Disability is an umbrella term that refers to impairment, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. It reflects, therefore, an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives in [1]. Impairments may include physical, sensory, cognitive or developmental disabilities. Depending on the type of limitations or restrictions a person has, disability can be categorized as hearing, visual or motor impairment, among others.
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| Evelyn Glennie, percussionist, image: michael hofner via wikipedia |
Sensory Disability
This classification includes impairments in one of the senses and it is primarily used to refer to vision and hearing impairments. Our senses provide information from various modalities: not only vision and audition, but also taste, the vestibular system and proprioception that humans need in order to function. Therefore, impairment of one of these functions may result in difficulties in different life activities, including leisure and work [2, 3].
There are several examples of how some people overcame their disabilities to master the art of music. The question is how did they achieve that?
DISABILITY IS NOT AN INABILITY
Beethoven is remembered for his ability to compose classical music after completely losing his hearing. He tried several ways of making the most of his remaining audition before it completely disappeared. For example, he had the legs of his pianoforte (an early model of the piano) cut off, so that it was sitting directly on the floor. By laying on the floor in front of the keyboard, he could feel the vibrations while he played, which helped him to compose [4].
Evelyn Glennie: Sound in Silence
Evelyn Glennie is the world’s foremost solo percussionist and, as most concede, also the world’s first full-time solo percussionist. She lost her hearing in childhood and her school percussion teacher, Ron Forbes, told her to stand by the classroom wall while he played notes on the timpani. Eventually she could match the perfect pitch just as she used to before deafness, and it was the sound waves that made most of the difference. She is able to feel low sounds in her legs and feet and high ones typically in particular places on her face, neck, and chest [5]. During her performances, her feet are bare and this allows her to feel the vibrations. She is not only a phenomenal musician but also an outstanding lip-reader, which enables her to understand what others say. To hear a sound, all she does is listen [6].
Art and the Disordered Eye
The fear of most artists is how the public will perceive their pieces: whether they will be accepted, or whether they will be able to make money out of them. However, the one biggest fear that most artists have is losing their eyesight. As artists rely on their vision to create and paint, losing this function can have great impacts on their career.
Although blindness is debilitating, it did not stop some artists from creating art. There are famous blind artists, who kept pursuing their passion to produce art material. Can you think of any famous artist who painted in spite of their failing eyesight? Some of them were: Dmitri, Lisa Fittipaldi, John Bramblitt, Esref Armagan and Le Duy Ung.
Other famous artists who continued to paint despite their vision loss and color deficiency were Claude Monet and Van Gogh respectively. Claude Monet was diagnosed with nuclear cataracts in both eyes at age 65 and began to experience changes in his perception of color. Even in this state, he continued to paint his famous water lily series [7]. Van Gogh, although being color blind, made beautiful drawings and paintings that offered new eyes on the world, allowing us find out what it means to see in a different way. His paintings are worth millions of dollars today, even though he died at an early age and could never see the extent of his work's impact [8].
Regardless of people’s limitations, they can still overcome barriers and achieve their dreams. Interested in reading more? Yes: then please visit the link.
Priscilla Koduah, PhD Student Charité Medical Neurosciences
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