A Brain-based Approach for ADHD and LD

Donna Abler, a holistic occupational therapist, is accepting summer registrations to help children overcome motor, behavioral and cognitive challenges associated with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LD) through a natural, drug-free approach. Developed in the early 1990s, Interactive Metronome (IM) is a computerized, brain-based therapy tool that has gained national attention as a breakthrough intervention to support processing abilities in the brain, including language, motor and cognition skills. Its effectiveness is backed by clinical research...

Did you know that listening and reading comprehension are linked? And that both skills are very much controlled by our brain’s timing system that functions like a clock? According to a study by Breier et al (2003) published in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research (2003), the brain must process quite a bit of time-dependent information in the speech stream in order for a person to understand what is being said (i.e., timing of voice onset, voice offset, pitch, frequency, pauses between sounds, syllables, words, phrases, etc) If the brain’s timing is off even just a little it affects how the brain perceives sounds, and this in turn affects how well a person can follow verbal directions, comprehend what is said, or read. Fortunately, we can help our brain process time more precisely with the right kind of practice and thus improve such time-dependent skills as listening and reading comprehension. Interactive Metronome (IM) is a unique, patented program that has been shown in clinical research to improve mental timing through progressive, engaging cognitive and motor exercises. Continuous, real-time feedback is provided so you will know each step of the way how you are progressing! Studies show that by improving the brain’s timing with IM, auditory processing and reading not only improve, but do so significantly and in a relatively short period of time compared to other programs like phonics instruction.

Breier, J.I., Fletcher, J.M., Foorman, B.R., Klaas, P., and Gray, L.C. (2003). Auditory Temporal Processing in Children with Specific Reading Disability With and Without Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. University of Texas, Houston. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46, 31-42. 

TUSTIN CHRONIC CONDITION CENTER

The Tustin Chronic Condition Center has incorporated a new software program called the Interactive Metronome. The software helps children who have ADD or ADHD, autism, dyslexia and learning disabilities. The equipment helps children with working memory, attention, processing information, sequencing information in order and motor coordination.

“Our new Interactive Metronome® helps us work with and improve the function of the frontal cortex. The fontal cortex controls things like impulsiveness and attention span, and it’s where the personality “lives”. It’s also where things like depression and anxiety are created, and for these children it’s the region in the brain that’s not working as well as it could be.”

Visit The Tustin Chronic Condition Center for the full details.
 

"I get all A’s now and I can hear the television when I’m two rooms away!"

The school day was over, but in a classroom tucked away at a far end of Rio Real Elementary School in Oxnard, CA, a group of 10 students were just getting started. Many of them were hovering around two rows of computers being set up with cables connected to a white box, strange-looking hand sensors and mats. At least, they were strange-looking to me. These kids, ages 7 and 8, were part of the Boys and Girls Club Hardy Brain Camp Training Program, and this was their last day of 20 training sessions. An animated little girl named Naveah greeted me and quickly launched into an explanation of what was going on.

"It’s like a game," Naveah told me. "You hear a sound and you clap and then it tells you how close you get." She’s talking about the Interactive Metronome computer program that generates a beat through a set of headphones. Users are connected to the computer with wires attached to hand sensors that capture the exact moment their hands clap to the beat. Floor mats are also wired to the program for another section that requires users to step to the beat. 

 

IM helps with reading skills

One of the things that many of the parents of the children whom I have worked with have told me while we were doing IM sessions was that they noticed some type of improvement with reading. Some of these children had difficulty with reading and letter recognition from the start, and others did not, but improvement was still observed by parents or teachers.

Gift Ideas to enhance an IM program

Are you looking for a gift for your child who is participating in IM sessions?  Parents at our clinic ask me all the time what would be a good gift for their child. Something to enhance their therapy yet is fun. Below I’ve listed some games which can be found at the Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon or Toys R Us, so they are easy to find.

When Emily began IM she struggled in all academic area areas although she did enjoy the social aspects of school. And after only 15 sessions, she is she can solve mental math calculations that she was not able to do before. Emily spends more time thinking and working through things mentally. She is also able to maintain and match the rhythm of the horse during her riding lessons.  These improvements over the course of the year can be attributed to the integration of IM in her therapy sessions. Read the full story below.