Enhancing Communication through Music for Students with Deafblindness

1. Music as a Motivator for Communication for Students with Deafblindness Friday, August 1, 2014 AER Conference – San Antonio, Texas Presented by Shannon Darst, Ph.D, CTVI, Certified Music Teacher

2. Overview of the Presentation • Explanation of the study entitled “Music as a Motivator for Communication for Students with Deafblindness” • Brief description of the topic of the study • Statement of the problem • Purpose of the study • Research questions • Brief description of study methodology • Results and discussion of the study • Significance of the study • Implication for future research • Examples of ways to incorporate results into daily educational programming

3. The Topic of the Study • Communication for students with deafblindness • Motivating communication • Use of music and music therapy techniques for motivating communication

4. Statement of the Problem • Motivators for expressive communication for students with deafblindness • Music and music therapy techniques in practice • Lack of formal research on this topic

5. Purpose of the Study • To investigate the use of music as a motivator for expressive communication for students with deafblindness • Use of naturalistic observation • Measurement of types of expressive communication • Identification of types of music or musical activity that elicit expressive communication

6. Research Questions • What are the student’s receptive and expressive communication levels? • How are the student’s receptive and expressive communication levels reflected during the music activities? • How is music a motivator for a student to communicate expressively? • In what ways does the student’s deafblindness affect the student’s communication skills during the music activities?

7. Methodology • Qualitative design • Data collection • Data analysis

8. Results and Discussion – Research Question 1 What are the student’s receptive and expressive communication levels? STAGE of COMMUNICATION • Student 1 and Student 2 began and ended the study in the illocutionary stage. • Student 3 began and ended the study in the locutionary study, with most of his expressive communication being in the illocutionary stage. COMMUNICATION MATRIX RESULTS • Student 1 made progress across all four domains and in all levels of communication based on Communication Matrix results • Student 2 made progress in one domain and in two levels of communication within that domain. • Student 3 made progress across three domains and in one level of one of those domains. OVERALL • All three participants gained noticeable communication skills over the course of the study.

9. Results and Discussion – Research Question 2Student 1 How are the student’s receptive and expressive communication levels reflected during the music activities?

10. Results and Discussion – Research Question 2Student 1

11. Results and Discussion – Research Question 2Student 2 How are the student’s receptive and expressive communication levels reflected during the music activities?

12. Results and Discussion – Research Question 2Student 2

13. Results and Discussion – Research Question 2Student 3 How are the student’s receptive and expressive communication levels reflected during the music activities?

14. Results and Discussion – Research Question 3 • How is music a motivator for a student to communicate expressively? • All participants communicated during music activities by demonstrating: • personal desires and preferences • refusal • attention to an object and/or another person • turn-taking • an understanding of cause-and-effect • an understanding the actions of others • anticipation of the next activity • Certain activities motivated all participants • Playing keyboard • Hearing a specific song • Playing drums • Reading calendar

15. Results and Discussion – Research Question 4 • In what ways does the student’s deafblindness affect the student’s communication skills during the music activities? • Lack of any visual input • Primary sense used was tactile, with the auditory sense used in conjunction with the tactile sense. • Reading calendar was the only purely tactile activity during this study • Hearing a voice was the least motivating to participants

16. Significance of the Study • Music can be used as a motivator for communication for students with deafblindness • Students with deafblindness may benefit from music and music activities in their educational programming

17. Implications for Future Research • Research to support future studies • Future study topics

18. Music for Communication in Daily Educational Programming • For all settings • Use of rhythm, vibration, and tactile stimuli to convey concepts • For music class • Active learning • Cooperative play • Group/team activities

19. Questions or Comments • THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! • BE DARING! • If at first you don’t succeed, try it again and again!

20. References Rowland, C. (1996). Communication Matrix. Portland: Child Development and Rehabilitation Center, Oregon Health Sciences University. Retrieved from http://www.communicationmatrix.org/Default.aspx