How Ruthie found joy again—one beat at a time

Ruthie Clemons had lost more than her mobility to Parkinson’s—she’d lost her smile. But through Ohio State’s Drumming for Wellness program, she finds connection, confidence and joy. 

Video run time: 1 minute, 51 seconds

Ruthie Clemons is surrounded by new friends and her supportive family, tapping away on a black drum as she fights Parkinson’s disease within a church in Lima.

“I do the best I can,” said Clemons, 80 years old. “I can’t bang them like they do. I can’t get the beat at all sometimes. But it’s a blessing because it takes my mind off my problems.”

Each Monday this spring, Clemons participated in the Drumming for Wellness class conducted by Ohio State Lima in partnership with a Parkinson’s wellness group from Lima’s Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center. Designed and instructed by lecturer Austin Thomas ’23 MA, each class unites Ohio State students and the Parkinson’s group to perform drum beats and exercises created specifically to fight the symptoms of the neurological disorder.

“We’re not curing Parkinson’s, we’re not relieving them of their symptoms for the rest of their lives,” said Thomas, associated faculty member in the Department of Music. “But if they don’t think of their obstacles or symptoms for one hour, or if I can delay their symptoms for six weeks, that’s a win in my book.”

There’s no cure for Parkinson’s disease, which progressively impairs movement as the brain cells that produce dopamine die off. The best anyone can do is keep the symptoms at bay, stave off the tremors, the stiffness, keeping limbs from freezing.