Jazz Tunes: The Power of Music

I am currently completing my second Level II Fieldwork for my Master's in Occupational Therapy at Centre for Neuroskills, or CNS. This place is the leader for research and rehab after serious brain injuries have occurred. It has been my dream for three years to be placed there for fieldwork, and I am loving every second there because I am constantly learning. I am also having the chance to watch the brain heal one neuron at a time, like I have gotten to see with Jazz her entire life. I wake up every day and jump out of bed because I am going to get to work with the most incredible patients in the world.

We recently had a young man come in with a brain injury story that could bring you to tears. Everything with him has just seemed hopeless from the first moment his injury occurred. This young man has a new baby, new marriage, and an incredible career as a dancer and when I first met him 5 weeks ago he could barely walk and the only word he could say was, "Wow." That is until we turned on the music from one of his dance routines....

He suddenly started dancing! The guy could barely walk and was having trouble with incontinence, but he could dance. When I told Jazz this story, she was amazed. And wants desperately to meet him so he can teach her how to break dance. She was amazed to know that there were people like her in the world.

The experiences I have had with this young man have caused me to reflect back to when Jazz was a tiny infant who could barely sit up at 8 months old and could only gesture and sign to us. Jazz used to lie in her crib and sing. She was the happiest baby in the world every time she woke up, and every single time, she woke up with a song.

We quickly discovered that music motivated her. All of her toys had some sort of musical component to them. Whether it was a baby saxophone or a a musical ride on bus.

The only movies that could engage her until she about 4 were sing-a-longs or musicals. In the cars we listened to only sing-a-longs songs and silly songs. It was how she learned to speak, play, and relate to people. She seems to have perfect pitch and can pick up any dance that she watches a couple times. She could even watch a Shirley Temple movie at 2 and copy the steps in the complex tap routines.

But she is barely toilet trained, can't do buttons or zippers, eat highly textured foods, wear clothes that are not silky in texture, roller skate, ice skate, run without falling, climb through a jungle gym without falling and on and on and on......

In the car when she is overstimulated and talking without taking a breath, we turn on music and she settles down and frequently falls asleep. When we are trying to get her to do her morning routine and she is having difficulty, we turn on the radio and suddenly she just does it perfectly.

She has recently become obsessed with writing a song. We discovered that it has been a way for her to express herself and tell us what is going on inside of her. She has had a very difficult year at school and we are not sure why. It has been very concerning and we have been praying like crazy for an answer to know what will be the best thing for her right now. Please join us in these prayers and also read below what music has most recently allowed her the ability to do.

"Turn on the switch.

No you're on my radio.

I'm in a pitch of darkness.

Write a song.

Sing along to my song of darkness.

Hey, hey, hey

Well every day, day, day

In the dark."

-Jazz's song 2012

Much Love!

For more information about CNS and brain injury in general please visit: http://www.neuroskills.com/