|
|
IN
THIS ISSUE
*
Interview: Harry Armytage, Listening Therapist, Hillside Health
Centre, Canberra, Australia
*
New iLs Product Announcement: The Focus Series
*
Upcoming Training Dates
*
Advice re: Using the New Focus Series
*
Interesting New Research
iLs
INTERVIEW
Harry
Armytage,
Listening therapist, Hillside Health Centre, Canberra, Australia
Natural
Therapy Pages Listing
Mr. Armytage works
with Maxwell Fraval, D.O., Clinic Director and Mariane Judd,
Psychologist and
Extra Lesson practitioner/trainer.
Clientele
We
mostly see kids age five to teens, 80% of them are under age 12.
Our clients fall into two main groups:
1- Children with
speech, behavior, attention or learning difficulties
2- A
perceptive parent or teacher who notices that a bright child is
under-achieving at school
Common
symptoms
of our clients are poor motor skills; avoids team sports;
fidgety; poor listener; distractible; over-emotional; frustrated;
extra fatigue after school; “bored” at school; full
ideas/imagination and a social conscience but at or below average
at school;
Common
causes
are a head/birth trauma, chronic ear infections/congestion,
digestive issues or exposure to biochemical or emotional
stress.
Intake
Assessment is the Key
I
start by taking a thorough medical history, carefully talking to
the child and the mother. My listening assessment takes about
1.5-2 hours for clients 5+ years and includes the following
elements:
Sensory
Motor screen
to identify any significant physical issues undermining
learning, includes: Finger, balance, walking, reflex and
cognitive tests to assess cerebellum and vestibular performance
Interventions
at Hillside Health
Listening
therapy
– iLs for both in-clinic and at-home programs
Osteopathy
– for structural issues, especially hyper acuity, difficult
birth or head trauma
Posture
control insoles
to improve posture and gate (links with dental bite)
Intermittent
Hypoxic Therapy
– alters breathed oxygen levels to raise serotonin
(relaxes) and dopamine (↑attention) levels – useful
for those with attention deficit and/or hyperactivity.
Nutrition:
If the history or symptoms indicate glucose or lactose
intolerance, leaky gut etc, I refer to our nutritionist for
appropriate tests and dietary changes
Others:
We also use, as needed, color/light therapy, Opening-the-door
program and Extra Lesson (developmental movement program based on
Rudolph Steiner’s work)
Interesting
Case Study
One
of my more memorable clients was a 3.5-year old girl called
Indiah who was brought in by her grandmother. Indiah’s
speech was unintelligible and she had poor posture. Her parents
were traumatized by their high maintenance, emotional child.
During the third listening session, grandma rushed into my room
and said, “Harry, what have you done?” …
Indiah had begun to sit up straight for the first time. No
one in the family was expecting this sudden change – they
had come to improve her speech.
Indiah started her
listening program with FSM (Full Spectrum Music) and SIBW
(sensory integration bandwidth). It was a short program of
15 sessions and within that time many things changed. Her
behavior, her posture, ability to attend and respond
appropriately improved so dramatically that her parents overcame
their child-rearing fear and decided that they could now cope
with another child. So, Indiah now has a sibling.
Indiah
was then diagnosed mildly Autistic and started a long biomedical
program. The family returned to the clinic three years later for
more listening to normalize her speech. We completed five
receptive iLs sessions followed by ten expressive iLs sessions.
Her articulation and self-confidence improved significantly.
She became a very active little chatterbox with bright shiny
eyes!
Postscript:
Indiah is now clearly outside the Autism spectrum, but now she
has an emerging attention deficit with hyperactivity. So she is
now doing an intermittent hypoxic program with us. All this has
taught me that even after a highly successful iLs program, some
children need more.
New
iLs Product Announcement: The Focus Series
Feedback
from iLs therapists over the past 2 years has led us to
re-designing the programs on the Focus. In addition to the
new program content, the Focus now can be ordered with just one
or two programs of your choice. Our goal is to make this
portable bone conduction system as effective and affordable as
possible….we hope you’ll like the new changes!
The
Total Focus, Focus 200 and Focus 100
Total
Focus:
customizable
air/bone conduction system for clinic and school; 120 GB iPod
4
Receptive Programs: Sensory Motor, Concentration/Attention,
Reading/Auditory Processing, Optimal Performance for teens and
adults
Focus
200:
air/bone
conduction system loaded with your choice of two programs*; 16 GB
iPod
Focus
100:
air/bone conduction system loaded with your choice of one
program*; 8 GB iPod
*Focus
Series Programs:
Sensory Motor Program – 60
sessions
Concentration/Attention – 40 sessions
Optimal
Performance I & II – 48 sessions (24 per
phase)
Reading/Auditory
Processing – 40
sessions
Expressive Language Program – 10 categories of activities
(requires additional equipment)
Price
for swapping out a program on your Focus 200 or Focus 100 at a
future date:
$200 per program
Price
for updating your “old” Focus with the new protocols
of the Total Focus:
$25, including shipping
Before
sending in any iPods for music replacement, please email iLs
engineer Joe Cicak at support@integratedlistening.com to receive
a return authorization form. Sending this to Joe before returning
your iPod makes his life easier.
UPCOMING
TRAINING
PRACTITIONER 1-DAY
CERTIFICATION
PROFESSIONAL 3.5-DAY
CERTIFICATION
Advice
re: Using the New Focus Series
Q:
The new programs in the Focus Series are a little longer than
previous Focus programs. How can I shorten them?
A:
The cleanest way to shorten a program while retaining the design
flow and objectives is to skip every other session, i.e. do only
the odd or even numbered sessions. Thus, a 40-session
program becomes 20 sessions; the 60-session Sensory Motor program
is reduced to 30 sessions. (When considering shorter
programs please bear in mind one basic truth we have learned over
the years: the longer and more intense the program, the better
the results.)
Q:
How do I combine programs for a client whose symptoms fall into 2
or 3 of the Focus programs’ categories, e.g. a child
presenting with sensory and
reading and
attention problems?
A:
This answer has 2 parts: a) choosing between multiple programs
and b) adding additional sensory sessions to other programs.
a)
The Focus programs are designed in a hierarchy based on frequency
content, going from a focus on low frequencies (Zone 1) upwards
to Zones II and III:
Sensory
Motor > Concentration/Attention > Reading/Auditory
Processing > Optimal Performance.
When choosing between 2
programs, we recommend the program lower on the hierarchy.
The rationale here is easiest explained using the house building
metaphor – build a strong basement before you work on the
upper levels of the structure.
b)
Adding more sensory motor to a program: this is what the
Preparatory Programs are for. To address sensory processing
issues in addition to other difficulties, preface the program
with a Preparatory Program. (This is not needed for the
Sensory Motor program which is 60 sessions in length and already
has an extensive preparatory phase.)
So,
there are at least a couple good choices in designing a program
for a child with sensory, reading and attention difficulties:
One would be to do the Concentration/Attention program and then
if the child is able to do a 2nd program, continuing on to the
Reading/Auditory Processing. Another possibility would be
to do a Preparatory Program of 10 sessions followed by either the
Concentration/Attention or Reading/Auditory Processing
program.
Example #2: An adult with ADHD, sleep problems
and clumsiness
One possibility would be a Preparatory
Program followed by the Attention/Concentration program. A
2nd option would be combining two programs: first the
Concentration/Attention program followed by the Optimal
Performance program.
More
Questions?
The
iLs Conference Call
schedule will be resumed after Labor Day. The Conference
Calls are hosted by iLs training team and are for the purpose of
answering therapists’ questions via telephone dialog.
The
iLs Forum
will launch just after Labor Day. The Forum is a web-based
means exchanging information and best practices between
therapists.
INTERESTING
NEW RESEARCH
How
Noise and Nervous System Get in Way of Reading, Northwestern
University, July 14, 2009
Nina Kraus’ new study shows
the negative influence of background noise on sound encoding in
the brain.
Science
Daily
Dyslexia Linked to Muscle Control, BBC News,
June 25, 2009
Edinburgh University researchers release more
evidence connecting the cerebellum with dyslexia.
BBC
News
Magnetic Fields Test “Reflexes” of
Autism, by Carolyn Johnson, Boston Globe, June 8,
2009
Researchers are using magnetic fields to measure reflexes
in different parts of the brain which might indicate evidence of
autism.
Boston
Globe
Music Therapy Treats Diseases and Conditions
from Parkinson’s to Autism, Daily News, June 4,
2009
General article mentions the application of music for a
variety of disorders, including ADHD, Parkinson’s, aphasia
and dementia. Interviews include brief and general comments
by Dr. Robert Melillo.
New
York Daily News
|
|
