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Can Deaf People Hear Music? (Answer: Yes, They Can)
Hearing people always assume that there is only one way to enjoy music, and that is by listening/ hearing to it. In a world dominated and driven by able bodied privilege, that assumption is prevalent, and when a deaf person shows up at a concert, heads turn. However, deaf people can enjoy music in ways that differ from how hearing people enjoy music, but they can definitely derive pleasure out of it. First of all, deafness does not mean that someone does not hear anything at all – there are varying levels of deafness. Second, deaf people can feel the vibrations produced by the music being played and consume those vibrations through their body. The humming sound produced by picking a bass string or the boom of the drums can be felt very easily by them. The lyrics evoke different types of feelings, and the combination of vibrations and lyrics is how deaf people enjoy music. Someone who wears hearing aids or Cochrane implants may have some enhanced levels of hearings but for those who don’t, they turn up the volume so they can feel the vibrations from beats and bass more strongly as they read the lyrics. [...]
Venkat Rao