Deaf Children and Music

So Kim sparked a memory for me with her post about music. When I was pregnant with Gage at age 26, I had a good job which I enjoyed, even the one hour drive gave me time to listen to my music. I love anything from rockers like Pearl Jam, to rappers like Tupac (2Pac, aka Makaveli)... Now as I drove that one hour to and from work, I would crank up "my music" and sing the words as best I could, admiring the geniuses who wrote them. I noticed a consistency. When I played rap, my dear sweet, unborn child would roll around inside my belly. He'd stretch and kick, and I'd laugh, imagining him throwing up his "rap hands" as I did when I would get into the songs. People always would tell me, "you better enjoy that music while you can!" meaning the lyrical content wouldn't be appropriate for a young child. So I did...enjoyed every word, every breath, every story told thru those speakers.
When Gage was born, we quickly found out why he picked rap as his favorite music...he was in fact deaf. He couldn't hear me talk to him as he rode reverse in the back seat, he couldn't even see me...but he could feel the radio...if I put it on just the right tune. After all, I didn't have to worry about the lyrics anymore. So we continued our love of rap...until he got his cochlear implant that is. Now as you may have seen from previous posts, he's ACDC/Alice in Chains all the way! As far as feeling the music now, Brook is my rapper. She loves bass! But Gage loves the guitars and the voices that scream! Gage does still feel music and songs...but on a much deeper/higher level now. I don't mean physically, I mean he has learned how to emotionally feel a song. If you look to the upper right column of my blog here you'll see two slide shows. The one where Gage and Brook are babies has a beautifully done version of "Amazing Grace". Gage nearly cried when I was making that slide show just from listening to that song. He came up to me, hid behind me (one of the few times he's ever been shy or embarrassed) and asked me if I might cry listening to that song. I saw the look on his face and I could tell he was a little touched. I explained how beautiful the song was and lots of people cry at songs. He doesn't have tears...never has, never will so not a tear was shed. But he was touched. He's much more into music than Brook is at this point, as a matter of fact I have to wrap it up here, he's awakened and now waiting his morning youtube dose of Highway to Hell...so much for that lyrical content huh?