Help! I am teaching sound design and I have a hearing-impaired student...

[skunky_funk]

I teach sound design and recording for film and video in a certain college and while I am so elated, I just knew that one of my students is hearing-impaired. (Deaf, if you want the politically-incorrect term.) He does a lot of lipreading and has a very sensitive hearing aid, but then his speech is very much compromised.

 

So he just emailed me his predicament regarding our first exercise - recording household sounds using portable sound recorders. He said he can't hear high-pitched frequencies. He can hardly hear the sounds.

 

But then, the guy is so great in 3D and 2D animation, plus he is agreat web designer. Very successful despite his being physically-challenged.

 

So how can I handle him? Does this call for SPECIAL TREATMENT?

[Tedster]

I think it calls for special treatment, sure...and it calls for special innovation.

 

I'm shooting from the hip here, but, you might try to imagine yourself as hearing-impaired and thinking on how you'd want your instructor to get their points across.

 

I remember a saying... "Explain it to me as if I were a space alien, and had never been here before". In other words, you couldn't tell an alien what a drive in theater was if he'd never seen a car. You'd have to teach entirely new concepts.

 

But, I'm thinking that this could actually be a very good thing.

[Kiwiburger]

I would introduce the subject of graphical analysis of sound very soon.

 

You would want to question him on exactly what he expects to get out of this course. It's a bit like painting for the blind - why is he putting himself through this. You can't hold your class for ransom over somebody who probably shouldn't be there.

 

What is his real motivation? To prove a personal point? To stick it to society? To gain sympathy? Funding? Seriously - people are always motivated by an emotional reason for what they do. Sometimes it's a pure motive, and sometimes it isn't.

 

Having said that - I can think of postive benefits that could spin off from this arrangement, if his motivation is positive. If I was handicapped in hearing, I would be wanting to apply the latest advances in audio technology to the problem. This guy might just invent a better hearing aid using information you can teach him.

 

Have a frank, no-holds barred discussion with this guy. If he's genuine, he will appreciate that he can't hold back the rest of the class, but he can still be a valued team player with a unique perspective.

[geek_usa]

It would challenge your teaching abilities for sure. This is good experience. Jump on the opportunity.

[sweet]

 

Originally posted by Kiwiburger You would want to question him on exactly what he expects to get out of this course. It's a bit like painting for the blind - why is he putting himself through this. You can't hold your class for ransom over somebody who probably shouldn't be there. What is his real motivation? To prove a personal point? To stick it to society? To gain sympathy? Funding? Seriously - people are always motivated by an emotional reason for what they do. Sometimes it's a pure motive, and sometimes it isn't.

This is a somewhat cynical view, I think, although I don't necessarily disagree. It is important to ask what his objective for the class is.

 

My daughter is also hard of hearing, not deaf, but she needs hearing aids. She tries to conduct her life as normally as possible, and uses visual cues extensively, so I like Kiwi's idea of graphical sound analysis.

 

I think people with any impairment put themselves into challenging situations because they need to learn how to cope in order to get along in life.

 

It's the, "I need to do this for myself, because no one will help me." mentality.

 

I think you also have an opportunity to really see your teaching evolve and will probably learn alot yourself. Perhaps new ways to teach folks that hear normally. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[ArrMatey]

ask him to imagine what kind of sound would house hold objects do. ask him what kind of sound does he imagine it and then go record sounds. Doesn't matter if it's the best recording, if he can get a rough idea of what the sound recorded is like (he can listen at high volume and will catch a glimpse of certain frequencies) and if it fits its idea or not of the sound he imagined.

 

I don't know if that would help but I always thought that was a good idea for an exercize of sound design: find a sound that you think would sound like an object and then find the real sound...because we all know the power of foley and post production issues...but I might be going astray. sorry if I did.

[Lee Knight]

He's talented at graphics? You've got to applaud someone in his shoes taking your course. It sure looks like he's trying to understand every facet of multimedia, even if eventually his input on certain practices will be severly limited (sound).

 

In the case of the recording of household items. Let him do it and critique what he gives you for the purpose of him gaining knowledge on the subject.

 

Something like...

"It sounds like that frying pan is really bassy sounding. That's because of the proximity effect. How close did you have the mic? Try moving it away a foot and let me hear what you come up with. Remember to watch your meters..."

[kevinnem]

there was a mastering program taht shows stuff graphically, .. as I understand it you can compare your mix to those of other recording ect.

 

Harbel , or something like that is what it was called. Maybe "seeing" sound would make sence to this guy. I know its off the question you asked , I just wanted to let you know about the software. like a RTA on LSD.

 

Kev.

[Rhino Madness]

You can learn more and get the demo here: Har-Bal.

[MarkGifford-1]

Here's my take:

 

This guy is very talented in graphic design. He loves games and may someday be a great designer of them.

 

He probably HAS to take the audio course in order to graduate.

 

There are certain immutable facts here, the most important being that the guy can not hear. You know he's never gonna get it. He knows he's never gonna get it. Just let him attend class, try to do the projects as best he can, and give him a passing grade.

 

If you have to tailor everything in your lectures/projects to the lowest common denominator of someone who can't hear, everyone else will suffer - is it fair to them?

 

He'll get his degree and go on to do something w/his life/career that is meaningful and fulfilling to him. You will have helped him achieve that, no reason for hand-wringing, etc.

 

MG

[Lee Knight]

 

Originally posted by MarkGifford-1 Here's my take: If you have to tailor everything in your lectures/projects to the lowest common denominator of someone who can't hear, everyone else will suffer - is it fair to them? MG

 

 

I agree with that. I wouldn't tailor the class to one individual. But you can still include someone with a hearing impairment with special assignments or a modified workload.

 

Learning about sound WILL benefit him in his future endeavors. Understanding the physics of sound helps explain things like file formats, bit depth, sampling rate. These things will help hiim be a better mutimedia producer, hearing impaired or not.