Esha Alwani: What it's like to have Tourette's -- and how music gives me back control
Esha Alwani: Com'è avere la sindrome di Tourette -- e come la musica mi ha ridato il controllo
Esha Alwani's message to the world is simple: "Music is healing therapy, and we need to make a place for it in our lives." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
what it would feel like
your left arm was continuously flapping,
scattasse continuamente,
were about to break,
si stessero per spezzare,
a loud, high-pitched screech.
un urlo forte e acuto.
at the young age of six,
my life literally changed overnight.
la mia vita è cambiata all'improvviso.
see my friends or even eat out,
vedere i miei amici o mangiare fuori,
the attention of everyone in the room.
avrebbero attirato l'attenzione di tutti.
siamo partiti per New York
neuropsychologist my parents could find.
la miglior pediatra neuropsicologa
the easy remedy we had hoped for.
non ci ha dato la cura in cui speravamo.
with an incurable neurological disorder,
una malattia neurologica incurabile,
an essential and valuable part
only made things worse.
hanno peggiorato le cose.
that I couldn't move them.
le gambe ormai intorpidite.
che mi rincorrevano,
and drink me as soup.
e bermi come zuppa.
un farmaco dietro l'altro
some sort of relief.
just ended up making things worse.
in the United States alone,
and mental illness
to treat these conditions
un modo di curarle
a daily dose of music.
vi prescrivesse
my personal experience with music
la mia esperienza con la musica
on my neurological disorder.
sulla mia malattia.
is essentially a series
e suoni involontari,
what it's like to have Tourette syndrome
secondo me,
you're all very familiar with --
or drink water upside down,
o bere acqua a testa in giù,
you can do about it
and the hiccups have taken their course.
after an attack of tics,
dopo gli attacchi nervosi,
would attempt to soothe me and herself
cercava di calmare entrambe
to soothe our aching hearts.
per calmare i nostri cuori spezzati.
of the drums to uplift us.
our moods would be lighter,
il nostro umore migliorato,
I became an addict of this newfound drug.
da questa nuova medicina.
into my bouts of sadness and self-pity,
di tristezza e autocommiserazione,
del mio pianoforte,
and rhythms from each one of those keys
che ognuna di quelle note
mi avrebbe presto liberata.
how much music was helping me.
la musica mi stesse aiutando.
in automatico.
it wasn't to impress anybody.
non volevo stupire nessuno.
the less my symptoms surfaced,
si riduceva.
these songs were soothing my symptoms.
potessero placare i miei sintomi.
any other cases of medicinal music.
di musica medicinale.
a highly successful US congresswoman,
del Congresso USA,
cui avevano sparato in testa,
and the ability to sing
e quella di cantare
del cervello,
music therapists to work with her.
la musicoterapia.
to sing her thoughts,
a cantare i propri pensieri,
to regain her speech.
Gabby Giffords a guarire.
our brains to release a natural painkiller
che la musica induce il cervello
l'ossitocina,
la dopamina.
for a healthy nervous system
per un sistema nervoso sano
breathing and pulse rate,
sul battito del cuore,
our cortisol levels,
for neurological symptoms.
i sintomi neurologici.
someone with a neurological disorder.
qualcuno con disturbi neurologici.
a diffondere questo messaggio:
and heal us from within.
e a curarci da dentro.
la sindrome di Tourette.
for the rest of my life.
excuse myself from my classroom,
devo scusarmi con la classe,
can be extremely distracting.
causa di distrazione.
when I wink my eyes involuntarily,
gli occhi involontariamente,
thinks I'm flirting with him,
che ci stia provando con lui,
"Sorry -- I wasn't trying to flirt."
"Scusa -- non ci stavo provando."
and even just listen to music,
o semplicemente ascolto musica,
in highly stressful situations,
in situazioni molto stressanti,
puntati addosso.
before my performance --
prima della performace --
the tics take a back seat.
i tic spariscono.
and composed my own music.
e composto la mia musica,
it was the music that composed me.
che è la musica ad aver composto me.
my mask off too soon
la maschera troppo presto
and then you were not
dragged it out
prendere tempo.
I lose a bit of myself I put it back on
perdo una parte di me,
my own heart in two
fino a spezzarmi il cuore in due.
to know the real me
che conoscessi la vera me
I'm not loving you
non ti amo,
from me and my mask
e dalla mia maschera.
I'm not loving you
non ti amo,
troppo presto
quando l'ho tolta.
just like that
proprio così
it hurt more than it ever has before
mi abbia fatto più male del solito
was a little more
sia qualcosa di più
to know the real me
che conoscessi la vera me
I'm not loving you
non ti amo,
from me and my mask
e dalla mia maschera.
I'm not loving you
non ti amo,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Esha Alwani - Singer-songwriterEsha Alwani's message to the world is simple: "Music is healing therapy, and we need to make a place for it in our lives."
Why you should listen
Esha Alwani's passion for singing, songwriting and performing started at a young age. It quickly gained priority in her life when she realized that music had the ability to help manage the symptoms of her neurological disorder, Tourette's syndrome. She shares a message of positivity, hope and perseverance to people in similar situations.
A singer-songwriter from the happy island of Aruba, Alwani wrote and recorded her first EP, Beautiful, with a desire to share her music and awareness of the healing effects of music. She quickly found herself in partnerships with the Autism Foundation of Aruba and the Tourette Association of America, and she appeared at the TAA annual conference in 2016 in Arlington, Virginia.
Soon after the release of her second EP, Dangerous, Alwani began performing as the opening act for international superstars on some of Aruba's biggest stages. From arena shows with audiences of 10,000 -- opening for artists like Alicia Keys and Maluma -- to private events with artists like Nicky Jam and companies like Hublot and Cartier. Alwani has also performed at two sold-out performances at the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee.
Esha Alwani | Speaker | TED.com