Our tour to London in September gave us the opportunity to observe London's team approach to accessibility and inclusive design, to start gathering ideas about what our program in Massachusetts might include.   


We began our tour at the London College of Design where we met Rama Gheerawo  Deputy Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, who gave us a wonderful perspective on inclusive planning teams--including designer, caregiver and user at the table from the start. His students created innovative designs for living, only after the designers met with people in the community to get a true perspective on their needs.  

Later, we visited the Royal Court Theater where we learned of the extensive renovation that was done on this historic theater. Every floor is now fully accessible. The theater's backstage is also accessible to accommodate any actors and crew with disabilities. 
      In addition, the Theater has developed a series of regularly scheduled  Accessible Performances:  

• Captioned Performances
• British Sign Language Interpreted Performances
• Audio- Performances
• Relaxed Performances for people with autism spectrum disorders

In Massachusetts, the American Repertory Theater has begun to implement similar programs, inspired by the work at the Royal Court Theater. 
Here is a link to their new programs

Why London? When London won the summer Olympics and the Paralympics, they realized it was an opportunity and imperative to renovate and innovate their City.  This has led to a flurry of creative design over the past 5-8 years.  While there is always more to be done , especially in an old City like London, but we came away with a sense that what has really changed most is the heightened universal awareness of universal design and how it helps the entire community. 

For example: Given the need for accessible sidewalks, the City Planners and designers worked together with wheelchair users in planning.  The renovated sidewalk were smooth, but with patterns suggestive of the old London cobblestones. The new walks are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers. 

We are blessed to be in such a rich and knowledgeable community here in Massachusetts. While there is still much to learn as we design an initiative that seeks ways to broaden the conversation about accessibility and universal design in our community – to make this a universal conversation--we have experts in Massachusetts in the worlds of design, education, health, culture and arts who can all come together to share knowledge.

This isn’t just for the person you know who is a wheelchair user, the friend who is visually impaired, or the child who wears a cochlear implant for his congenital deafness. It’s for the mother with a baby on her back and a sleeping toddler in a stroller; it’s for the all-star athlete who is in a straight-legged brace for his torn ACL; and it’s for the father-in-law who can not hear in restaurants or navigate the halls in low lighting.

Designs that make our Commonwealth and our cultural institutions more accessible to some will make them more accessible to ALL.

At today's intense afternoon five-hour workshop, "Music Therapy for Survivors of War," learned about music therapy for US Wounded Warriors and music for healing in Uganda where thousands of child soldiers are trying to reintegrate into society. Music has helped.


It was an inspiration to meet Samite Mulondo today. He is a Ugandan musician living in Ithaca, NY, the founder of Musicians for World Harmony. Over the years, Samite has returned frequently to his native Uganda to work with the traumatized youth who were child soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army.  In 2007, Music Therapy Professor Karen Wacks from Berklee College of Music joined Samite on a trip to Uganda to work with the children. Professor Wacks has been able to continue a relationship between Berklee and the children in Uganda ever since, and returned to Uganda in February 2013.


The question of "What happens when you leave?" 

The universal concern after international service trips is how to maintain continuity. In this case, thanks to new technology, a remarkable relationship was forged. The town of Lira and its residents are connected to the students at Berklee College through Google Hangout and meet weekly to continue sharing music and dance with each other!   

Later in the afternoon we discussed an interesting challenge, which I suspect will be the central discussion of the 2013 American Music Therapy Association conference: "Is there a bright line between music therapy, therapy as performance and healing music?" The second question I'd add is "Should there be?" 

Music therapists Karen Wacks and Rebecca Vaudreuil, paired with "Music Spiritualist" Samite Mulondo proposed that there is no bright line that sets Music Therapy apart, but a continuum.

As a physician who spends a lot of time thinking about, playing and advocating for music as healing, who is not trained as a music therapist, I am very much in favor of this idea of a continuum that brings together the music therapist, the musician who performs in healing spaces and the medical professional who plays music. At the heart of it, we are all musicians interested in healing. We have all come to this work from different directions, but are united in our desire to decrease pain and to serve and comfort with music. We can and must learn from and support each other.