The miracle of adapting

There's a familiar joke about a person visiting the doctor who is explaining the benefits of a hand surgery procedure. The doctor states enthusiastically, "Yes, this will be a very beneficial procedure for you because it will cure your problem. You'll have full use of your hand and you can even play the piano." The patient responds, "Gee, doc, that's great. I can't play the piano now."

Perhaps many of us have always wanted to be able to play a musical instrument. If we have two sturdy arms and two capable hands, we can look at an instrument, such as a violin or a flute or a trumpet, and ask ourselves, "What are we waiting for? What's holding us back?" However, youngsters who have what we might consider to be physical barriers can still play an instrument, thanks to some ingenious engineering and the Cincinnati Adaptive Music Camp.

For example, to play the cello, you usually hold the instrument upright between the knees, one hand does the fingering on the strings and the other hand does the bowing. But what if you had no arms? Is there a way you could still play the cello? Yes. You'd simply use a platform on the floor that holds the cello, you'd use the toes on one foot to "finger" the strings and the toes on the other foot to hold the bow. You could play the cello.

Youngsters needing adaptive devices and their parents gathered for a week during the summer at the annual camp held at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Activities included time with engineering folks to design the particular adaptation for the instrument plus time to work on the instrument with professional music teachers, and culminated in a concert to showcase accomplishments. Students return home with the promise to continue taking private music lessons. The hope is that these students with adaptive devices join bands and orchestras to blend right in.

How inspiring to meet these young persons and, better yet, to hear them perform. Close your eyes and you wouldn't be able to tell who's using an adaptive help or not. The next time I'm practicing and inclined to complain about something, I just think of these remarkable young musicians. What a grace given through this miracle of adaptation — and taken.

[Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio.]