What I'm Reading: Wednesday

I fell down a rabbit hole yesterday  morning during my extra preparation hour (which I have right now because we do not have all of our classrooms open). I started doing some music therapy thesis and dissertation exploration. I'm not really sure why I started all of this - my brain isn't fully awake at the moment, and I have a big headache, so things are not the best for remembering or thinking, but I found a couple of articles and dissertations that pulled me into reading. 

One of them, by Rebecca Warren, intrigued me enough to have me go through most of it in the hour that I had available to me. The title, Examining Ableism in Music Therapy Education and Clinical Training: Student and Educator Perspectives, was interesting (full citation at the end of this post). I am someone who has done some studying about universal design and universal design learning, and I want to be someone who demonstrates the acceptance of all humans, so I am often interested in titles that include some of the things that I find either confusing or important in my life experience.

So, I delved into this dissertation. (I hope that Rebecca is now Dr. Warren because it was an interesting topic.) As someone who has some disabilities that affect my music therapy practice in a variety of ways, I was grateful for the perspectives offered by the interviewees in this dissertation. There were several comments made that made me upset. I do not really understand the concept of microaggressions, and I have more research to do on that topic, but I have lots to think about after reading 2/3 of this dissertation.

I wonder how many times I have been perceived as promoting these microaggressions. I know I have perpetuated things that others feel are harmful. I know that I have experienced things that were harmful to me and did not say anything about it. I also know that there is little I can do to prepare for every response that every person that I interact with will experience based on how I present information or experiences. I try my best to apologize when confronted and then do better in the future. I think that is all any of us can do.

I want to know more about these things. I know that I have tried my best to find language that is not based in the medical model of labeling and "fixing" things that I do not believe should be "fixed." I listen to what others say. I try to be careful about my use of labels (which is something else that confuses me - more about that at a later date). I try not to assume things about the people who come into my life. 

When I am confronted for language or ideas that I hold and express to others, I try to seek common understanding as to why my choices and experiences are offensive to others. I then try to do things differently, and I hope that the other side of the confrontation will do the same. What I experience, though, is that people tend to only want to change others - not themselves. (Is that a microaggressive statement?? Probably. Sigh.)

Anyway, that's what I am reading. I will have some time this afternoon to finish the dissertation and to think about what Rebecca Warren found in her exploration about ableism in music therapy education and clinical training.

Warren, Rebecca, "Examining Ableism in Music Therapy Education and Clinical Training: Student and Educator Perspectives" (2023). Expressive Therapies Dissertations. 123. https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_dissertations/123