beginnings to children age 3-6. This experience led to her interest in creating a musical theater guide tailored to children and their families and to non-theater professionals.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Lauri Nelson is a Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education at Utah State University. She is the Deaf Education Division Chair, the Director of the Listening and Spoken Language Deaf Education graduate training program and Sound Beginnings. She was one of the co-founders of the Hear to Learn website. She has a dual background as both a pediatric audiologist and LSL deaf educator.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.