listening, concentration or sensory integration difficulties - this may be useful

[goldenhair]

My dd is 10y old and throughout her school life has constantly complained about not being able to focus on what the teacher is saying or concentrate on her schoolwork when there is background chatter(of normanl kind expected in primary school). She often gets very upsret about this. Prior to that she is very sensitive to certain sounds - like brushing the patio, this would physically make her teeth hurt. We have come across a programme called the listening program, an american based programme (check spelling if looking at website) and are now undertaking the programme. It aims to stimulate auditory nerves to help re-set any sensory difficulties that have not ser during development for whatever reason. It is basically classical music which has been altered in pitch, tone etc to achieved desired results. My dd listens twice a day for 15mins and really enjoys it i think we a re beginning to notice changes in her, as she actually brushed the patio this weekend without any problem. we will continue with it for another month and see how we go.

briliant to hear something that helps.
keep us updated on how it goes...

and also had your dd already had her hearing tested and no problem found?

Hi glad to hear you had postive results for us it was quite the opposite and my dd deterioated quite badly and it has taken us over a year to get her back to where she was when we started.

One of mine has been doing this. I must admit that I was seriously worried when he reached a point where he seemed to be a hundred times more sensitive to noise than ever before but he seems to be progressing well. He seems different somehow but I can't quite put my finger on what it is that's changed. The programme hasn't finished yet though so I'm keeping an open mind for now.

Good to hear that your dd's doing so well, Goldenhair.

Sorry your dd's experience was a bad one, BH.

Coppertop, DD2 is doing Therapeutic Listening for 12 weeks. With each cd change so far she has dis-regulated 2 days after starting it and then re-regulates by day 4. The further into the course you go the less you dis-regulate. Apparently it's all normal and means it's working. She is now barely dis-regulating at all and we've seen massive changes in her. She isn't sensitive to noise at all now, and other sensory issues are greatly improved. I wouldn't worry about your DS being more noise sensitive, it might be that he's dis-regulating??

That sounds good, MGC. He seems to have got over the worst of it and calmed back down again. It's quite a strange experience seeing ds as he is now. It's as though someone has replaced him with a calmer and less manic version but lets the 'old' version come back to visit now and then. It will be interesting to see what he's like when the programme has finished.

I know what you mean, DD2 is literally changing before our eyes. It still blows my mind how some modulated music twice a day can basically reboot your sensory system. Trying not to get our hopes up too much but it's hard not to when such huge changes have happened already a third of the way in.

Hope your DS continues to do really well xx

It's odd isn't it? I half-hoped it would help with the noise difficulties but never realised that it could affect other areas too.

dd did have her ears tested a number of times before the listening programme and all was fine with her hearing and she was never troubled by many ear infections.

sorry that it didn't work for you d blossomhill

my dd doesn't seem to have dis-regulated, i hope this doesn't mean it's not working as best it could.

MGC are you doing listening programme or another type? yours sounds like a very good programme and hope it keeps on working well.

Also yoga is meant to help re-set the sensory system too, my dd does yoga once a week also which she finds really beneficial.

thanks. (just interested re heraing test cos friends son has had ears tested and he can hear fine, but has difficulties interpreting what he has heard)

as far as i know there are a few kinds of listening therapies - tomatis, samonas (?) listening programme, therapeutic listening - it would appear that some help some people and some dont...

good to hear that yoga is helping- i guess anything that helps balance, coordination, proprioception etc is v good.

thanks for othe programme names improvingslowly

Hi Goldenhair, we are doing Therapeutic Listening.

I havn't heard about the benefits of yoga for the sensory system. can you tell me more about it? Is it a special class for sn? Where is it? It's something I havn't come across.

My dd has a lot of anger outbursts and can be quite aggressive at home, although a model child elsewhere. We saw a psychiatrist who was convinced that dd's sensory regulation system had not set properly from birth and that yoga was the way forward. Although he couldn't suggest any where to go for it.

I searched the net for ages to find a child's class. there a re a number of franchises out there but none seemed to be doing classes in my area Surrey. Individual classes where about £40 an hour (although we did a couple to get started.

However as luck would have it i found an occupational Therapist who had just set up a children's therapy centre and was doing yoga for children with sensory difficulties. Amazing! and dd goes once a week.

She's based at The Haven Children's Therapy Centre in Ripley Surrey. where are you based as perhaps she may know of some-one in your area.

sorry MGC i never mentioned much about the yoga itself, apparantly it can re-set an upset sensory system, as it involves breathing, focusing, concentration, balance etc. it's meant to be able to set the system correctly after a while.

dd really enjoys it and has been using a lot of the techniques, when she's angry - still got a way to go on that one though. But overall i do think she's is improving and less frustrated over other things around her.

I can't believe it. We are about 10 minutes from Ripley. We attended the Haven childrens centre a couple of times with some sn mums to do some extra therapy (on top of what we already did). Is it the converted church building on the high st?

We actually stopped going as it was quite expensive and we weren't learning any more than what we already got each week.

I'd be interested in doing the yoga although DD2 is only 21 months and not yet walking. Is she too young?

Hi i can't believe that. Unbelievable. Yes it is the church building.

I pay £12 per session for an hour of yoga for dd. Which is probably the cheapest i could get for special needs yoga classes.

I wouldn't know if yoga would be suitable for 21months but Margeurite Durham who you most likely met would be able to let you know. She also works closely with a homeopath who we used a few times, and she was lovely and very informed.

Marguerite is my provider for the listening programme also.

I don't know if the psychiatrist we saw has published anything about yoga and sensory system but his name was Dr anthony Baker of the Ashwood Practice in woking and there was talk of Marguerite and his practice working together although i'm not sure what's come of that.

Love to know how you get on if you do speak again to Margeurite at the haven. Good Luck

Goldenhair & Coppertop (I think I need to change my name to Mousybrownhead ), did you access the programme through a therapist registered with them? Or did you just buy / borrow the discs? Ds2's OT has mentioned this to us a couple of times and spoken about lending the cds but someone else has always got them and I'm wondering if it's important to approach it in a fixed way.

Thanks for the info goldenhair. Yes it was Marguerite along with a couple of others who we saw there. I'll look into doing yoga for DD2 as it sounds interesting.

Saker, our OT lends us the discs and we meet each week to discuss the positives/negatives of each cd and then chooses the next one according to the results of the previous.

Hi I wanted to use a therapist as it was easier to get regular feedback on how the discs were working and how we could tweak it to suit dd's needs.

I think you can do it by yourself but the discs and equipment are very pricey. The listening programme requires particular headphones to hear the modified sounds correctly.

gh ~ have you got contact details for m. durham please?

Thanks for the info Goldenhair - if you do it with a therapist, do you pay them a set charge and they lend you the discs?

Blossomhill (hope your named after the wine M. durhams details at the Haven centre in ripley is 01483 211723.

saker - we paid £45 for an hour assessment at the start and she gives us the discs free with a £25 returnable deposit in case of damage. so far we haven't been charged for follow ups as we tend to do it when i take dd there for yoga and it's only ususlly just a 5 - 10 minute chat to see how we are getting on.

TC What do you call the programme you are going to use? Could you tell me what AIT stands for? Good luck