Music at Your Fingertips: Radios, Switches and TBI

I was heading to a home visit on a long highway through wheatfields, making my way to a small country town. Turning off the highway, I passed an old feed store and headed down what used to be a frontier brick and stone building -lined main street. If you dumped truck-loads of dirt on the street to cover it up and threw in a few cowboys on horses, you would think you were on the set of a western movie.
When I arrived at the house, using a Powerlink 2 from Ablenet, a Big Red switch on a universal mount, a radio and an lamp that looks like an aquarium, I set up a cause and effect activity for a non-verbal 4 year-old girl in a wheelchair who had a traumatic brain injury when less than a year old. The doctors said she would never be able to do anything, but the 2 aunties who care for her and love her have worked hard to get her to respond and clue in on what is going on around her.
Since her arm was hanging down off the side of her chair, we mounted the switch so it sat under her fingertips. I moved her fingertips slightly so she could get the feel of flexing them a little to make the switch trigger the radio station and the aquarium lamp on, timed for 3 seconds. As soon as the music started she rolled her eyes and opened her mouth, but when the music and lights stopped, she didn't try to get it going again. We verbally encouraged and coaxed, and finally I moved her fingertips and started the music and lights again.
"When we say funny things, she laughs," shared one aunt. "Not too long ago when we were talking about my sister having to be gone part of the day and a sitter needing to be here, she started to cry. We think she knows what is going on."
"I am sure she does. If she can move her fingertips to make the music play and gets the idea that she can have control over it, it will give her some power, and the stimulus will get those synapses' firing and we can build another block in the foundation," I encouraged.
We moved out to the back step of the house and continued to visit when suddenly from the living room we heard the country music station we had the radio set on, begin blaring through the house.
"She did it by herself!" cried one of the aunts.
I watched as the other aunt with me, began to tear up, her eyes showing the excitement of what she was hearing. "We know there is alot going on in her head and we want to see her world open up."
"She is just like any other typical kid inside," I said. "She will trigger the switch and do what she wants on her timetable, not ours." It seemed like when we were staring at her and waiting for her to do it, she wasn't going to. But as soon as I was out of the room...there it went!
I shared a few strategies with them on how to use the timer on the Powerlink and left them to experiment and play.
What a lucky girl to have 2 aunts that care so much. She is just starting to expand her abilities and there is so much ahead.

All the best to you!

Lon



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Teenager Shares: Surviving TBI and Having a Great Life After High School

"I was a popular girl in my high school, a cheerleader. This is me with my date for the prom. Here I am with my friends. I made a bad choice and now I am in this wheelchair and can hardly talk to you."
I was at a TBI conference this past fall, listening to a young woman share about her traumatic brain injury through a Powerpoint slide show. She was able to talk to us, but her condition was a far cry from the person we saw in the pictures on the screen.
" I thought nothing could happen to me. I was at a summer outdoor rock concert with some girlfriends. Some boys we met wanted us to leave with them and drive around. I called my mom and dad and told them what I was going to do. They said "No, come home now," and I got mad and told them off, hung up and went anyway. Our car was t-boned by a big pick-up and I was taken to the hospital."
There had been alcohol involved, and the one of the group was killed in the accident. Our speaker shared about her recovery and how hard it was. How she had to learn to talk, to read and write again. She talked about choices young people make thinking they are indestructible.
"You might think this will never happen to you. You need to listen to your parents because they know more than you think. They are trying to protect you even when you think they are being mean. I had everything, good looks, lots of friends and popularity. I still have my family and friends but I lost a lot of who I was and what I was. Don't be like me. Stay away from situations where you can get hurt or killed. Make the right choices."
I was amazed at the courage this young woman had. She had been taking her show "on the road" as it were to share in high schools throughout Oregon. She wanted teens to hear her story and maybe think twice before getting in a situation where this could happen to them. She has a woman friend/care giver and business partner that she works with to manage and operate a therapy pool center in their community as well as a business doing gift baskets.
I am heading to another TBI training here in a couple of weeks, and in conversation today, this girls story came up. I will have to ask at my next meeting about more specifics on her name and contract information and see if she has a website. If I can, I will get some information to you. I just thought her story would be an encouragement to all of us that we can make our life into anything we want, no matter the circumstances, if we are able to see our potential and work to do the right things. Have a great week!
All the best to you...
Lon



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