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IN
THIS ISSUE
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Interview: Julia Harper OTR/L
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iLs Announcements (including April 7th Conference Call
information)
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Upcoming Training Dates
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Question of the Month: How to get sensitive kids to wear
headphones?
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Interesting New Research
iLs
INTERVIEW
Julia
Harper, OTR/L - Founder
of Therapeeds,
Inc.
iLs: Hi Julia,
what’s your client population like at Therapeeds?
JH:
We see children from infants to age 18, with the average age
being
5-12; they exhibit a range of LD, ADHD, developmental
delays,
SPD and autistic spectrum.
iLs: What
Interventions do you use?
JH:
We
have a wide range of interventions at Therapeeds: SI OT,
iLs,
Speech/Language, Interactive Metronome, Respiratory Models,
manual
techniques such as cranial sacral and massage, learning
specialist, massage and yoga.
iLs: Tell us about
your general approach.
JH:
We
use a brain-based intervention approach. Where is the
breakdown in the central nervous system? The interventions
we use match the location of the breakdown.
The 3 formats we
use are Consultative model, Intensives and
Mini-Intensives:
Intensives are for 3 weeks, Monday through
Friday, 3-5 hours per day; iLs is a big component of this
schedule, usually 60-80 minutes each day, combined with the HOPE
Method (Harper’s Optimal Protocols for Enrichment).
This is an approach that focuses on prioritizing established
treatment interventions to address the specific area of
breakdown. Again, we are using tools specific for each child’s
individual needs.
The Mini-Intensives are 3 times per week for
5 weeks, with 2-hour sessions per visit.
The first hour is
OT-based, the second hour might be educational or iLs, depending
upon the child’s deficit area.
All interventions
are evidence-based, and we test before and after all programs to
measure gains. The testing typically confirms what we
already suspect from client history, observations, symptoms,
etc.
iLs:
Do you have a recent
client story, or case study that exemplifies your work?
JH:
"Ian"
came to us with upper and lower brain problems. He was 11,
going to a special needs school, struggling with reading,
writing, math, attention, you name it. He was referred by a
neuropsychologist and was taking meds for ADHD and OCD.
There was a big gap between his performance and verbal IQ (over
30-point split); he had a global auditory processing problem and
overall was performing poorly in all functional areas.
We
started with a home program, doing vestibular and reflex work,
then added iLs in 2 intensive programs (including 1 Receptive
phase and 2 Expressive phase cycles). By the end of the 2nd
intensive, he was off all medication and his Auditory Processing
Disorder had completely gone. He is now doing well in
school, still has some cortical work to do (working memory,
etc.), but his impulsivity is under control. He can multi-task
and he is beaming with confidence.
iLs:
Closing Comment
JH:
You
know, Dr. Aimee Weiner, the pediatric audiologist on our team,
reports that conventional wisdom says that auditory processing
disorders are not remediated, they are compensated for. To see
these kids come into our center with APD and leave without
it…it’s unbelievable. It’s very exciting
in that it is a consistent result, not an anomaly.
iLs
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1
New
music has been added to the iLs Focus.
The 5 programs on the Focus iPod are Sensory Motor, Auditory
Processing, Attention, Optimal Performance: Phase I and Phase II,
and Autistic Spectrum Protocol. We’ve just doubled
the length of the Optimal Performance program, send us your iPod
and for $25 we will upload the new music and send it back to you.
2 The
new iLs Expressive Language program
is now available – a photo and the 10 activities for
improving auditory processing are listed on the Equipment page of
the iLs web site; the price is $425.
3
Conference
Calls for trainees:
to help you get started using iLs equipment, iLs will hold
conference calls monthly for any trained iLs Associate to attend.
Conference
Call #1
"Getting
Started With the Focus System" This is the first of monthly
conference calls for those who have taken the Practitioner and
distance training.
Date:
Tuesday, April 7, 6 pm MST (8 pm EST, 5 pm PST)
Fee:
None
Process:
Send an email to info@integratedlistening.com letting us know you
want to attend, and include any specific questions you might
have. We’ll send you the specifics by email.
Can’t
make it?
All calls will be archived on the iLs web site for later access.
UPCOMING
TRAINING
PRACTITIONER 1-DAY
CERTIFICATION
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March 28 Sat
Irvine,
CA
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April 16 Thu
Minneapolis,
MN
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April 18 Sat
Chicago,
IL
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April 29 Wed
Oklahoma
City, OK
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May 1 Fri
Kansas
City, MO
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May 28 Thu
Vancouver,
BC
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May 30 Sat
Seattle,
WA
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July 10 Fri
Toronto,
Canada
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July 18 Sat
Boston,
MA
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Sept 26 Sat
Denver,
CO
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Oct 2 Fri
Calgary,
Canada
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Oct 17 Sat
Atlanta,
GA
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Nov 14 Sat
San
Jose, CA
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PROFESSIONAL 3.5-DAY
CERTIFICATION
QUESTION
OF THE MONTH: How do you get sensitive kids to wear headphones?
Melissa
Kahn, MS, OTR/L,
owner of Sensory
Kids
and one of iLs’ most experienced therapists,
gives
the following tips to one of our most frequently asked questions.
1
Attitude:
the attitude of therapist is very important; a child will sense
fear or hesitation, so be gentle and confident;
2 Modulate
first:
do an organizing activity first, e.g. squeezy balls, respiration
work, massage, linear/rhythmical movement, PLAY-DOH®
activity, etc.;
3 Familiar
activity:
introduce headphones while doing a familiar activity;
4
Begin
with music rich in calming low frequencies,
such as FSM (Full Spectrum) or SI-BW (Sensory Integration
Bandwidth) piece, or one of the first sessions in a Focus
program;
5 Introduce
gradually,
e.g. a minute at a time - or play take turn games;
6 Mom
in the room:
some children are less distracted when Mom is not present.
7
Favorite
music:
sometimes it helps to first use the headphones with their
favorite CD
INTERESTING
NEW RESEARCH
Study
Shows restriction of facial movements diminish auditory
perception
Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 2009
How
We Make Proper Movements – the brain activity behind a
single movement
Science Daily, December 28, 2008
The
Effect of Parental Education on Heritability of Children’s
Reading Disability
Psychological Science, December 26,
2008
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