VICTORIAN BRASS BANDS: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A 'WORKING CLASS MUSICAL TRADITION'
Trevor Herbert By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, brass bands were one of the principal focuses of community music making in the United Kingdom. There were, if we are to believe the optimistic forecasts in one publication, 40,000 of them.1 Such a statistic would indicate that the number of people playing in brass bands by the end of the century was something in the region of 800,000. At about the same time, audience attendance at open air brass band contests was, according to the highest estimate, 160,000 at a single event. This figure was quoted in the popular press following the 1900 National Brass Band Contest at the Crystal Palace. It should not, of course, be taken literally, but it is probably a good indicator of popular impression. When Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, the term '"brass band" meant nothing more than an ensemble of miscellaneous wind instruments in which brass instruments were prominent. At the end of the century the term was more closely defined. Brass bands had become the raison d'etre for a discrete but significant segment of the British music industry and for a widespread and intricate organizational structure that was largely controlled by working-class people. Since the end of the nineteenth century, the British brass band has had a standard line up of instruments - cornets in Bb (4 'solo', 2 seconds, 2 thirds plus one 'repiano'), 1 soprano cornet in Eb, 1 flugel horn in Bb, 3 tenor saxhorns in Eb, 2 baritone saxhorns in Bb, 2 euphoniums in Bb, 2 Eb basses, 2 BBb basses, 2 tenor trombones, 1 bass trombone, and percussion. Because this is the combination of instruments permissible for contests it has been used by all publishers of brass band music. For a long period in the middle of the twentieth century, percussion instruments were not allowed in brass band contests, but they were reintroduced in the 1960s. Percussion parts were usually included in scores so that they could be used in concerts. Historians have often cited the brass band movement as one of the finest musical achievements of the British working classes, and it is certainly true that it is one of the elements which has characterised Victorian working-class culture. But it is entirely wrong to attribute its genesis and early development exclusively to the working classes. It was the middle classes who provided the instruments, the repertory, the moral encouragement, and other facilities that gave the brass band movement its momentum. Bands of wind and string instruments were common in Britain in the early years of the century. They seldom contained brass instruments, but serpents were often used on bass lines. Such bands were mainly used to support choirs in rural Anglican parish churches, but they seem to have also served a broader role in their communities. For a
2 HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY JOURNAL number of reasons, these church bands began to decline in the 1830s.2 The first all-brass band, so it is claimed, was formed in Blaina, Gwent in the 1820s.3 There is no reliable evidence to support this and other similar claims concerning the 'first' brass band, but sources show that in the 1830s private and professional bands were established which went to some lengths to point out that they were brass bands. In Lancashire by 1838 a group calling itself the Preston United Harmonic Brass Band was soliciting engagements at a cost of "£4.5.0 and Meat and Drink as soon as we get their [sic] and all the time we stay theirfsic] ."4 During the same year, Robert Thompson Crawshay of Cyfarthfa Castle, Merthyr Tydfil, owner of one of the world's most profitable iron works, formed a brass band of 20 players by enlisting established professionals and leading amateurs. The Cyfarthfa Band was probably the first virtuoso British brass band and was far from typical in the late 1830s.5 Most brass or mixed brass/wind bands of that time were less able and organised. Such bands provide evidence of an important pre-history to the brass band movement, but they must not be confused with it. The brass band movement can trace its origins almost precisely to 1844. It was in that year that the Distin family, a group of touring virtuoso brass players, gained the franchise to import Adolphe Sax's design of valve instruments.6From that time, amateur playing increased dramatically and the mass production of brass instruments rose sharply. It is no accident that the best documented early brass band contest came shortly after that, at Burton Constable in 1845.7 It is equally no accident that many of the brass bands formed in the 1840s called themselves saxhorn bands. The acquisition of the franchise by the Distins had an acute and decisive influence; it is, however, worth noting some of the background conditions that allowed the promotion of this one industrial patent to give momentum to such a phenomenon. The economic growth of Britain in the mid-Victorian period was the most rapid and spectacular it has known. This growth created an entirely new demographic and social structure which in turn caused profound changes in the consciousness of all strata of society and to their cultural and material circumstances. For the working classes it established new communities, new values; for most it meant a change within a single generation from living in essentially rural, agrarian environments to urban, industrial communities.8 This brought urban squalor for some, but for others, indeed probably for the majority, the opportunity for small amounts of leisure time and modest disposable incomes.9 It was the first time that a mass working-class population had such a facility and, though largely groundless, there was sustained worry among sections of the higher classes that insurrection would be produced by the judicious enticements of drink and lasciviousness. A concern for social order developed and, among the more enlightened, that social order was seen as best achieved through the encouragement of activities which were intellectually and spiritually nourishing and, as such, represented 'rational recreations'. The rational recreationists are often seen as empty paternalists. In fact, their motives were usually genuine and aimed to create a middle ground between classes in which common values could be shared. Several organizations, most with religious associa
HERBERT 3 tions, promoted activities that were 'respectable' and 'improving'. Music making seemed to have held a special charm for them, and was thus one obvious activity to promote. It was perceived as a harmless and unambiguously 'good' example of self improvement, perhaps due to the spirit of co-operation which is promoted by collective music making.10 Thus the social and physical environment in which working-class people found themselves met absolute accord with the aspirations that the middle classes had for them. These aspirations developed at exactly the time that manufacturers were mass producing musical instruments which could be bought cheaply, learnt quickly and, when the note production technique was mastered, played with just the three most dexterous fingers of the right hand. It is easy today to underestimate the attractions and practical advantages that valve instruments had when they encountered the mass market in the mid nineteenth century: the ease with which they could be taught and played, and the facility they offered for players to cover the complete chromatic spectrum with comparative ease relative to earlier valveless instruments. The fact that the same basic design applied to different sizes of instruments provided a wide overall tessitura that matched the reasonable aspirations of composers and arrangers. This was a major breakthrough for instrument technology. The first people to realise the full potential of this phenomenon were, of course, the manufacturers. They also realised that mass production and deft marketing would facilitate relatively cheap unit costs. At first, many valve instruments were imported into Britain and often stamped with the name of the British importer. From the middle of the century, however, a significant home industry developed. Besson employed a hundred workers at its London factory by 1894, and between 1862 and 1895 produced 52,000 instruments. Joseph Higham's firm, which started in Manchester but eventually had a London base, produced 60,000 instruments between 1842 and 1893.11 Brass instruments were widely promoted. Valve systems were exhibited for awards at the expositions which were the prime focus for industrial and technological eminence. By 1888 Besson was claiming that they had won 42 of the highest honours at such events and that their 'prototype band instruments' had won 39 medals of honour, including one awarded for 'TONE quality [sic].' Such achievements, and the endorsements of leading army bandsmen, were conspicuous in advertisements which were placed in music trade journals, and it was common for the cover pages of piano, woodwind and string journals - publications mainly aimed at the domestic middle-class market - to carry brass instrument promotions.12 Many bands formed from about 1850 were sponsored by, or received some other form of benevolence or support from, industrial entrepreneurs. Perhaps the most famous was the band founded in 1855 by the textile manufacturer, John Foster, for the workers at his mill in the Yorkshire village of Queenshead (which later changed its name to Queensbury). Witnessing the collapse of the ramshackle local band, Foster resolved to form a new one. He provided instruments, uniforms, a room in which to practice, and the fees for a bandmaster on condition that the band took the name of his mill as their name. Thus was inaugurated the John Foster and Son Black Dyke Mills Band (or Black Dike,
4 HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY JOURNAL a common spelling in the nineteenth century), which has probably had the most sustained level of success of any British brass band. This type of benefaction was not uncommon. But, though it is widely believed that the brass band movement started and was sustained because middle class industrialists provided unhindered resources for them, it is almost certainly untrue. For a variety of reasons, the middle classes encouraged brass bands and were anxious to associate themselves with them. But most bands raised all or part of their money through subscriptions, fund-raising events and profits from contests and concerts. Working-class ambitions were aided by two vital and novel factors: first, hire purchase schemes, the advent of which the writer Algernon Rose cited as the single most important factor to which 'many bands owe their very existence'13; and second, the economic climate which produced a significant decrease in the real cost of the instruments.14 Economic and social historians argue long and hard about the factors which contributed to economic growth in mid-Victorian Britain and what the ramifications of that growth were. For the music business the position seems relatively simple. In a period when the value of the pound was more or less stable, the costs of brass instruments fell dramatically. Cornopeans, for example, were advertised at prices between £5 and £10 around 1840; by the 1850s it was common for new cornets to be available for £3.15 The fall in the cost of valve instruments such as cornets can be explained, in part at least, by their easier availability, but in the same period tenor trombones, which were the subject of no new technology, became cheaper by factors of up to 50%. The Distin company was, in the 1870s, advertising their 'ordinary cornets' at £1.5.0, and the superior model cost just 10/- more.16 Discounts were available, as was a flourishing market of second-hand instruments. While valve instruments (and trombones) were the mainstay of brass bands from the mid 1840s, it would be wrong to assume that valve technology immediately swept away the old keyed systems. Keyed instruments continued to be used until late in the nineteenth century. Players who had acquired a good technique on them probably saw no advantage in abandoning their skills to learn new fingering systems. Such perceptions were accurate, because the evidence is abundant in handwritten music sources to show that cornet and euphonium players held no sway over the best keyed bugle and ophicleide players. Photographs of brass bands, even quite late in the nineteenth century, show that valved and keyed instruments were being used side by side. The ophicleide was particularly reluctant to die. Samuel Hughes, probably the best British ophicleide player (he played with the Cyfarthfa Band, and went on to become Professor of Ophicleide at the Guildhall School of Music and the Army School of Music, later called the Royal Military School of Music),17 was never seduced to the euphonium, although many of his contemporaries were. It should also be remembered that even slide trumpets were persevered with by London professionals until the very end of the century; Thomas Harper continued to provide slide trumpet lessons at the Royal Academy of Music, and W. Wyatt was persevering with the 'double slide trumpet' at the Royal Opera House in the 1890s.
HERBERT 5 The most interesting sources concerning Victorian brass bands are those pertaining to the music they played. Concert programmes, which survive in abundance, show that by far the greatest part of the repertory, even into the twentieth century, was made up of transcriptions. The music that was transcribed can be broadly categorised into three types. First, art/classical music; in this category Italian operatic overtures and selections are highly prevalent. Second, arrangements of popular dances such as quadrilles, schottisches and polkas; these were often used as vehicles for virtuoso solo pieces. Third, miscellaneous collections of functional pieces such as anthems, carols, folk tunes and other music of local interest. The primary sources for the art/classical music transcriptions were often the cheap Novello editions which were published in short score. The most easily available printed music was 'journal music'. Journals were published from the late 1830s.18 They gave bands a monthly supply of music, in parts, for a modest subscription. The annual cost of journal subscriptions ranged from about 10/- to £1. The parts varied according to the publisher's policy, but typically there were about ten separate parts for the most popular instruments in appropriate transpositions. Bandmasters, who were usually trained musicians but not brass players, then had to adapt these parts for the actual forces they had available. Distins' Brass Band Journal (later to become Boosey's Journal) was fairly typical. It commenced publication in January 1869. The annual subscription was 10/-; for this subscribers received ten parts for: 1st Cornet in Bb 2nd Comet in Bb Soprano Cornet in Eb 1st & 2nd Tenor Horns in Eb 1st Baritone in Bb Euphonion [sic] in Bb in treble Bombardon in Eb in treble Drums [side and bass drums] This combination could be expanded by purchasing additional parts: "Extra parts may be had for the following instruments price Two Pence each Part, or One Shilling and Sixpence per Annum for each instrument. Duplicate parts on the same terms. Repiano Cornet in Bb; Cornets 3rd and 4th in Bb; 2nd Baritone in Bb; 1st and 2nd Trombones in Bb (either in treble or Bass clef); Bass Trombone; Solo Tenor in Eb; and Contra Bass in Bb."19 The Baritone, Euphonium and Bombardon parts were available in treble and bass clef. It was common in the nineteenth century - as it is standard today - for lower parts to be read from treble clef. In modern brass bands, only the bass trombone is written in bass clef. All other parts are in treble clef except for tenor trombone parts, which are
6 HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY JOURNAL sometimes in tenor clef. Trombonists playing from tenor clef usually make a mental adjustment by subtracting two flats from the key signature and regarding the music as being in treble clef. The origin of what may seem a curious system is assumed to lie in the didactic value of having all parts in the same clef. The anomaly of always putting the bass trombone in bass clef can be credibly, if not altogether convincingly, explained by the fact that the bass trombone part in bass clef would seem similar to the Eb bass part that often doubled it and was next to it in the full score. A less fashionable and simpler explanation, but one which I favour, is that there was a tradition for bass clef to be read in brass bands - plenty of ophicleide and bass trombone parts in manuscript sources show this - and, for reasons which are difficult to reach a conclusion on, the tradition did not die at the lower end of the trombone section. The fact that bass clef parts were available in journal music for baritones and euphoniums gives some support to this argument. The manuscript music occupies a much more important place in the hierarchy of sources for early bands. Whereas printed music - which shows a fairly consistent pattern anyway - gives proof of the ownership of such material, handwritten manuscript parts provide fairly incontestable evidence of the music that bands were actually playing and consequenUy of the ability of their players. It is hardly likely that a bandmaster, intimately familiar with the competence of the musicians he directed, would write parts that were significantly below or above their technical capacity. The journal music is undemanding, but some of the surviving manuscript sources, particularly those at the Besses O'th'Barn library20 and the much earlier collection at the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum 21 which contain the manuscripts of two of the best Victorian bands, show that the technical ability of the better players was as good as it has been at any time in the history of the brass band movement. In whatever way one judges brass virtuosity, the evidence is strikingly apparent. While the broad categories of transcriptions that I have already mentioned provided the bulk of the repertory through the second half of the nineteenth century, local idiosyncrasies which developed because of differences in playing ability, instrumentation, the tastes of bandmasters, and the special functional requirements on individual bands gave way to a greater level of commonality of style, if not standard, as the century progressed. This can, in part be attributed to the central influence of published music, particularly journals, but a greater influence was the massive importance of the growth of contesting. Several secondary sources quote evidence suggesting that brass band contests were being held early in the century. The most commonly, if imprecisely, cited early contest is the one held in 1832 when a Yorkshire band won first prize for an inspired performance of the national anthem, God Save the King. While it may be true that the competitive spirit prevailed at rural fetes from early in the century, the brass band contests which were held from the mid 1840s were of an entirely different order. They were a part of the mass entertainment industry, carefully organised by entrepreneurs who saw them as a potentially addictive attraction for the masses. Balloon ascents, side shows, and other enticements supported these open air events. The growing rail network and the provision
HERBERT 7 of cheap excursion fares meant that contests became forums for bandsmen from wide geographical areas. The numbers of people attending these events are given in contemporary newspaper reports with happy disregard for accuracy, but it is reasonable to assume that even a moderately elaborate provincial contest would have attracted audiences of tens of thousands. One can only gain impressions of the actual attendances. The contest held at Hull in 1858, according to contemporary newspapers, attracted 14,000; the first Belle Vue Contest at Manchester, 24,000. It might be possible, if anyone were to judge it sufficiently important, to extrapolate some approximate figures from the numbers of special excursion trains that were laid on. The significance of contests is not just that they provided momentum and conspicuous exposure for brass bands, but also that they created what Dave Russell has described as the 'nationalisation' and 'standardisation' of the movement.22 This led to a rise in standards of playing and to the establishment of a widely acknowledged musical orthodoxy. The style of the best bands and, perhaps more important, the stylistic tastes of the people who directed them, took on a striking similarity, and this galvanised musical attitudes to the extent that a brass band idiom was established. From the 1880s, three band conductors working in the north of England, Edwin Swift, James Gladney and Alexander Owen, who monopolised the directorships of a clutch of the very best bands, (including Black Dyke, Meltham Mills and Besses O'th'Barn) dominated the prizes at all major contests for the best part of twenty years. The instrumentation that they formulated for their bands became the standard line-up. In the 1880s, with these bands in mind, the first publications appeared for what is, more or less, the modern brass band. Original band compositions were not new—several pieces appeared from the late 1840s—but later publications, such as H. Round's 1884 work/can of Arc and others of the Liverpool publishers Wright and Round, were more substantial. These larger scale 'original works' demonstrated little originality and were directly imitative of the style and format of the operatic selections that still dominated the repertory. It was not until 1921, when Cyril Jenkins composedL//eD/'vme for the National contest, that brass bands had a work that modestly broke away from this tradition and matched coherent compositional technique with sensitivity to the idiom. The musical development of brass bands went hand in hand with an awareness on the part of the players of their own musical and economic worth. What had started as an activity led by commerce and middle-class paternalism was eventually usurped by the working classes themselves. Winning contests became a matter of local pride and importance, and also, to the bands, something of an economic necessity. The prestige of a band was measured by the list of its contesting honours; this in turn provided engagements which brought enough money to fund its activities and to supplement the wages of its players. The leading bands operated a thinly veiled form of professionalism. It was common for outstanding players to be in receipt of retainers for their services. Any moderately successful band that carried the name of an industrial concern such as a textile mill or coal mine secured for its members some type of advantage. There is no evidence to
8 HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY JOURNAL support claims that the jobs given to the members of bands like Black Dyke were no more than sinecures, but membership of such bands gave improved job security, and factory owners did not complain too loudly if contest or concert trips interfered with the players' work. It is doubtful that employers paid bandsmen if they missed work, but they offered some flexibility in the shifts they worked and so on. It stands to reason that the loss of wages incurred by the players who undertook distant engagements had to be made up from fees collected from admission charges to concerts. Most subscription bands drew up regulations providing unambiguous rules for behaviour, deportment, and particularly financial affairs. Such rules and regulations were sometimes drafted by solicitors commissioned by the bands; they show evidence of careful protection of democratic procedures. Other working-class organisations, such as mechanics' institutes and friendly societies, provided models for such regulations; some brass bands had strong links with mechanics' or workers' institutes. Such sentiments were, of course, resonant with the embryonic trade unions and labour movements, but it would be wrong to simply associate such aspirations for self-control to the wider development of the labour movement. Other writers have argued that there was an ambivalence on the part of the majority of the working class towards left wing politics. This seems to have been the case with many of the best bands. The Besses O' th' Barn Band, for example, organised itself to the extent that it was a pristine exemplar of the virtues of capitalism. In 1887 the members formally, legally, and successfully registered themselves as a limited company, sold shares and debentures, and over the next few decades had world-wide success as concert artists.23 There was a brief period in the nineteenth century when the best brass bands matched professional players in quality of performance and popular appeal. Towards the end of the century the signs of change appeared. Even as brass bands were at their zenith, the cultural and social categories that were to be highly effective in British society in the twentieth century began to form. For most of the second half of the century, brass bands had played the major role in disseminating classical instrumental music to mass audiences. Towards the end of this period, subscription/ orchestral concert series became more widely available in the provinces as well as in London.24 Also, the general growth of musical education in Britain provided for a wide range of tastes in 'serious' music. By this time, the brass band idiom and the organisational infrastructure that ran it—mostly based on contesting—was galvanised. The association of brass bands with certain types of working-class activities, many linked to the labour movement, placed them in a category of traditions that made them distinct from the mainstream of British music making. There is a well argued case for regarding the cultural categorisation of brass bands at the end of the nineteenth century as being part of the wider phenomenon of classification which Marxist historians, such as Eric Hobsbawm, have termed 'the invention of tradition.'25 The orthodoxy that had established brass bands as a coherent musical force became the cause of its subsequent existence in what I have called elsewhere a 'cultural ghetto.'26 Though brass bands must be regarded as a sub-culture of British music making, it
HERBERT 9 would be recklessly inaccurate to disregard their relationship to and influence on mainstream British art music. Several major composers—Elgar, Vaughan-Williams, Tippett, and Harrison Birtwhistle among them—have written for brass band. But the musical canon of the brass band contains no series of works by a major composer who has attempted to develop the idiom. The major influence is almost certainly that of the players. The majority of the greatest twentieth century British orchestral players had their origins in the brass band movement. The playing style of brass band players, characterised by almost constant vibrato and crisp articulations, is characteristically different from that of today's British orchestral players. This difference highlights the development of a distinct performance style in British orchestral brass playing in the second half of the twentieth century. Early recordings of brass bands and orchestral performances, to the extent that the recording qualities allow such conclusions to be reached, show signs of a greater (but not total) similarity.27 It is a matter of conjecture as to how national styles of brass playing are formed, but few would deny that they exist. Fashions change, and playing styles are undoubtedly susceptible to fashions, but there are influences that lie deep in the heart of national musical traditions. There is a good case to regard the British brass band movement as a virile source of influence on its orchestral players. The origins of this phenomenon should offer more than a passing curiosity to scholars of historic brass instruments.
NOTES 1. Wright and Round's Amateur Brass Band Teachers' Guide, 1889. 2. Nicholas Tempereley. The Music of the English Parish Church. Cambridge, 1979; gives an outline history of Anglican church bands. 3. Several secondary sources, including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, London, 1981, s.v. "Brass Band," mention this band. None provide any impressive evidence that proves its existence. A brief but realistic outline of the claims for 'the fust brass band' is given in Arthur Taylor. Brass Bands.... St. Albans, 1979: Chapter 1. See also Trevor Herbert, ed. Bands. Milton Keynes, 1991; pp. 7-15. 4. Lancashire County Records Office. DDC1 1187/18 (Clifton of Lytham Muniments). 5. Trevor Herbert. "The Virtuosi of Merthyr."L/a/ur: The Journal of Welsh Labour History. 5, no. 1 (1988). 6. W. Harwood. Adolf Sax 1814-1894.... Baldock, 1980: Chapter IV, Passim. 7. See Clifford Bevan. "Brass Band Contests: Art or Sport?" in Herbert, op. cit. 1991 , pp. 102104.
10 HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY JOURNAL
8. C.Cooke and B.Keith, British Historical Facts. London, 1975; Rev. 1984. Between 1831 and 1901 the population of England and Wales increased from just under 14 million to 32.5 million. Urban growth was particularly striking in this period; for example, Liverpool grew from 202,000 to 704,000 in that period, and Birmingham from 144,000 to523,000. There was equally impressive growth at smaller urban centres, such as Hull (52,000 to 240,000) and Blackburn (22,000 to 129,000). 9. The extent to which general economic growth in Britain brought a better standard of living for most people is hotly debated by economic historians. 10. E.D. Mackerness. A Social History of Music. London, 1964: p. 164. 11. J.L. Scott. "The Evolution of the Brass Band and its Repertoire in Northern England." unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sheffield, 1970: p. 441. 12. Herbert, op. cit. 1991, Chapter 1. 13. Algernon Rose. Talks with Bandsmen. London, 1895. 14. An excellent outline of the economic factors that contributed to the easier availability of musical instruments in the second half of the nineteenth century is given in C. Ehrlich. The Music Profession in Britain since the Eighteenth Century. London, 1988, Chapter V. 15. A comparison of manufacturers' price lists is given in Arnold Myers. "Instruments and Instrumentation in British Brass Bands," in Herbert, 1991, pp. 169-195. 16. Cover pages of Distin's Brass Band Journal, 1870. 17. Trevor Herbert. "A Lament for Sam Hughes: the 'last' ophicleidist." Planet: The Welsh Internationalist 87 (Aberystwyth 1991): 66-73. 18. Scott, 1975, suggests that "Wessels Brass Band Journal" was published from 1837. He may be right, but I have not found one that was published before the 1840s. It is certain, however, that lessregularpublications, such as McFarlaneVEight Popular Airs for Brass Band," were available in the late 1830s. 19. Distin's, op. cit. 20. There is no published catalogue of the Besses O'th'Barn repertory. I am grateful to the band for giving me unhindered access to their library. 21. Trevor Herbert. "The Repertory of a Victorian Provincial Brass Band."Popular Music. 9, no. 1 (Cambridge, 1990): 117-132. 22. Dave Russell. Popular Music in England. Manchester, 1987.
HERBERT 11
23. J.N. Hampson. The Besses O'th'Barn Band.... Northampton, (c. 1893). 24. Dave Russell. "Provincial Concerts in England: A Case study of Bradford." Journal ofRoyal Music Association. 14 (Spring 1989). One of the factors that contributed to the division of brass bands ( and other forms of working-class music) from mainstream art music was, so it is argued, the requirement for subscribers to pay in advance for a series. The audiences at classical music subscription series, therefore, were those able to pay for the whole series in advance. 25. See, for example, E. Hobsbawm "Mass Producing Traditions: Europe 1870-1914," in E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger (eds.). The Invention of Tradition. London, 1983. 26. Herbert, op. cit., 1991. 27. Little research has been done on early twentieth century brass performance practice based on gramophone recordings. I have seen the draft data for a forthcoming book by Frank Andrews which lists all brass band and solo brass music released on 78 rpm records in Britain. This will provide an invaluable starting point for future researchers.
Dr. Trevor Herbert is staff tutor and senior lecturer in music at Open University in Wales and sub-dean (research) of the Faculty ofArts of Open U niversity. He also plays sackbut with the Taverner Players.

Smart kids ignored?  Disparities in gifted education reported

ATLAMTA (AP) ―When Liz Fitzgerald realized her son and daughter were forced to read books in math class while the other children caught up, she had them moved into gifted classes at their suburban Atlanta elementary school.
  Just 100 miles down the road in Taliaferro County, that wouldn't have been an option. All the gifted classes were canceled because of budget cuts.
 "If they didn't have it, they would get bored and distracted easily." said Fitzgerald, whose children are 14 and 12. "It just wouldn't be challenging."
  Such disparities exist in every state, according to a new report by the National Association for Gifted Children that blames low federal funding and a focus on low-performing students.
  The report, "State of the States in Gifted Education," hits at a basic element of the federal government's focus on education: Most of its money and effort goes into helping low-performing, poor and minority kids achieve basic proficiency. It largely ignores the idea of helping gifted kids reach their highest potential, leaving those tasks to states and local school districts.
 （ア）"In the age of Sputnik, we put money into math and science, and we ended up on the moon," said Del Siegle, a University of Connecticut researcher who wrote the report. "We really need to consider that again. We cannot afford as a country to ignore talent."
  The federal government spent just $7.5 million last year on research and grants for the estimated 3 million gifted children in the U. S. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have tried to eliminate that money entirely, but Congress put it back into the budget each year.
  Gifted programs are typically paid for by local districts or states and vary dramatically. In some states, it's as stark as one county with multiple gifted programs －magnet schools, honors courses and separate classrooms for advanced learners－next to a county with nothing.
  "The quality of gifted services is dependent on geography, and it shouldn't be," said Laura Carriere, president of the Maryland Coalition for Gifted and Talented Education and the mother of two gifted children.
  Just six states pick up the whole tab for gifted programs, and 13 don't put a single dollar toward such curriculum, according to the study. That means poor urban and rural school systems are often have no money left for their highest achievers, according to the Nov. 12 report.
  "There is a markedly insufficient national commitment to gifted and talented children, which, if left unchecked, will ultimately leave our nation ill-prepared to field the next generation of innovators and to compete in the global economy."
  For Bellevue, Wash., mother Julie Plaut Warwick, a gifted program was the only option for her now 16-year-old son, who is in a magnet high school in the Seattle suburb.
  "He would be very bored and would have gotten in trouble," she said. "If you're in a regular classroom and you repeat things two or three times, he gets incredibly bored and frustrated."
  The federal No Child Left Behind Law, which was passed in 2003, forced states to focus on bringing struggling children up to grade level inadvertently exaggerating the problem even more, Siegle said. A Fordham Institute study released last month showed gifted students are still improving their standardized test scores, but not as quickly as low-performing children.
  As the economy has tanked, some states are shifting money away from gifted programs to help balance their budgets. The report shows that 13 states － more than half of the 23 that actually fund gifted education －made such cuts in 2008-09.
  In the Oxnard School District just north of Los Angeles, that means Martha Flournoy, who ran the district's gifted program for a decade, is back in the classroom.
  She said the students who are suffering the most are bright children from poor families.
  "If I'm middle class and my kids are identified gifted and talented, I'm going to find a charter school or go to a neighboring district or find a private school," Flournoy said. "That does not happen with all kids."
  Some oppose having separate classes for gifted kids. Mara Sapon-Shevin of Syracuse University argues that gifted programs create "haves and the have nots." She prefers grouping students together and then tailoring the curriculum to each child. Sapon-Shevin kept her own daughter out of a second-grade gifted program in the 1980s.
  "In the unit on birds, the gifted children would learn myths about birds, go bird watching, build bird houses, learn bird calls, do bird identification," she said.
  "The problem came when I raised my hand and asked what the other second-graders were doing. They said 'work sheets.'"
  But for educators like Sally Walker, gifted programs help bright children reach their highest potential, putting future doctors, scientists and engineers in classrooms where they don't feel embarrassed for being smart.
  Walker recalls the day she was testing a particularly bright 5-year-old boy in her gifted program in a Rockford, IIII, elementary school in the 1980s. She asked him what color coal is and gave him three options: black, purple and gray.
  The boy marked all three answers and told Walker that coal was black indoors, purple in the sunshine and gray if it burns.
  "These are students who are ignored because of the myth that they will make it on their own or succeed without help," said Walker, now executive director of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children. "They get frustrated because they feel they are not being understood."

]
(Smart kids ignored? Disparities in gifted education re-ported. (2009, November 23). USA TODAY.com E
<http://www. usatoday. com/news/education/2009-11-23-gifted-education_N.htm参考)

disparity
budget
Sputnik:スプートニク(ソビエト連邦が打ち上げた人工衛星)
stark:荒涼とした,厳しい
magnet school:マグネットスクール(数学, 芸術などある特定の分野に特化したカリキュラムを提供する学校)
pick up the tab
Bellevue, Wash., :ワシントン州ベルビュー(地名)
The federal No Child Left Behind Low :落ちこぼれをつくらないようにするための教育法(アメリカ合衆国)
haves and the have nots : HT,8
Rockford, Ill., : イリノイ州ロックフォード (地名)

2019

〔英文〕
Full Inclusion Holidays

The holiday season hits me just right － the scents of pine and cinnamon, the twinkling lights (the more the better), the candles, the ever-present music. I love the extended family coming into town, the enthusiastic and off-key school concerts and plays, and the special projects and winter-themed events in the classroom and home.

（ア）For me, the holidays are like a sparkly ornament: Whether you like it or not, you will find yourself covered in glitter.

But this isn't the case for a lot of our students and clients who struggle with interpersonal communication, transitions, foods with different textures, and sensory stimulation. For them and their parents, the holiday season can be fraught with increased anxiety and harder-to-manage behavior.
So how do we assist our students who do best with consistent routines and expectations and who have little tolerance for unending adult chatter and high sensory stimulation? These are children who don't easily manage the metaphorical holiday "glitter." What strategies can families use to accommodate children working on pragmatic skills and behavioral management－and to sensitize other family members to these children's unique needs?

Get ready
For starters, parents and caregivers can't expect holiday miracles from children with these challenges. They need to manage their expectations because changes in the environment can contribute to the children feeling overwhelmed. As a result, you are likely to see more behavior problems or shutting down.

It's important to realize that progress at this time of year might look like a step back. But parents, extended family members and clinicians can take steps to help ease the stress on the child-and themselves.

（イ）Prepare students in advance. Use a well-placed calendar at school and home to show the sequence of holiday events including classroom parties, decorating, concerts, visiting relatives and so forth. Use picture symbols for non-readers. A calendar is a fun way to count down to the holidays and allows children to independently check "how many days?" as often as they need to.
You can use sweets, small toys or pictures to mark the days.

Be proactive. Help older children plan for holiday challenges they may encounter by, for example, rehearsing events. Once they've identified likely rough spots or changes they may encounter－like becoming overwhelmed or angry－have them choose potential coping strategies such as self-talk or deep breathing. And although a reminder of the chosen strategies is appropriate, trying to identify one in the middle of a heightened state is nearly impossible.

Provide a role model. Adults, too, can find themselves overwhelmed by holiday-related schedule changes and sensory overload. Parents can be forthcoming about sharing that anxiety and how they respond to it with flexibility. For instance, if travel plans prevent guests from arriving for dinner, explain, "I'm disappointed that Grandma won't be here for dinner. Let's eat while we're hungry. We can have dessert together once she arrives."

Establish routines through traditions. Help ease into once-a-year events while building family traditions by encouraging parents to make a picture book about the holidays. They can take several pictures of each annual event and make a simple picture story.

The holiday picture book can be reviewed each year before and during the holidays to help the child navigate through the changes during the season. Including seldom-seen relatives in the photos will also give children a chance for reacquainting before their actual arrival. Teachers might consider creating these books for the classroom as well, showing traditional classroom activities and events like field trips, performances and projects related to the changing seasons.

Pick and choose events. Adults avoid burnout by politely declining some holiday events, and parents can extend the same courtesy to children. Perhaps greeting grandma and grandpa upon arrival is enough excitement, and staying home with a familiar sitter rather than joining the family for dinner out is an option. If special events during the school day are becoming overwhelming, perhaps an option to sit one out in a quieter area of the school is an alternative.

Trust your instincts! Encourage parents, when attending social events, that it's OK to remind family and friends not to hug or pressure a child to speak or look at them. Gauge how much activity a child can tolerate before needing a break and plan a place to go to regroup (another room, the car, a walk) or prepare to leave the event early, In the school setting, this may mean strategizing seating at a performance near an exit, or arriving before others file in or after everyone else has settled in their seat.

Social teachable moment
The holidays also provide a unique opportunity for clinicians and parents to help a child target pragmatic goals in a natural context. Consider the following:

Strengthen conversational skills. Often students with pragmatic challenges don't give their listener enough context to easily follow the conversation. （ウ）This is another opportunity to create small photo books of current "hot" topics for the child­­­ － it may be a holiday "wish list" of hoped-for gifts or perhaps a quick summary of a beloved story － whatever topic the child is revisiting frequently. This book can be used for rehearsal­ － reminding the child to include background information for the listener－ ­or can be shared with an interested adult who now has a better idea of the topic and an easier way to formulate questions.

Books have the added benefit of allowing joint attention without the pressure of eye contact. And because there tends to be a larger assortment of "new" listeners during the holidays, a child that tends to repeat stories will have an appropriate reason to do so in addition to the extra conversation practice.

Rein in perseveration. The excitement of gifts often results in a child "stuck" on talking about a specific desire. Parents can set parameters on the amount of time this is discussed by using tokens (such as poker chips or pennies). The child receives five tokens in the morning (or divide the tokens-two in the morning and another three in the afternoon) and can trade in a chip to talk about the desired item for five minutes. Using the timer on a phone or oven helps everyone know when the five minutes are up. This technique can be used at home or in school.

Promote friendships. Customs of exchanging gifts or small tokens during holidays is a prime occasion for perspective-taking. Guide young ones in understanding that their desire for everything superhero isn't shared by a sports enthusiast friend or a princess-crazed younger sister. A simple card craft, in which the child cuts pictures from a catalog, can be a heartfelt gift for a teacher, friend or family member.

Develop empathy. The awareness that everyone requires help from time to time is part of our humanity and the holidays abound with chances to pitch in for someone in need. These opportunities may include shopping or passing on lightly used gifts for a toy drive or packing canned goods for a food drive. Other ideas might be delivering meals to those in need, reading to younger children, or stuffing/stamping envelopes for a nonprofit. Be sure to research and discuss how the child's contribution makes an impact and provide verbal－rather than tangible－rewards for a job well done.

When you're in the midst of day-to-day work, it's easy to miss the progress of the big picture. Clinicians and parents can take a moment to journal or simply write a short description of how a holiday event went on your calendar. The following year you'll not only have a better idea of which traditions work and which are better skipped, but you'll also have a record of how far you've come.

[出典]
Kim Swon Lewis: Full Inclusion Holidays. The ASHA Leader, December 2016, Vol. 21, 52-56. より一部抜粋、改変

註

glitter      きらきら輝く

interpersonal         対人関係の

texture    食感

sensory stimulation               感覚刺激fraught  （危険などを）伴って

consistent               首尾一貫した

metaphorical          隠喩的な

caregiver                                  介助者

overwhelmed         （精神的に）圧倒する

burnout  燃えつきる

clinician 臨床医

proactive                 前向き

forthcoming           手近に用意されて

reacquaint              再び分からせる

gauge      測定する，評価する

strategize                戦略化する

instinct   直感

pragmatic challenges            語用的課題

formulate                明確に述べる

assortment             雑多な人の集まり

rein          制御

perseveration         固執

token       トークン（硬貨の代わりに用いる代用貨幣）

enthusiast               熱狂者

empathy 共感

toy drive 各家庭で余った玩具を持ち寄り，それを必要とする人々に寄付をする活動

food drive               各家庭で余った食品を持ち寄り，それを必要とする人々に寄付する活動

nonprofit                非営利的な

tangible  有形の

2016

【英文１】
The Child with Autism

(ア)Most infants and young children are very social creatures who need and want contact with others to thrive and grow. They smile, cuddle, laugh, and respond eagerly to games like "peek-a-boo" or hide-and-seek. Occasionally, however, a child does not interact in this expected manner. Instead, the child seems to exist in his or her own world, a place characterized by repetitive routines, odd and peculiar behaviors, problems in communication, and a total lack of social awareness or interest in others. These are characteristics of a developmental disorder called autism.
  Autism is usually identified by the time a child is 30 months old. It is often discovered when parents become concerned that their child may be deaf, is not yet talking, resists cuddling, and avoids interaction with others.
Some of the early signs and symptoms which suggest a young child may need further evaluation for autism include:
  ・no smiling by six months of age
  ・no back and forth sharing of sounds, smiles or facial expressions by nine months
  ・no babbling, pointing, reaching or waving by 12 months
  ・no single words by 16 months
  ・no two word phrases by 24 months
  ・regression in development
  ・any loss of speech, babbling or social skills
  A preschool age child with "classic" autism is generally withdrawn, aloof, and fails to respond to other people. Many of these children will not even make eye contact. They may also engage in odd or ritualistic behaviors like rocking, hand flapping, or an obsessive need to maintain order.
  Many children with autism do not speak at all. Those who do may speak in rhyme, have echolalia (repeating a person's words like an echo), refer to themselves as a "he" or "she," or use peculiar language.
(イ) The severity of autism varies widely, from mild to severe. Some children are very bright and do well in school, although they have problems with school adjustment. They may be able to live independently when they grow up. Other children with autism function at a much lower level. Mental retardation is commonly associated with autism. Occasionally, a child with autism may display an extraordinary talent in art, music, or another specific area.
  The cause of autism remains unknown, although current theories indicate a problem with the function or structure of the central nervous system. What we do know, however, is that parents do not cause autism.
  Children with autism need a comprehensive evaluation and specialized behavioral and educational programs. Some children with autism may also benefit from treatment with medication. Child and adolescent psychiatrists are trained to diagnose autism, and to help families design and implement an appropriate treatment plan. They can also help families cope with the stress which may be associated with having a child with autism.
  Although there is no cure for autism, appropriate specialized treatment provided early in life can have a positive impact on the child's development and produce an overall reduction in disruptive behaviors and symptoms.

出典：American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry "Facts for Families Guide"
https://www.aacap.org/App_Themes/AACAP/docs/facts_for_families/11_the_child_with autism.pdfより一部改変

【英文２】
Helping Children with Autism

  There are many things parents can do to help children with autism overcome their challenges. But it's also important to make sure you get the support you need. When you're looking after a child with autism, taking care of yourself is not an act of selfishness?it's a necessity. Being emotionally strong allows you to be the best parent you can be to your child in need. These parenting tips can help by making life with an autistic child easier.
  If you've recently learned that your child has or might have an autism spectrum disorder(注＊),  you're probably wondering and worrying about what comes next. No parent is ever prepared to hear that a child is anything other than happy and healthy, and a diagnosis of autism can be particularly frightening. You may be unsure about how to best help your child, or confused by conflicting treatment advice. Or you may have been told that autism is an incurable, lifelong condition, leaving you concerned that nothing you do will make a difference.
  While it is true that autism is not something a person simply "grows out of," there are many treatments that can help children learn new skills and overcome a wide variety of developmental challenges. From free government services to in-home behavioral therapy and school-based programs, assistance is available to meet your child's special needs. With the right treatment plan, and a lot of love and support, your child can learn, grow, and thrive.

Don't wait for a diagnosis
  As the parent of a child with autism or related developmental delays, the best thing you can do is to start treatment right away. Seek help as soon as you suspect something's wrong. Don't wait to see if your child will catch up later or outgrow the problem. Don't even wait for an official diagnosis. The earlier children with autism spectrum disorders get help, the greater their chance of treatment success. Early intervention is the most effective way to speed up your child's development and reduce the symptoms of autism.
Learn about autism
　　The more you know about autism spectrum disorders, the better equipped you'll be to make informed decisions for your child. Educate yourself about the treatment options, ask questions, and participate in all treatment decisions
Become an expert on your child
  Figure out what triggers your kid's "bad or disruptive behaviors and what elicits a positive response. What does your autistic child find stressful? Calming? Uncomfortable? Enjoyable? If you understand what affects your child, you'll be better at troubleshooting problems and
preventing situations that cause difficulties.
Accept your child, quirks and all
  Rather than focusing on how your autistic child is different from other children and what he or she is "missing, practice acceptance. Enjoy your kid's special quirks, celebrate small successes, and stop comparing your child to others. Feeling unconditionally loved and accepted will help your child more than anything else.
Don't give up
It's impossible to predict the course of an autism spectrum disorder. Don't jump to conclusions about what life is going to be like for your child. Like everyone else, people with autism have an entire lifetime to grow and develop their abilities.

出典：HELPGUIDE.org "Helping Children with Autism"
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/autism/helping-children-with-autism.htm
より抜粋，一部改変

注：
autism　自閉症  (*) 英文2ではautism spectrum disorder (自閉症スペクトラム障害) とも記載されているが、ここでは同義と考えてよい。
cuddle 抱きしめる medication 薬物
regression         退行 diagnose 診断する
withdrawn         内気な Reduction         軽減
aloof よそよそしい disruptive behaviors 問題行動
ritualistic 儀式的な         trigger 引き金(を引く)
echolalia 反響言語 (オウム返し) elicit 顕在化させる
obsessive 強迫的な quirk 　　　癖
adjustment 適応 predict 予測する
mental retardation 知的障害

2017

【英文１】
What to Tell Your Children about Disasters
It is important to warn children, without overly alarming them, about disasters. Tell children that a disaster is something that could hurt people or cause damage. Explain that nature sometimes provides "too much of a good thing" - fire, rain, or wind. Talk about things that could happen during a storm, like the fact that the lights or phone might not work. Tell children there are many people who can help them during a disaster, so that they will not be afraid of firemen, policemen, paramedics, or other emergency officials.

Staying Calm in an Emergency
 The most important role a parent can play in an emergency situation is to stay calm.　  Children of alll ages can easily pick up on their parents' fears and anxieties. In a disaster, they'll look to you for help and for clues on how to act. If you react with alarm, a child may become more scared. If you seem overcome with a sense of loss, a child may feel their losses more strongly. Experts agree that you should be honest with your children and explain what's going on.  Just be sure to base the amount of information and level of detail on what's appropriate for their age level.

Children and Their Response to Disaster
 Children depend on daily routines: They wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, and play with friends. When emergencies or disasters interrupt this routine, children may become anxious; not want parents out of their sight / refuse to go to school or child care; or feel guilty that they caused the disaster by something they said or did. Children's fears also may stem from their imagination, and you should take these feelings seriously. Your words and actions can provide reassurance.  When talking with your child, be sure to present a realistic picture that is both honest and manageable.

Common Child Behaviors after a Disaster
  Children may be upset over the loss of a favorite toy, blanket, teddy bear or other items; undergo a personality change-from being quiet, obedient and caring to loud, noisy and aggressive or from outgoing to shy and afraid; have nightmares or be afraid to sleep alone or with the light off; become easily upset, cry or whine; lose trust in adults because the adults in their life were unable to control the disaster; or revert to younger behavior such as bedwetting and thumb sucking.

Special Needs of Children after a Disaster
  Parents should remember that the psychological effects of a natural disaster don't go away once the emergency has passed. Children can suffer from nightmares or other problems for years after a disaster. Children are better able to cope with a traumatic event if parents, teachers and other adults support and help them with their experiences, Help should start as soon as possible after the event. Some children may never show distress because they don't feel upset, while others may not give evidence of being upset for several weeks or even months. Even if children do not show a change in behavior, they may still need your help. Parents should be on the lookout for signs that their kids need some extra counseling.

What Parents Can Do to Help Children Cope after a Disaster
  Talk with children about how they are feeling and listen without judgment. Let them know they can have their own feelings, which might be different than others. Let children take their time to figure things out and to have their feelings. Don't rush them or pretend that they don't think or feel as they do.
Here are some suggested ways to reduce your child's fear and anxiety:
 ・Keep the family together as much as possible. While you look for housing and assistance, try to keep the family together and make children a part of what you are doing. Otherwise, children could get anxious and worry that their parents won't return.
 ・Calmly and firmly explain the situation. As best as you can, tell children what you know about the disaster. Explain what will happen next. For example, say. "Tonight, we will all stay together in the shelter." Get down to the child's eye level and talk to them.
 ・Encourage children to talk. Let them talk about the disaster and ask questions as much as they want. Encourage children to describe what they're feeling. Help them learn to use words that express their feelings, such as happy, sad, angry, mad and scared. Just be sure the words fit their feelings-not yours.
 ・Listen to what they say. If possible, include the entire family in the discussion. Reassure them that the disaster was not their fault in any way. Assure fearful children that you will be there to take care of them. Children should not be expected to be brave or tough, or to "not cry."

Turn off the TV
Once you arrive at a shelter, hotel, or a relative's home, disaster related TV programs should be restricted. News coverage of disasters-especial ly if children see their own town or school on TV-can be traumatic to children of all ages. If children watch TV coverage of the disaster, parents should watch with them and talk about it afterwards.

【英文２】
How to Get Your Family Ready Before a Disaster
  It's important for all family members to know how to react in an emergency, because when a disaster strikes, you may need to act quickly. Discuss possible disaster plans with your children-in a very general way-so that they will know what to do in various situations.

Create a Family Disaster Plan
  You can create a Family Disaster Plan by taking some simple steps. It's important for all family members to know how to react in an emergency because the best protection is knowing what to do.
・Talk with your children about the dangers of disasters that are likely in your area and how to prepare for each type.
・Make sure they know where to go in your home to stay safe during an earthquake, tornado, hurricane, or other disasters likely for your area.
・Teach your child how to recognize danger signals. Make sure your child knows what smoke detectors, fire alarms and local community warning systems (horns, sirens) sound like and what
to do when they hear them.
・Explain to children how and when to call for help. Keep emergency phone numbers (your local Emergency Phone Number List) where family members can find them.
・Pick an out-of-state family contact person who family members can "check-in" with if you are separated during an emergency. For children who are old enough help them to memorize the person's name and phone number, or give them a copy of the emergency list included in the kit.

・Agree on a meeting place away from your home (a neighbor or relative's house or even a street corner) where you would get t.ogether if you were separated in an emergency. Give each family member an emergency list with the name, address and phone number of the meeting place.
For children who are old enough help them to memorize the person's name and phone number, or give them a copy of the emergency list included in the kit.
・Put together a disaster supplies kit for your family.
・Practice your Family Disaster Plan every six months so that everyone will remember what to do when in an emergency.

2010

Speaking and listening with computers
  In English, Attainment Target 1 of the National Curriculum is entitled 'speaking and listening', and calls for 'the development of pupils' understanding of the spoken word and the capacity to express themselves effectively in a variety of speaking and listening activities, matching style and response to audience and purpose'. This sounds quite ambitious, but of course (ア)children normally acquire communication skills in the first years of life. Expressive abilities include speaking, gesture and facial expression, all of which can be limited by motor impairment. Interactive abilities include eye contact and turn taking in conversations. Receptive abilities include listening and seeing, and can be limited by sensory impairment.
 Where there is 'severe cognitive deficit' individuals cannot use the sensory data they receive, nor find ways to express themselves effectively.
  Computer technology can stimulate development of sensory awareness, and can provide substitute ways of expression to non-speaking students (Paveley, 1990). As Stansfield (1989) suggests, for instance, synthesised speech can be very motivating for children with learning difficulties. Stylus, an easy wordprocessing program that can be used with either a Concept Keyboard or a standard one, speaks the children's text through a speech synthesiser. Its 'robot voice' amuses the children and they feel they can do better.
  Although computers can help learners to speak via a synthesised voice, the machines can also help them to 'speak' via text. In Chapter 3 we discussed the problems autistic children and adults have in expressing their thinking, because many are non-speaking. From his Australian experience, Biklen (1990) reports how Rosemary Crossley used her methods during a first meeting, at which he was present with Louis, an Australian student.

  I'M NOT RETARDED: LOUIS' STORY
  Louis is twenty-four years old, with reddish-brown hair and gold metal-rimmed, rectangular-shaped glasses with thick lenses. He was wearing a black and white sweater, black jeans and white tennis wearing shoes when we met him. Louis had very little facial expression. He does not speak, except for a few phrases that seem involuntarily uttered and are out of context. As he entered the room where Crossley was to conduct the assessment, he said: 'Excuse me. Get mommy on the bus. Excuse me,' which didn't make sense to me. Attempts at answering his statements by saying. for example, 'There is no need to be excused, you are fine,' did not quiet him. He repeated the phrase.
  (イ)Crossley introduced herself and me to Louis, who sat between us. She described her work to him as helping people who don't speak to find other ways to communicate. She apologised in advance for her assessment approach: 'Louis, I ask people a lot of really silly questions.' She commenced the session by asking him to press down on various pictures on a talking computer, a children's toy with a voice output that requests the person using it to press various pictures or letters and which announces the user's choice, for example: 'Right, that's the apple.'
  As Crossley asked questions, tears began to roll down Louis's face. (ウ)He was crying silently. She reassured him, telling him that she would do it with him.
Crossley took Louis through a series of graded exercises, with her hand on top of his right arm. The last few consisted of word and letter recognition. He completed all of them successfully. Next, she showed him the Canon Communicator, a small laptop computer with text display and speech synthesis.
  Crossley went through the alphabet and numbers with him. 'For starters,' she asked, 'can you type your name?' At this point her hand was stretched out flat, on top of, but not actually touching, his. He typed 'LOUIS'. As he finished, she asked it there was anything else he wanted to say. Louis started typing again.
  First he typed an '0', then 'PC'. Crossley pulled his hand back from the keys, saying, 'I'm not sure I follow. Let's start over.' This time he typed 'Pocco'. She was confused. Then we realised what he was typing. Pocco is his last name. He was still responding to Crossley's first request, to type his name.
  Crossley asked again if there was anything else Louis wanted to say. He typed, 'I'M NOT RETARDED', to which she remarked, 'No, I don't think you are. Keep going.' Louis continued, 'MY MOTHER FEELS IM STUPID BECAUSE IH [he back-spaced this and crossed out the h] CANT USE MY VOICE PROPERLY.' A tear rolled down his left cheek as he typed. And Crossley said to me and to Louis, 'A lot of people believe that what people say is what they're capable of.'
  Louis was not done. He typed, 'HOW MUCH IS A CANON ?'
  'They're dear,' Crossley answered.
  'I SAVE A BIT BUT NOT ENOUGH' Louis typed.
  Crossley explained that she would continue to work with Louis and that she would try to get him a Canon. Then she congratulated him on his work in the session and said to me, for Louis to hear, 'Anybody who starts off typing, I'm not retarded' isn't retarded. First rule!'

( Hawkridge, D. G. and Vincent, T. (1992) Learning Difficulties and Computers: Access to the Curriculum, pp. 90-91より抜粋，一部改変。)

2008

When it comes to comedy, Kathy Buckley takes center stage. Billed as "America's First Hearing Impaired Comedienne," she was recently nominated "Best Female Stand-Up Comedienne" for the 1997 American Comedy Awards, the third year in a row Buckley has made the award list.

On a wing and a dare
 　(ア)Buckley never aspired to be a comedienne. "I didn't know what I wanted to do," she says. "I wanted to be a nurse when I was a kid, but because of my hearing impairment they said I couldn't." Actually, her performing career started almost by accident.

"I did it on a dare," Buckley admits, speaking of the first time she performed on stage. It was in 1988 at a charity benefit called "Stand-up Comics Take a Stand" in Encino, California. "I was a nervous wreck" she admits. Even though she could not hear the audience's laughter except by feeling the stage floor vibrations, Buckley says what really made her nervous was competing against other comedians with years of experience. Despite that she won fourth place. Since then Kathy Buckley has turned the comedy world "on its ear." Much of her comic material is based on her hearing loss.

Childhood diagnosis
Buckley says it is wonderful how parents have learned to embrace a child's disability. (イ)She was not so lucky as a child. Her own parents never questioned their daughter's hearing impairment and could not accept that she had a disability.
Buckley recalls the years it took teachers and administrators to realize she was deaf. Her grades were poor; there seemed no way to stimulate her academically. "People weren't educated then," she says. "My parents just did what the doctor told them and never asked any questions. " What they were told was to put Buckley in a school for children with mental retardation. It took almost a year after that before doctors realized her disability. "And they called me slow?" she laughs.
 "My parents went into denial that I even had a problem. The doctors saw I had a problem, but told my parents that this or that device would 'fix' me. I ended up in denial as well because no one ever talked to me about it." Buckley says it was not until she was 34-years-old that a specialist explained her condition to her. "It was the first time anyone had talked to me about it."
 "You cannot bond or love unconditionally in denial," Kathy says. "The best gift parents can give their children is joy. Teach that to your children."

Embracing individuality
(ウ)"My comedy disarms people. I truly believe that the only disability out there today is attitude," she says. "I love to make people laugh, but I love even more if I can teach them something at the same time."
And that is just what she does. In her nightly performances she jokes about what it is like to be hearing impaired and about how others treat her. She performs for many charity events and benefits.
Buckley says that although she tries to entertain and enlighten all kinds of people, her heart belongs to children. "Kids mean everything to me." she says. "Every single child deserves to have a real childhood, and they should have healthy role models to show them that people do care about them deeply."
"Every child has something to contribute. " Buckley says. There are no broken children: none need fixing. Don't judge a book by its cover; open the book and get past that cover. The eyes never lie."

Kathy Buckley's Humor
  On personal relationships: "I haven't had a date in over two and a half years. I don't know if it's just me or because I couldn't hear the phone ring."
  On hearing: "One of the first sounds I ever heard were the birds, and I thought 'Birds are hard to lip read, they've got these tiny little beaks."
  On rehabilitation: "I spent 13 years learning how to talk, and now everyone thinks I'm from New York."
  On celebrities: "Howard Stern asked me if I would consider dating a man who had a disability and I said. 'Sure, I'd consider dating you."

出典：D'Agostion, D., Laughing out loud : Turnig a deaf er to comedy. Exceptional Parent, Vol 27, No.3, pp.44-45, 1997より抜粋（一部改変）

参考： aspire ～したいと強く願う
deaf 聴覚障害
disarm （敵意・怒り・疑いなどの）気持ちを和らげる
Howard Stern アメリカ人の人気ディスクジョッキー