A few months ago, Samantha's ST told us about the existence of Therapeutic Listening. It came up during a conversation about transitioning to new environments, and how difficult these transitions can be for Samantha. Now until then, I had never heard of this kind of therapy, nor did I know that there were some specially-trained Occupational Therapists that deliver this kind of therapy. Sensory OTs? I thought OT was specifically for fine motor skills, like pincer and tripod grips! Learn something new every day...
We kept the thought in the back of our minds, not putting any real thought into it (wondering how on earth we'd be able to fit it into Samantha's schedule...), but were still intrigued. Last Saturday, after our escapades at the theater and my sudden realization whilst writing my blog post that Samantha has had issues at nearly every birthday party she's gone to (as well as at a multitude of other situations she's been in), we began to think more about the issue and how we may go about resolving it. At her Speech Therapy appointment on Thursday morning, Steve spoke to her ST about it. The ST again mentioned Therapeutic Listening, said they have someone on staff that specializes in this, and gave us some literature to mull over.
I have read over how the fundamental basics of the program work, but am still mystified. I'd love to get some feedback from any of you who have tried this therapy - how has it worked for your child? How long did results take? How did your child react to the program? What kinds of issues did your child have to begin with, and what kinds of results did you see?
We're in a great position for this, since our therapy center offers it. We're currently clients there and they said they could fit us into the therapist's schedule. Also, my insurance and Medicaid should cover it (I have to look into that this week, but doubt that'll be a problem).
And I want so, so, so much for Samantha to love and thrive in new environments, to enjoy new things, to have a normal life.
12 comments:
i've never heard about it myself, so i'm really interested to read about anyone who has experience with therapeutic listening.
livia hasn't shown the type of sensory issues you've written of recently, though has usually needed that i stick around for the beginning of a party until she's comfortable enough to go off on her own... we were pre-warned that loud sound and big groups could unsettle her, but so far it hasn't been the case. perhpas because she has 3 roudy big brothers?! hope you get some good feedback and/or a helpful introduction to this new therapy.
im in Mexico son i dont know much about this BUT i read an adoption blog, where they have therapeutic listening program for her girl adopted from uckrania :)
http://angeleyesadoption.blogspot.com/2010/07/therapeutic-listening.html
Thank you for that link, Alicia! I had not seen that blog before, and have just sent a message to her to see how things have gone with it, 7 months later. :-)
We do it - I left you a comment on FB.
I stopped D since evidence show that they may cause seizures in some children. We have seizure history in my Family, so I didn't want to take any chances.
D improved in the fact that he stopped kicking me during me administering his Gtube.O...ther then that, I didn't see any other obvious results.
I've never heard of it either, but it sounds fantastic for her!!
Hi! Got your comment on my blog but can't seem to see your email address? The short answer to your question is....Zoya is doing fabulous with her sensory issues (or lack there or these days) even after being done with listening therapy for months now. We still have the headphones and a couple CDs incase she regressed but we have not seen that at all! Just yesterday I was taking her potty in a public restroom with those REALLY LOUD new hand dryers and automatic flushers...seriously the sounds were so loud they bothered me a bit and Zoya wasn't bothered in the least....she would have FREAKED before therapeutic listening. I can't say enough about how well this program worked for Zoya. It was tough to get the 2 half hour sessions in every day but we did it! Please email if you have any more questions. And I def. never heard about it causing seizures...yikes!
This is a fascinating discussion and I appreciate you brining it up! Sarah brought up a great point and I have a question for the other expert "Friends of Sammi's Mama" - the effects are lasting or only last while the therapy is happening?
I've heard it helps with attention span. I'm goin to ask Goldie's OT about it. Again.
Therapeutic Listening is one avenue to explore as a possible aid in helping Sammi regulate sensations from her environment and/or to help her transition to/from environments. Forms of Therapeutic Listening have been around for several years now. I first heard of it 8-10 years ago. Before that I had heard of metronome therapy, which targeted the same goal of aiding in regulation of a child's sensory system. Listening programs have been successful for some children in improving their ability to regulate sensory information, improve engagement, and improve attention. With these gains, you might then see growth in other developmental areas. And yes, there are OT's that work on sensory integration (SI), that is the regulation of information from your bodies 7 senses! Having an OT evaluation by someone trained in SI would be a good route to go. They will most likely give you a parent questionnaire from The Sensory Profile to fill out. From there, the Profile is analyzed along with observations from parents and other caregivers to find any patterns. Then recommendations can be made as to how to work on those patterns of responses to help Sammi regulate sensory information from her environment. I would recommend seeking an OT evaluation before you jumped into Therapeutic Listening. An OT will be the best person to determine if that program will help her needs and support her strengths. Sorry my response was soooo long! Hope it helped though!
To answer Anonymous - the effects should be lasting. The effects are subtle and global.
You switch CDs every 2 weeks (so the brain doesn't become used to them) and you do a series of about 6 weeks. Then you can take a break. Sometimes, you can just stop there. Sometimes, you might need a refresher now and then. Sometimes, you need to just continue indefinately.
I have never heard of this, but it sounds interesting!
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