Eye Can Play Music Too

  

 For my second neuro note, I read an article titled "Eyeharp Allows a Woman with Cerebral Palsy to Play Music Without Using Her Hands." I chose this resource because I know many individuals with Cerebral Palsy (CP) who are not able to do the things they enjoy because they are unable to use their hands. I know that there are many assistive technology devices that are specific to individual's needs, but I wanted to learn the story of how they made the impossible of playing music without your hands to the possible. I also wanted was drawn to this resource because I played the clarinet in band from 6th grade through college. I cannot imagine how I would be able to play the instrument without my hands, so I also wanted to view this article through a different lens as if I was the individual with CP. 

The article talks about a 21 year old woman named Alexandria who has Cerebral Palsy and plays the harp using a gaze-controlled software called Eyeharp. This instrument allows her to use her eyes to gaze at the notes spaced out on the screen. The device allows her to play up to three to four notes a second, and the device is programmed to "play" up to twenty five instruments. The creator of this device came up with this idea after his friend was involved in a motor accident. The Eyeharp is also made for individuals with amputations, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, and quadriplegia. This device is now being taught in special needs schools in Barcelona, and over 2,000 people have downloaded the software! When Alexandria first started playing the harp she said that it felt strange to her and it was something she thought she would never be able to experience. 

Last week my class partnered with the University of Memphis Speech Language Pathology students in learning about assistive technology devices that can help individuals with acquired brain injuries who are unable to communicate. One specific technology that we learned about is the eye gazing board. This piece of technology is just like the Eyeharp, you use your eyes to look at what you are wanting to communicate and then you are able to clearly communicate what you are wanting to say. Sometimes individuals with CP have aphasia which is the inability to communicate. By practicing using an eye gazing board, they can train their eyes to learn to speak for them. I have seen how this works personally and it really brought back independence to the individual who was using the board. 

I would recommend this source to others because it shows how an individual with an acquired brain injury has taught themselves to be adaptive and learn how to use their eyes to speak for them. As a future OT practitioner this is something that I will see again, so it is beneficial to be able to read someone's story to learn how this adaptive equipment changed their life. It also prepares you to see a type of acquired brain injury that is very common today and shows early exposure of what some symptoms could be. 

Sources: 

ABC News. Eyeharp allows a woman with cerebral palsy to play music without using her hands. Retrieved July Retrieved July 19, 2023, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-17/eyeharp-played-on-stage-in-greece/100224824