Alex doing his brain training

Our son, Alex, had a history of learning difficulties since he started school in kindergarten. In second grade, he was diagnosed with learning disabilities. His evaluation showed that he was functioning in the “superior” range of intelligence but had significant deficits in his auditory short-term memory, working memory and phonemic awareness.

When we would try to help Alex with his schoolwork, he would become extremely frustrated, “shut down” and stop trying.  He did not like reading, and it was always a struggle for him to read for a required 15 to 30 minutes per day.  Because school was difficult for Alex,  he cried nearly every morning.

His IEP began with the start of third grade.  He was in a regular classroom and also spent 45 minutes per day with an ESE teacher for direct instruction.  We saw only a little bit of improvement.  Third grade was considerably more stressful for him because of the upcoming state achievement tests.

Alex was halfway through third grade, when he started the brain training program with Diane Daniels at Brain Works, a program that combines Tomatis-based auditory training with brain building activities.

By the end of third grade, his grades had improved tremendously and he passed the state achievement tests without a problem.  He was no longer frustrated by his schoolwork, and he actually began to enjoy reading.  Alex showed so much progress that his school dismissed him from special education instruction!

Alex is doing super in fourth grade and is making all A’s and B’s.  Alex reads every day for more than 30 minutes, because he enjoys it.  He is very organized and knows every day what homework he has to do. He recently received a “Happy Gram” from his teacher stating the following, “I just wanted to let you know that Alex has been a great model student for his peers.  I appreciate his positive attitude in class.”

We are thrilled with the progress Alex has made.  We highly recommend a Brain Works brain & auditory training program to any parents whose children are experiencing similar difficulties.

Steve & Karri Christoffersen

(Editorial Note: Alex older now and is a straight “A” student.)

Less Brain Shrinkage

Did you know that after age 30, there is a gradual decline in cognitive processes such as learning and memory due to brain shrinkage? Scary, isn’t it? MRI studies show that people who exercise regularly have less brain shrinkage than those who don’t exercise.

More Brain Stem Cells

Recent research has found more good news. Middle-aged mice that exercised for an hour daily produced 200% more new brain stem cells than non-exercising mice. Fantastic! Most likely, this exercise-induced brain stem cell creation is true for humans as well.

ADHD & Focus Problems

Focus problems and ADHD, which are brain-related issues, respond well to exercise. In his book, Nature’s Ritalin for the Marathon Mind, Stephen C. Putnam, MEd, cites studies of children who ran 15 to 45 minutes before class. After their exercise, inattentive, fidgety behavior was cut by half for two to four hours. The author himself took up canoeing to decrease his symptoms of adult ADHD.

Exercise – Similar to Antidepressant Medication

Another major benefit of exercise is its positive effect on stress, depression and anxiety. In fact, exercise has a similar effect to antidepressants on depression. It lowers the stress hormone cortisol, raises mood-enhancing endorphins, reduces muscle tension, improves resilience during stress, and improves sleep.

What Can You Do?

30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day for three to five days a week can make significant improvements in a depression, anxiety, poor focus and middle-aged brain shrinkage. No time? Try pacing while on the phone, walk your office hallways or go up and down stairs for a couple of minutes several times a day. Then notice how sharp you feel.

Brain Works Combines Exercise and Auditory Training

Whether you or your child do an auditory training program at Brain Works or use one of our iLs home auditory training kits, exercise is part of the program. Specifically, we combine auditory training with visual-motor activities to increase stimulation to areas of the brain for greater sensory integration, visual perception, visual-motor skills, balance and coordination. The brain thrives on movement, and we love to help the brain.

Eye Contact and Conversation

There are individuals, who have trouble making eye contact while listening to a conversation. It is true, that for some there are psychological reasons. However, I believe that the majority of these “poor eye contact” children and adults cannot process visual information and auditory information at the same time.

Causes for Eye Contact in Children

What is the explanation? In all likelihood, there are not enough brain cell connections between the visual and auditory areas of their brains. This deficit in the numbers of neural pathways makes it difficult to absorb or understand what is being heard, while looking at the speaker’s facial expressions. There is too much information to take in from the ears and the eyes and process all at once. So, the best way they have of understanding the verbal message is to look away from the speaker’s face and focus on listening. 

Note: it is customary in Japan to close your eyes while listening to speakers, to focus on the message and think more deeply.

Auditory Brain Training Can Improve Poor Eye Contact in Children

Now the question is, how can the brain acquire the numbers of pathways necessary to process visual and auditory content at the same time? The method I use is Tomatis-based auditory training. The sound frequencies from the modified music stimulate the growth of neural pathways in many areas of the brain. The visual and auditory regions are two of those areas.

During the listening program, there comes a time when the brain becomes better able to process what is seen and heard at the same time. Suddenly, formerly “poor eye contact” children are seen looking at their parents, teachers and peers during instructions and conversations. Adults notice that their eye contact is improving; that they can process verbal and non-verbal messages simultaneously; and that people show more interest in talking with them. Home, school and social relationships become stronger, because listening is being done eye-to-eye!

Question:
What has been your experience with eye contact in general or auditory training & eye contact?

There is no way to really know what causes APD. It sometimes runs in families. APD can be acquired from ear infections, a difficult birth, head injury or severe illness. Dr. Alfred Tomatis, pioneer of sound-based auditory training, hypothesized that the ears can also psychologically protect a person by tuning out during traumatic events such as the death of a family member or abuse.

An auditory processing disorder has many repercussions. APD can cause infants and toddlers to have delayed speech and language development. School-aged children commonly have reading difficulties, language disorders, attention problems and other disabilities. Adults with APD notice that they frequently misunderstand conversations, ask others to repeat what was said, hear poorly in a noisey environment and have difficulty expressing their thoughts.

At Brain Works, we use auditory training methods based on the work of Dr. Tomatis. Whether a client gets training at Brain Works or uses a home program, they typically have great success. Pre- and post- standardized tests usually show significant increases in auditory processing and attention span. Parents and teachers notice improvements in listening ability, attention, reading, language skills, auditory memory and grades.

Deborah Ross-Swain Ed.D., CCC Speech-Language Pathologist, conducted a study using the Tomatis Method for Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). 41 subjects ages 4.3 to 19.8 years old were evaluated for APD. All subjects demonstrated significant improvement in immediate auditory memory, auditory sequencing, interpretation of directions, auditory discrimination and auditory cohesion. The average improvement of overall auditory processing skills was 49.93%.

Problems with auditory processing can go undiagnosed for years. Children and adults can be thought to have an attention deficit disorder, learning disability or below normal intelligence, when their real problem is the inability to clearly understand verbal messages. The frustration felt by suffers of APD need not continue. Auditory training based on Tomatis principles can be of tremendous help on the road to recovery.