Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about the Collective

  • A resource for connection and learning for anyone with a hand or limb difference impacting their ability to play music. All musical instruments, genres, and levels of experience (including none!) are welcome.

  • We meet monthly for a virtual peer support group to share resources and experiences.

    Through connections made during the monthly peer support group, some of us also collaborate on making music, figuring out assistive technology, and music-related projects outside of the monthly peer support group.

  • To support musicians who are searching for accessible instruments, learning to play, and wondering whether there is a place for them in the music world;

    To connect musicians who are troubleshooting technical issues, navigating ableism and lack of access, and seeking community;

    To create opportunities for collaboration with allies like music teachers and directors, music and occupational therapists, music stores and venues, and prosthetists wanting opportunities and information for supporting hand and limb different musicians;

    And to promote awareness of and appreciation for disabled and physically different musicians in our communities.

  • Hello! My name is Lee August Swanson (they/them). I was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome affecting my hands and feet, and I play Appalachian dulcimer. I started this group in 2024 as a result of experiences I had in my own musical journey as a musician with partial digit amputations and a toe-to-thumb transplant.

  • As stated in The 10 Principles of Disability Justice, "We are not only disabled, we are also each coming from a specific experience of race, class, sexuality, age, religious background, geographical location, immigration status, and more."

    This project takes as grounding norms that Black lives matter, no person is illegal, never again means never again for anyone, and we are learning and playing music on native land.

Questions about the Virtual Peer Support Group

  • The peer support group is centered on the needs and experiences of people with hand and limb differences (meaning, some degree of amputation or significant proportional or structural variation) affecting their ability to play music, but the group is also open to people who have other hand or arm issues affecting their ability to play music.

  • It's fun! We meet for an hour each month over Zoom. A typical agenda includes:

    • Reviewing grounding norms for conversation

      • This is a nonjudgemental space

      • Ask before offering advice

      • Personal stories are confidential

    • Introductions

    • Business items

      • Upcoming events & opportunities

    • Sharing

      • Something that has been going well for you in your musical life and something that you are working through

    • Setting personal goals for the next month

Questions about Hand and Limb Difference

  • Generally, a hand or limb difference is some degree of amputation of an arm, hand, leg, or foot, or a significant proportional or structural variation, such as an arm that is missing the forearm bone, for example.

  • Any person who is missing part of an arm or leg is an amputee. People who are missing fingertips, fingers, or toes are generally called "minor amputees".

    There are other kinds of amputation, such as mastectomies. In the United States, the word "amputee" without any further specification is usually understood to refer to a person who is missing part of an arm or leg.

  • People with hand differences generally tend to understand themselves as falling under the "limb difference" umbrella, but may or may not describe themselves as having a limb difference.

  • Many people who have hand and limb differences do not consider themselves to be disabled. When this is the case, it is often because a person is able to navigate the world without accommodations and/or prosthetics, as is the case for many hand and limb different people.

    However, some people who have hand and limb differences do consider themselves to be disabled, either because their physical difference significantly impacts their daily life, or because they have other disabling conditions, or because they feel aligned with the movement for disability rights or Disability Justice in their identity, politics, and/or cultural experience.

  • You can simply say "person without a limb difference," or, if the emphasis is on hands, "typically-handed".