Benefits of Dance Education for the Teens with Hearing Impairment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to exam how dance education can be beneficial for the teens with hearing impairment. Through this, I looked into the benefits and considerations of dance education for the teens with hearing impaired in terms of educational, physical, and emotional development. Also the study was discussed about teaching considerations and the therapeutic value of dance and movement for the hearing impaired teens. The results are as follows. First of all, teaching rhythm not only provides the students a basic tool to learn how to dance but also creates greater subsequent educational value. It lets the deaf exercise their physical, psychological, emotional creativities. Second, creative dance and movement skills increase the awareness of the body, improve the movement skills, support building the verbal vocabulary, and develop appreciation of dance. Using these abilities, dance fosters creative expression, provides opportunities for socialization, and alleviates the frustration of verbal communication. Third, the extended educational value of dance can be looked into through the possibilities of incorporating different subjects to the dance class. Those benefits of dance carry over into the emotional, social, and other areas of leaning. Forth, through dance movement therapy, as dance relates body and mind, the hearing impaired teens develop awareness of their bodies and rhythmic confidence, build self-identification and self-acceptance, explore their movement strengths and limitation. Since the hearing impaired teens are visual learners, teachers should consider their conditions and sign language will help maximizing the outcome of the class. When using visual and tactile cues, teachers need to make eye contact and avoid walking around the room. Also, they can learn rhythm visually by counting with signed numbers, clapping, beating the drum, and using a metronome or light impulses. Touching musical instruments and amplified speakers also give the students to feel vibrations and perceive rhythmic patterns. Dance education for the hearing impaired has a relatively short history and it has been trying to overcome the general misconceptions. Considering the benefits and potential for the students, dance education for the hearing impaired needs more attention to be paid.