The creative option

The Neurological Unit at Bethlehem Hospital provides palliative care to upwards of 30 people with Motor Neurone disease each year. Many of these people will eventually become quadriplegic and anarthric but with an active and alert mind that would have no way of expressing ideas and feelings were it not for the communication systems which have been developed by staff and friends of the hospital.

In this paper I want to describe the creative output of several of these patients who would otherwise have had little or no chance to express themselves were it not for the creative work of the staff.

F.D. wrote poetry and had published a book of her poems and her only means of communication was an E.Tran Board.

R.B. wrote a book about his family using a switching device and his word processor.

J.W. composed music using both methods of communication and the very particular skills of the music therapist.

C.F. painted about 30 pictures with a paint brush attached to a bicycle helmet and he only had the smallest movement of his head.

Each of these people was able to express themselves by virtue of the creative work of the therapeutic team. As Stephen Hawkins has demonstrated over the years it is essential to realise that simply because someone is quadriplegic and anthric does not mean they are incapable of expressing themselves in very creative and imaginative ways if they are given the opportunity.

When a neurologists says to a person with Motor Neurone Disease "there is nothing more anyone can do for you" don't believe them. There is much that person can do and give if they receive appropriate help from creative and sympathetic staff.