Silent sounding: Communicability, musicality, and the use of music with nonspeaking individuals with cerebral palsies and multiple disabilities

Introduction: This study explores the intersubjective potentials of nonspeaking young individuals with the more severe forms of cerebral palsy through their musicality and appropriation of music. Here, these forms are called cerebral palsies and multiple disabilities (CPMD). Method: A pluralistic research approach, specifically a combined qualitative approach was applied due to the sensitive and unexplored population. The philosophical framework was IPA, suitable for studying unique persons or phenomena in given contexts. A three-interview series was applied. First, the communicability, musicality, and the musicking of six individuals with (CPMD) were studied through two semi-structured life world interviews with their parents: five Israeli women and one man, religious and non-religious Jews in their 40s. Musical home videos were viewed during every second interview. Grounded theory (GT) coding took place with the transcribed interviews and the researcher’s journal. GT was not aimed to generate theory, but gain an additional perspective and thicker data. Subsequently, the GT findings were discussed with the parents through a third interview, and the results were finalized with IPA analysis. Findings: Three superordinate themes emerged in relation to the musicality, appropriation of music in everyday life, and the parents’ low awareness of their children’s potentials. Discussion: Parental-professional collaboration and a consumer-led approach are recommended in order to improve the parents’ low awareness of their children’s potentials, and to encourage more aware use of music’s affordances. The study’s limitations are discussed and future directions suggested.