PPTA

Facing the music in schools

Facing the music in schools

PPTA News September 2009, p. 5

Alex* has spent his professional life listening to students playing music -but now the sound of a zipper being pulled is too much for him to bear.

The former secondary school music teacher lives with a condition called hyperacusis, which leaves him hypersensitive to sounds at certain pitches and unable to continue a career he loves.

An ACC investigation has ruled that Alex was the victim of occupational noise-induced hearing damage. His condition could easily have been avoided with information, support and simple changes to his teaching environment. Alex spoke with the PPTA News to help make sure other music teachers don’t suffer the same fate. Teaching music has been Alex’s life. He trained as a teacher overseas and has a Masters degree in music. The only difference in his last job was extended work with the school’s concert, jazz, rock and production bands.

Hypersensitivity to sound is not typical of occupational noise exposure – with the striking exception of those exposed to music. Reseach also shows the largest group of musicians with hearing dif?culties is high school band directors. It was after working with a school production band in 2006 that Alex began to realise something was wrong.

“I didn’t know whether it was age or stress. I was really knocked around - I lost nine-and-a-half-kilos,” he said. During the school holidays he started to get better but once back at school things began to go downhill again.“It was the concert band direction that I enjoyed immensely, but after each rehearsal I felt totally drained. “I really struggled to cope. The kids were driving me nuts in class, they were so loud. It was crazy.”

It wasn’t until he was diagnosed in 2007 that Alex discovered he had developed a low tolerance for sound. “It wasn’t the students that were noisier, it was my perception that had changed.”

Alex was becoming sensitive to high frequency sounds, while at the same time suffering from hearing loss. It was only a subtle switch from a sound being just audible to it becoming loud enough to cause him extreme discomfort. Sounds like cutlery scraping against plates, bells at supermarkets and even a zipper being done up quickly can easily become too much for him.

When listening to live performances he discovered he was unable to hear certain instruments. It became more obvious when he marked a particularly talented student down for playing out of tune during a practical assessment. The student queried the mark and an independent reassessment by a respected woodwind tutor also disputed it. “It was a real shock to me. I couldn’t fathom why this tutor would disagree with me. It was after discussing this with my wife that I made an appointment with my GP… If you have a hearing problem you realise it pretty quickly because you can’t hear things, but if sounds are louder than they should be it takes a while for the penny to drop. Musicians put a lot of faith in their ears,” he said.

One of the saddest things about Alex’s story was that it didn’t have to happen. If some basic measures had been put in place, he would still be teaching today. “The biggest thing is knowledge. Schools need to understand the health and safety aspects of music teaching and the importance of simple things like timetabling,” he said.

During the course of a day music teachers can be exposed to temporary threshold shifts (TTS), which cause hearing problems. If the person affected is given time away from the noise to recover – preferably 16 to 18 hours – the condition resolves itself. But if they don’t get that downtime, permanent hearing damage can result.

The teaching space at Alex’s decile 10 school was no different to many other music classrooms in New Zealand. Sound-proofing would have helped the situation, but a simple change in timetable would have made all the difference. According to the Department of Labour a workplace noise level should not exceed an average of 85 decibels during an eight hour period. To put this in perspective – a power lawnmower that requires ear protection to operate can be 91dB or more, while an individual flute can reach 116dB at its peak. Recordings made by music industry working group SoundAdvice during a college music class showed the cornet was the worst offender with an average of 89dB, reaching 140dB at its peak, closely followed by tenor saxophone – peaking at 134dB and the oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone and trombone, which all peak at 132dB. Teachers working with beginning classes are also likely to be exposed to more noise because, for beginner players – especially those learning woodwind and brass instruments – it’s technically dif?cult to play softly, he said. Another simple, but crucial, piece of advice Alex has for music teachers is to get annual hearing checks. Because of an unrelated ear condition Alex had a precautionary audiogram done before starting at his last school. This showed he had normal hearing and was an important piece of evidence when it came to the ACC investigation into his case. “I’m not the only one – there are lots of people out there like me. I was just lucky I had the test before I started.“I just want to see that this does not happen to other music teachers – or their students.”

For more information see: www.musiciansclinics.com

Hearing loss in musicians, prevention and management - Marshall Chasin, Plural Publishing, 2006

Sound Advice - noise at work in music and entertainment - http:// www.soundadvice.info/

Download the PPTA News September 2009