In this episode Janet shares about her acquired brain injury and how it has impacted her life. She shares vulnerably about her lived experience and her advice for both clinicians and others living with ABI.
Wear headphones. I always keep them in my purse. I have earplugs on my keyring. I also keep pain reliever in my purse and my car.
Attend church online. Then attend in person but arrive after the music and leave before the music (or wait in the lobby). Attend the whole service but wear headphones.
Eat at home or order in. If I go to a restaurant I pick a small one, try the outdoor seating (no background music), pick a seat away from speakers, and try to face a wall (less visual stimuli).
Ask friends to come over. Meeting in my living room means I don’t have to travel, I control the lighting, no background music, and less ambient noise.
If attending a social event allow myself to attend for part and not the whole event (arrive late and/or leave early).
Tentatively schedule things. Let friends know I want to confirm the hangout on the day of, based on how I feel at that time. Also, limiting hangouts to just a few people makes it easier for my brain.
Have someone else grocery shop (a friend, a partner, or the paid grocery pickup). Bonus if they also put them away!
Schedule at least 15 minutes between clients.
Telehealth, it may be easier to facilitate than in person music therapy.
I wrote my session notes using a voice to text app.
Eliminate ambient noise. I got rid of the analog clock in my office. I added extra sound proofing between my office and the other music therapists office, and we were able to move an empty office between ours. Plus, when the other MT had a loud drumming session, I would take a break outside.
Pick quieter instruments. I offered my clients frame drums instead of djembes. I used fingerpicking instead of strumming when possible.
Decrease movement interventions, or have the client follow a video for dance moves instead of following my modeled movement.
I changed the mouse icon on my computer to not spin when it thinks, and I repositioned the computer so I don’t see it’s blinking light.
I avoided nighttime driving originally. I still try to avoid driving if it requires using the windshield wipers.
Paper towels instead of the hand dryer. When washing my hands, I close my eyes or look somewhere else besides my hands as their movement makes me feel nauseous.
For prerecorded music I moved the speaker closer to the client and facing them rather than myself.
Identify triggers. Also, they changed based on where I am in the healing journey and based on sensory input that day and the prior day. It’s good for me to know that bass and percussion specifically, cause headaches. I cope by decreasing the bass on my audio equipment or listen to acoustic songs instead. Another example is dancing. I can rhumba and maybe waltz with mild side effects. However, salsa, bachata, east coast swing, viennese waltz, and jive all trigger major side effects.
Drink smoothies and eat soup. Chewing crunchy things is loud and triggers nausea.
TV/movies. Being able to adjust the sound on my laptop/tv is a must for me. Even though I used to enjoy action movies, I’ve learned that they generally have more shaky camera work, lots of onscreen movement, and sudden volume changes. Rom-coms are much more tolerable as they have more consistent volume levels, fewer sweeping camera pans, and less onscreen movent. Plus, if needed, I can close my eyes and just listen to a rom-com while still following the plot.
Cope
Songwrite (just lyrics)
Look up lyrics and ‘listen’ to the music via audiating/ or singing it inside my head
Literally schedule rest. Do nothing days are the best!
Mint tea. Through actuality or placebo it helped me with nausea, replaced some caffeine, and gives me a reason to sit still.
Peppermint oil.
Therapy! Attend all the therapies
Privacy. I don’t have to explain all of the details of my disability to everyone even when I feel like I should. That gets exhausting quickly. People respect the response “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Read “But God, Wouldn’t I be More Useful to You If I Were Healthy?” by Ester Smith
