BY JESSIE WANG, LEAD WRITER (COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL AWARENESS)
For many of us in the music industry, we’ve had to sing.
Maybe it was because of the legendary Richard Gill, who believed every child should have a music education and the most beneficial way to experience that is to sing.
Maybe you were like me, and were forced to join the choir (which somehow turned out to be the most enjoyable two hours of my Friday afternoons).
Maybe you believed in the benefits of singing, from the cognitive benefits we hear about to the skills we can transfer to our instruments.
But for Sing to Beat Aphasia, singing is a way to empower those experiencing brain injuries.
Usually, when one experiences damage to the brain, they cannot speak; but somehow, attempting to sing can change that. And this organisation has already seen many transformations since it started a year ago, such as a mother reporting she’s had her first conversation with her son in 16 years.
We chat to Sing to Beat Aphasia’s founder Peter Stuart to learn a little more about aphasia and the organisation.
The organisation hosts a confidence-building choir and social morning tea for People with Aphasia (PWA).
Lovely to talk to you today, Peter. So, can you first explain to us what aphasia means?
Aphasia is a language/communication difficulty that is mainly caused by stroke or any type of brain trauma including progressive tumours. People with Aphasia (PWA) can have all or some of the following symptoms in varying degrees, so every sufferer may be different:
- Trouble with speech from non-existent to mild.
- Trouble finding the right word or some words in general.
- Getting the word wrong (for example, saying ‘foot’ instead of ‘hand’, ‘cow’ instead of ‘horse’).
It takes time to ‘process’ when spoken to, and to find the words to reply. People need to face the PWA and speak slowly and wait for a response. Often out of frustration, the PWA will say ‘don’t worry’, or ‘no’, or make a gesture to that effect. Whatever was trying to be said was important to the person, therefore they should be encouraged to say what it was and eventually it will be revealed.
Often if a PWA is in a group situation, the conversation around them is way too fast to be understood. Charades is an important part in communication. [PWA can] feel frustration, depression, isolation and lack of self confidence, which are all barriers to a happy life.
Aphasia does not affect intelligence.
What are some benefits of singing on someone who has had aphasia?
Speech is in the left hemisphere of the brain, singing is in the right hemisphere, and rhythm is at the back of the brain. Singing helps to ‘rewire’ the brain so that the damaged area is bypassed and new pathways are opened.
In our choir, if someone cannot sing the words, they are encouraged to sing ‘La La La’ or whatever they can say. Each song is taught slowly so that they can remember the words even if they cannot read. We have seen images of their singing and images taken about two months later. They are enunciating better, singing louder and full of confidence.
The social aspect of the morning tea is also a way that their speech improves by speaking with others ‘just like themselves’. They have gained more confidence and become more socially confident; they have become friends and care about each other, celebrating each other’s successes and caring about others problems and offering support.
There was a lady in Sydney whom could not speak following her stroke but she could sing.
All her conversations were sung to Happy Birthday song; ‘What do you want for breakfast?’, etc. sung to Happy Birthday. Today, she can speak quite clearly.
What exactly is Sing to Beat Aphasia? Why did you start it?
Sing to Beat Aphasia is a community choir based in the City of Logan. We meet in the Logan Central Library every Tuesday from 10am to noon: one hour of singing, followed by a social morning tea.
I was part of a group where I had met a PWA who could not speak except for perhaps ‘yes’ and ‘no’. We had entertainment of a singer, and as the music started and she started singing, [the PWA] sang loudly in perfect harmony. When the music stopped, so did his voice. This happened with every song.
I made some enquiries and found that although some people cannot speak, they can sing; and that singing helps with their speech improvement.
This triggered something in me that I could help PWA, so I started sending emails to contacts of mine throughout Australia asking about the Stroke A Chord choir in Melbourne and another in Newcastle. I had been in touch with doctors of speech pathology, university professors and lecturers in speech pathology, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, and state and federal members of parliament. It’s two weeks short of two years, thanks to a one-off grant from Queensland Health for a research program, and one years’ funding to run the choir,
Lydia Brown, our choir director, is a speech pathologist, yoga teacher, and a voice coach; and combines these to start with breathing exercises and stretching, followed by warming up singing.
After the initial start of the choir singing songs like Botany Bay, Happy Wanderer, Waltzing Matilda, plus old style songs that people knew, then all songs are choices of members of the choir; such as We Will Rock You by Queen, Wish You Well by Bernard Fanning, Let’s do the Time Warp Again from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Some Days are Diamonds by John Denver, Love me Tender by Elvis Presley and Desperado – which we are now learning. And we always end with Amazing Grace.
Who are the members of Sing to Beat Aphasia? How did they find this initiative in the first place?
Before stroke/trauma, our members were two retired men whom had their own transport businesses, a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, a trained baritone opera singer, a social worker, a manager of a kindergarten, and a university student, to name some that I am aware.
Mostly, they were told about the choir from speech pathologists, their carers, and now by some doctors.
When we knew that the choir was going to begin, the ‘word’ was spread among speech pathology clinics in hospitals, and community health centres, plus all the speech pathologists I knew.
We have about 50 people on our books, PWA, carers and speech pathology students (when available) of which we have about 30 attend weekly. There are usually 15 people with aphasia attending every week without fail.
And who are the people who facilitate this initiative alongside you?
Initially, Dr Yoon Irons, a researcher at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, worked with me to get the choir up and running. Yoon headed up the research program as well as playing guitar. Yoon headed up the Sing to Beat Parkinson’s choir and research program, and was able to bring her expertise to the Sing to Beat Aphasia. She is now head researcher in music therapy at Derby University in the United Kingdom.
Lydia Brown is the choir director and is a speech pathologist, yoga teacher, and a voice coach. Lydia sets the program and plays the ukulele.
Jesse Belor is a volunteer musician who graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium last year.
Tulika Guha SP graduated last year and comes along as a volunteer. She also assisted with the research program.
We have a volunteer speech pathology student from Griffith University’s Gold Coast Campus who comes and plays guitar.
We have about six SP students who come along when they are available to help in any capacity.
What is a transformational story of someone in the choir you have personally witnessed?
Last year, a member’s mother told me that she had a conversation with her son, the first [conversation] in about 16 years. She had previously been able to ask him questions and get an answer, but not have an actual conversation and this was despite hours of rehabilitation.
Another lady is starting to sing along with the car radio.
A bloke who cannot speak is humming to the car radio. He is trying hard to sing in the choir. He was a drummer, and now brings a drum and keeps the beat on his drum.
Singing Time Warp, some people who have severe hemiplegia are trying hard to do the movements while singing.
These are the main improvements that I am aware of, apart from the general improvement in their speech.
If you’d like to be involved in Sing to Beat Aphasia, whether you have experienced aphasia or not, you can contact Peter Stuart on p.m.stuart@outlook.com or visit the Sing to Beat Aphasia Facebook page.
You can also head along to Logan Central Library, 26 Wilbur Street, Logan Central from 9.30am on Tuesdays.
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Images of Sing to Beat Aphasia supplied.
