'Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism

Visionary7903 · March 30, 2012, 5:01am

Children’s Care, based in South Dakota, is another organisation that has speech therapy based camps for Autistic kids. Children’s Care offers a broad continuum of healthcare and educational services for children with various challenges from birth through age 21.

I have mentioned the usefulness of augmentative communication devices for Autistic people in this post as well as this one.

Here is Children’s Care camp for this topic based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota…

(source: Children’s Care Camps 2012)

Visionary7903 · March 30, 2012, 5:06am

Children’s Care, based in South Dakota, is another organisation that has speech therapy based camps for Autistic kids. Children’s Care offers a broad continuum of healthcare and educational services for children with various challenges from birth through age 21.

Here is Children’s Care camp for this topic based in Rapid City, South Dakota…

(source: Children’s Care Camps 2012)

Visionary7903 · March 30, 2012, 5:11am

Children’s Care, based in South Dakota, is an organisation that has speech therapy based camps for Autistic kids. Children’s Care offers a broad continuum of healthcare and educational services for children with various challenges from birth through age 21.

While the camp in the above post focuses on articulation skills, the below Children’s Care camp based in Rapid City, South Dakota focuses on expressive and receptive communication…

(source: Children’s Care Camps 2012)

Visionary7903 · March 30, 2012, 6:29am

I mentioned the roles of occupational therapists and physical therapists in the treatment of Autism in above posts.

A speech pathologist is another type of health professional. Here is some detail on the role of a speech pathologist:

…Speech-language pathologists in a medical setting assess, diagnose, treat and help to prevent oral motor, swallowing, cognitive-linguistic, speech, and language disorders.

Speech pathologists work with individuals whose oral motor, swallowing, cognitive-linguistic, speech, or language skills have been affected by a neurological event/disease, head/neck cancer, or possibly debilitation related to an underlying medical disease process. This includes individuals:

With speech articulation and fluency difficulty such as dysarthria
With voice quality problems, such as inappropriate pitch or harsh voice possibly related to vocal abuse or cancer
With cognitive-communicative impairments, including underlying attention, memory, abstract reasoning, or problem-solving deficits possibly related to a stroke, brain injury, or underlying medical disease process
With aphasia (a language disorder) or apraxia (a motor planning disorder)
Who have oropharyngeal weakness that places them at risk for ‘aspiration’ or food/liquid entering the airway when swallowing that can lead to respiratory complications…

(source: Speech Pathology Career Overview)

Visionary7903 · March 30, 2012, 6:38am

Like occupational therapists and physical therapists, speech pathologists have important roles to play in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is especially true given that Autistic kids often have various speech and language related issues…

(source: Speech-Language Therapy for Autistic Children - Autism Center - Everyday Health)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 5:26am

I have already mentioned the healing powers of Scottish composer Punit Yaatri’s BrainHeart Music.

Jean Genet, a man who apparently conquered his own autism, created Byonetics which looks to be not so dissimilar to the healing done to Autistic brains by listening to Yaatri’s music…

…Byonetics is an “In Home” program that is proving to be successful in enhancing speech, behavioral, and occupational therapies in the campaign to end to autism. Byonetics works on the premise that the brain is very much like a computer i.e., it uses brain wave frequencies which activate what we call developmental switches. These Switches connect to our mental, physical, and emotional “software” that activates our ability to speak, have emotional balance, and mental focus. By the 18th month of life an infant has received 13 vaccinations. The chemical reaction in the brain from these vaccinations can be so severe that these developmental switches can be damaged to such an extent that they no longer make a proper connection between the brain/computer and its software thus turnng off the ability to speak, have emotional balance, and mental focus. Byonetics is a technology that repairs these developmental switches.

Byonetics uses Cranial Dynamics technology to create the harmonic frequency codes that the brain uses to repair these developmental switches. These harmonic frequencies are encoded into digitally mastered CD’s that are played when the child is going to sleep. The more these Switches are repaired the better the connection between the brain/computer and its mental, physical, and emotional software thus turnng back on the ability to speak, have emotional balance, and mental focus…

(source: autism treatment byonetics Jean Genet)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 5:35am

I have also mentioned, in another post, the treatment of Autistic individuals with Dolphin-assisted therapy, and the controversial nature of this treatment.

Interestingly, Byonetics also runs an occupational therapy program for children with Autism with Dolphins…

…We want to invite you to receive Occupational Therapy for your child in our Dolphin Encounter program here in the Florida Keys.
Byonetics is technology used to repair the developmental switches that connect the child’s brain/computer to its mental, physical, and emotional software. Once connected then the child can begin to form speech, emotional contact, and mental focus.

This same technology enhances your child’s ability to participate in dolphin occupational therapy.

A dolphin encounter is where your child is standing on a platform, in the water, while the dolphin approaches.

The Byonetics technology enhances the ability of the dolphin to use its “echo-location” or high frequency beeps to accelerate the repair of the child’s developmental switches.

Note: It is our research into inner-species communications between dolphins and humans, as it relates to health, that is used as a foundation for successful therapy swim programs with dolphins…

(source: Dolphin Encounter Occupational Therapy)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 5:42am

While Dolphin-assisted therapy for Autism is controversial, it is also being used in places other than the United States.

In China, for example, Dolphin-assisted therapy is also being used for the healing powers of the high frequency beeps that Dolphins apparently give off…

…It’s thought the therapy improves their speech and motor skills.

Parents say they see improvement and are eager to pay about 17 dollars for a 20-minute session.

[Parent of Autistic Child]:

“We have been using the dolphin therapy for almost a year. Although my child’s progress is slow, there is an obvious improvement. We have seen a real difference since she has come here to listen to the dolphins squeaking. Since she started the treatment, she can focus her attention longer and is not as quiet as before.”

It’s that squeaking which is key in the treatment, says the park.

They claim the dolphin’s high-frequency ultrasonic waves of 2000 to 100,000 HZ stimulate people’s nervous systems–arousing dormant cells.

More parks like this are sprouting up around China as the treatment becomes more popular…

(source: Dolphin Therapy Helps Autistic Children in China – NTDTV.com)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 6:01am

Here is more on the science behind why Dolphin-assisted therapy could work, in improving the situation of those with Autism Spectrum Disorders and others with special needs…

…“What makes dolphins exceptional in therapeutical fields,” explains Rene , a dolphin encounter teacher based in California,] “is the use of their sonar with which they echolocate their prey. There is evidence that dolphins trigger the healing process in humans by boosting the production of T-cells and endorphins. After patient and dolphin interactions, scientists have measured a far greater harmony between the left and right sides of the brain.” He informs that dolphins produce an intense amount of echolocation energy, which resonates in the bones, such as the skull and the sternum, and then travels up the spine.

“Many therapists believe,” says Amanda … a marine biologist, “that a dolphin’s sonar causes a phenomenon called cavitation inside the soft body tissue of the human body. It precipitates a ripping apart of the molecules.” So, if sonar does that with cellular membranes, it could completely change the biomolecular structure. She adds, “many hospitals already use a lithotripsy machine that uses low frequency sound waves to break up kidney stones and gall stones. The physics of that machine are not different from a dolphin’s sonar.”…

(source: Dolphin encounters, dolphin therapy and healing)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 6:16am

Solfeggio frequencies are other sound-based tools which might aid healing, although their use in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders appears to be minimal. They are a set of nine tones that, according to some, were used centuries ago in Gregorian and Sanskrit chants.

Here is more on how to gain the maximum healing benefits of Solfeggio frequencies…

(source: Solfeggio Frequencies- Totally Transform Your Life Quickly and Get Faster Results)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 8:58am

As I have already mentioned, auditory processing is a major issue in people with Autism Spectrum Disorders:

…I obtained L-Carnosine, and took a 500mg pill quite skeptical that anything would happen at all… Thirty minutes later the quality of the music on the stereo changes, it got much softer and crisper, I felt a feeling of peace. I continued to take it. I soon noticed that navigating stores no longer overloaded me, dealing with people was much easier, my stress and anxiety levels where lower, phobic reactions decreased greatly. It was like entering a new life overnight. I am still an Aspie, but many of the unpleasant aspects of the condition have decreased substantially, while the pleasant and useful ones have increased, I still retain my gifts in programming, and the like which come from this condition…

A clarifying and softening of sensory sensations, expecially hearing. However to my surprise L-Carnosine’s effects are quite noticeably different than those of neurontin or any other drug of that sort, it seems to be in a class by itself. And seems to be a precision screw driver applied gently right in the right place as opposed to a crowbar jammed into the brain…

Founded by G. Alexander Doman, The Listening Program (TLP) is a music-based, auditory stimulation method is designed to stimulate, or exercise the different functions of the auditory processing system. Here is a page with an introduction to the therapy: The Listening Program- How TLP Works

(source: https://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.hearing-loss/browse_thread/thread/a7f9083de051f84e/e2a389adba5473cd?hl=en)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 9:10am

Founded by G. Alexander Doman, The Listening Program (TLP) is a music-based, auditory stimulation method designed to stimulate, or exercise the different functions of the auditory processing system.

The program has found uses in treatment for Autistics. Increased engagement, emergent skills, improved sensory integration and auditory processing, and reduced sound sensitivity are said to have been some of the areas of improvement due to treatment with this method.

Here is one anecdotal example of the method’s success in a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Note that the method affects far more than just auditory processing issues (probably by targeting the Autistic brain’s auditory processing system weaknesses, various related issues are also improved)…

(source: http://www.thelisteningprogram.com/PDF/News/TAP%202006%20Issue%204%20-%20The%20Listening%20Program.pdf)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 9:18am

Founded by G. Alexander Doman, The Listening Program (TLP) is a music-based, auditory stimulation method designed to stimulate, or exercise the different functions of the auditory processing system. Doman founded Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT) in 1998 - the company is located in Ogden, Utah. It was through ABT that The Listening Program was developed.

Here is another anecdotal example of the method’s multifaceted success in a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder…

…Isabelle was diagnosed as Autistic Moderately Impaired … following speech, behavior and other regressions the parents started to observe at 28 months. At age three, she showed additional signs of auditory processing difficulties that led her parents to The Listening Program. For example, when told to “touch mommy,” she would touch her tummy. Isabelle completed approximately 40 hours of listening with The Listening Program, while still three years of age, and experienced gains in many areas. Her receptive and expressive language improved. Isabelle went from using limited sign language to speaking in couplets with a limited vocabulary. Attention and focus sharpened, and she is initiating and completing projects. There is more expression in Isabelle’s face, and she has better motor coordination. Sleep patterns have improved, and she is trying and liking many more foods. She has also gained in maturity as a result of her improved behavior. Isabelle’s parents are ecstatic and are continuing with her listening program to help maintain and build on these gains…

(sources: The Listening Program- Company; http://www.thelisteningprogram.com/PDF/News/TAP%202006%20Issue%204%20-%20The%20Listening%20Program.pdf)

Visionary7903 · March 31, 2012, 9:52am

I have mentioned in above posts the role of occupational therapists in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

In this short video, a Director of Occupational Therapy talks about how The Listening Program is used for patients with Autism in her medical institution - the New Jersey Children’s Specialized Hospital: The Listening Program as an Autism Treatment - YouTube

Here is an abstract of a recent research paper that Donna (the above-mentioned Director of Occupational Therapy) was involved in - on Occupational Therapy and Sensory Integration in children with Autism…

…Objective: To examine the feasibility, safety, and acceptability of a manualized protocol of occupational therapy using sensory integration principles for children with autism.

Methods: Ten children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ages 4-8 years received intensive occupational therapy intervention using sensory integration principles following a manualized protocol. Measures of feasibility, acceptability and safety were collected from parents and interveners, and fidelity was measured using a valid and reliable fidelity instrument.

Results: The intervention is safe and feasible to implement, acceptable to parents and therapist, and therapists were able to implement protocol with adequate fidelity. These data provide support for implementation of a randomized control trial of this intervention and identify specific procedural enhancements to improve study implementation.

(source: http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/02/02/1362361311435157.full.pdf)

Visionary7903 · April 1, 2012, 7:34am

Another sound-based therapy is Samonas Sound Therapy. SAMONAS stands for Spectrally Activated Music of Optimal Natural Structure. The founder of this program was Ingo Steinbach, a German physicist, sound engineer and musician. Steinbach was able to create something truly innovative because of his background in several fields: music, physics, acoustics and electronics. Also because of the leaps in technology that had occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s with the high quality of CDs as compared to tape technologies…

…Samonas Sound Therapy was many years in development. In 1991-92, Klangstudio Lambdoma, the studio of Ingo Steinbach, developed equipment that revolutionized the quality of recording and processing music and nature sounds so that the spatial qualities were preserved up to the 20,000 Hz range. The brain can detect when music is recorded and when it is live. These special spatial qualities are very important information for developing the auditory system, training of lateralization and those global thinking skills necessary for human function. This first stage of development was the Sonas principle, which stands for the ‘System of Optimal Natural Structure’. Recordings of music and nature sounds are available using the Sonas principle of recording.

With the development of the envelope-shape-modulator, Steinbach was able to boost the dynamic of the high frequency overtones of music and nature sounds, while maintaining the same overall energy of the signal. This was a true breakthrough in sound therapy development. His work resulted in very natural sounds with special emphasis on the high frequency sounds that are so important in sound therapy. This is the spectral activation used in the Samonas Sound Therapy. Samonas stand for ‘Spectrally Activated Music of Optimal Natural Structure’…

(source: Article on Sound Therapy)

Visionary7903 · April 1, 2012, 7:51am

The SAMONAS filtered CDs have different levels of intensity, including lower intensity. A program called Therapeutic Listening uses the lower intensity filtered CDs with various other sensory integrative activities to create a comprehensive program that should be effective in people with sensory challenges, including many individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders of course…

…Hall and Case-Smith (2007) published results of a study using Therapeutic Listening. Their study involved ten children, ages five to eleven. Each of these children met the criteria for sensory processing disorder in at least three sensory areas. The children were treated with sensory diet, a combination of sensory activities individually designed to help with sensory modulation. The children were then treated with eight weeks of sensory diet combined with Therapeutic Listening. Results showed improvement in mean scores for the Evaluative Tool for Children’s Handwriting, the test of Visual Motor integration, and total sensory profiles. Each of these is a standard test used by occupational therapists for assessing sensory processing disorders. In addition, parents reported improvements in attention, interaction with peers, transitions, listening, self-awareness, communication, sleep patterns, and following directions…

(source: http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/3321.pdf)

Visionary7903 · April 1, 2012, 8:05am

The person who developed the SAMONAS system, Ingo Steinbach, paid particular attention to detail to ensuring that the listener’s experience was optimal - so that maximum healing could take place. *('Agricultural specialisterne': rural employment revolution for those with Autism - #158 by Visionary7903) that for special needs kids, like any others, to get the most out of a therapy, they should enjoy it so that they keep coming back again and again; putting 100% into it each and every time…

…Steinbach wanted his recordings to be as realistic and as spatially expansive as the sounds one hears in the concert hall. He realized that sound reflects the space in which it is recorded, and that choosing the space for recording was a critical factor in the quality of the recording. He also paid particular attention to the music used and the instrumentation. He uses only natural instruments, which produce tones rich in harmonics. Additionally, Steinbach believes that sound carries intention and that the musician’s state of mind is reflected in his/her work. For this reason, he only records when he feels that the musicians are playing with a sense of joy. Steinbach also developed a special device called the envelope shape modulator which enhances the upper frequency range of the music, thereby ‘spectrally activating’ the recordings, The higher frequencies provide information about directional distances of sounds as well as other detailed information about the sound source. In addition to the spectral activation, there are also brief passages on the CDs with intensive filtering so that almost nothing but the overtones are heard. Listening to these ‘high extension’ passages theoretically trains the ear to pay attention to the upper ranges in the sound spectrum. The higher tones are the parts of the sound spectrum that captivate attention and hold interest…

(source: Traditional Interventions)*

Visionary7903 · April 1, 2012, 8:44am

Now an important concept in sound therapy - bone conduction. Bone conduction occurs where the sound is transmitted via the bone rather than the ears; the volume of the sound transmitted through the bone is independent of the volume of the air conducted sound…

…When we speak the sound comes out, with the higher sounds thrown out in a straight line, and lower sounds spread out everywhere. (this is one of the reasons why our voice sounds funny in a tape recorder, higher than we think) At the same time the skill vibrates and transmits sound information directly to the ear and down the spinal column directly into the whole body. Great singers control their voices through bone conduction.

[Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis, considered the father of all the sound programs available today] found in stutters and this is especially true for autistic children that there was a lack of harmony between bone and air conduction, with the latter (bone conduction), always being more sensitive. When we speak we bath ourselves in sound, it is part of our feedback. In other words we incorporate (meaning the body) the sound and Tomatis would say when we have these delays “we cannot incorporate the Word”…

Our self-listening mechanism is largely controlled in how we hear ourselves through bone conduction. We are our own first listeners. As we omit sound it goes out our mouth and returns via our ears but even before that we hear ourselves through bone conduction. Tomatis found that the best singer had excellent perception of their own voices through bone conduction and they were neither hypersensitive or unawares in this type of listening…

(source: Intra-Uterine Listening)

Visionary7903 · April 1, 2012, 8:53am

The SAMONAS system, founded by Ingo Steinbach, incorporates a detailed understanding of Sound Conduction in its intensive treatment program…

…We … know that while higher spectral components of sounds are stimulating attention, focus, (sound) discrimination and vitality, they are sometimes blocked by cortical reactions, causing irritations and rejection. Bone conduction avoids this irritation through its natural focus on the medium frequency range. This allows the cortex to react in a more relaxed manner to the highly stimulating input to brain stem and mid brain provided by bone conduction.

Today we know that hearing - better: listening - is an active sense. We are able to direct our attention by adjusting the conductivity of the middle ear. Listening is a cortical function. Unfortunately however our auditory system also allows past negative experiences to block healthy sound nutrition, therefore hindering the effectiveness of auditory training approaches.

One of the laws of nature tells us, that the ﬁrst wave front provides critical information about the nature of the sound approaching. Samonas uses this effect to stop patterns of past negative experiences from weakening the power of auditory training. This involves a speciﬁc timing between bone conduction and air conduction, one of the unique and powerful elements of the Samonas Intensive Treatment. This advanced feature enables the auditory system to avoid ‘shut-down’ and to ‘stay open’ and receive the new pleasant components of the sound input…

(source: http://www.samonas.com/Pdftoupdate/Samonasintensivesinfo.pdf)

Visionary7903 · April 1, 2012, 9:07am

The SAMONAS program, founded by Ingo Steinbach, also believes that it is very important for therapists to be properly trained in using the program’s methods. After all, it is a pretty complex system, and such training is important for making sure that each person being treated is given as much chance of treatment success as possible…

(source: Traditional Interventions)

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