The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: zhangray4
Date: 2018-02-04 21:03
Glad someone asked about this. I think I may able to help as I got my first seizure when I was in 7th grade, a year after I started playing the clarinet. There were concerns on if I should continue playing the clarinet when I had just started falling in love with the new instrument.
The simple answer to "if playing the clarinet will actually induce [a seizure]" is NO. I have also had the experience of doctors inducing a seizure by having me breathe rapidly, rapidly flashing bright lights into my eyes, making me blink faster and faster, etc. I did black out and get a seizure from that back in 7th grade when doctors were trying to find out what caused my seizures. My mom, who was in the room while the doctors were trying to induce a seizure, said as a spectator, the blinking lights by themselves make her dizzy and want to vomit. And the light wasn't even in her direction: it was probably 1 feet away from eyes and pointed straight at me. The breathing "exercise" is also extremely intense. They tell you to take deep breaths slowly at first and tell you to do it as fast as you can, and then match it to the speed of the blinking light, if I recall. it doesn't sound that bad, but when you are doing it for an extended period of time with other things stimulating you, it's bound to induce a seizure.
My point is these tests are extremely rigorous, and clarinet playing isn't (at least shouldn't) be that intense. I am now a senior, and have gotten only a few more seizures after the first one, most of them in middle school. Because I haven't had a seizure in quite a while (knock on the wood), I am in the process of getting off my medication altogether, after slowly reducing the dose for a year with my doctor.
It is possible to continue playing the clarinet at an advanced level with epilepsy. I'm sure there are many other victims of epilepsy who also play the clarinet, and probably at a more professional level than I.
I am glad your student has openly admitted his epilepsy so you can help him deal with it as a teacher. I chose not to tell anyone of my condition because I felt it was a weird disorder that only weird people like me acquire. So even now, no one knows about my seizure except my close family members and now, the BBoard community. The doctor I just switched to last year said it best: there are many people with epilepsy and brain disorders out there, but they won't openly admit it because they are afraid they will get looked down upon. I felt like that way as well.
By the way, the doctors tried to induce a seizure in me again last year. It was still horrible, and felt like blacking out a few times. But I passed the test this time
Best of luck for you and your student!
-- Ray Zhang
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Elifix |
2018-02-04 16:19 |
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kdk |
2018-02-04 19:08 |
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zhangray4 |
2018-02-04 21:03 |
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kdk |
2018-02-04 21:29 |
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zhangray4 |
2018-02-04 21:25 |
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Ursa |
2018-02-05 01:09 |
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Elifix |
2018-02-06 16:33 |
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