As with most parents who find out their child is deaf, one of my first heartbreaks was realizing that she would never hear music or learn to appreciate music. When I started researching Cochlear Implants and reading the blogs of adult CI users, I discovered this fear was unfounded. As I've written in previous posts, Toes is very fond of music (or, "Music-ick" as she prefers to call it) and has her favorites. Lately, a favorite has been Life is a Highway from the Cars movie (Rascal Flatts) and *anything* from The Little Mermaid.
Since we are in a phase where Erin has caught up to her peers in communication, yet hasn't started to tackle the issues of elementary school, I've decided I'd like to spend some of our free time expounding on Erin's fondness for music by encouraging her to sing, play her little keyboard, etc. My understanding from CI Adults I've spoken to is that often listening to a symphony can sound like 100s of voice all talking at once - it can be a bit much to even tolerate much less appreciate. So, I'll introduce other kid-friendly instruments into the equation over time. My hope is that as she learns to understand how each instruments sounds, she will begin to be able to appreciate more complex music and in time enjoy classical music in a live setting.
I'm obviously not a Music Therapist and am really just flying by the seat of my pants. But as long as she's enjoying the process, I'll keep it going.
Here is some video we captured earlier this week... it's short, so have a listen!
