SM Entertainment to offer vocal and dance classes for hearing-impaired children

SM Entertainment has partnered with Samsung Medical Center to launch the "Smile WoW artschool" initiative meant to provide vocal and dance lessons to hearing-impaired children. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

K-pop agency SM Entertainment will be providing vocal and dance classes for hearing-impaired children.

The company has partnered with Samsung Medical Center to launch the “Smile WoW artschool” initiative, SM Entertainment said Wednesday. The initiative will give professional vocal and dance lessons to children who have undergone cochlear implant surgery.

Cochlear implants provide a sense of sound and enhance speech understanding for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

SM Entertainment will provide the space where the lessons will take place and arrange a tailored curriculum for the students as well as lessons taught by professional instructors, the company said.

The program will welcome elementary school students from the fourth grade up to middle school, and will consist of an orientation and eight classes.

“Children who undergo cochlear implant surgeries need at least three years of rehabilitation treatment to be able to hear well,” Jung Won-ho, Samsung Medical Center otorhinolaryngology professor, said. “The ‘artschool’ is expected to help with music and speech therapy.”

KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]