Friday, January 11, 2013

Therapeutic Listening

One of the more challenging aspects of Little Miss's particular blend of autism is her meltdowns. They usually start pretty innocently (over a fine motor task she is unable to do by herself, for example) but can escalate into a drop-down, head-banging, sobbing, wailing mess.

We used to have a lot of meltdowns... intense meltdowns that lasted long enough to leave Little Miss in an exhausted pile on the living room floor. But things have been changing.

Now, before I say anything more, I need to put out a disclaimer. This is our experience and ours alone. I don't know if things will work out the same way for your child and I strongly suggest a healthy dose of skepticism with any new therapy... especially one that is not "mainstream."

Ok... PSA over and done with. Back to the story.

The meltdowns were getting bad. And we didn't know what to do. A friend of ours had tried Therapeutic Listening with her son and raved about the benefits. Since the friend is also a certified Therapeutic Listening therapist and offered to give us a deal, we decided it was worth a try (although secretly, I think my husband just went with it because he was looking for a way to get himself a new set of noise-canceling headphones).

So, what is Therapeutic Listening? The web site says:

Therapeutic Listening is research based tool for treating people of all ages who have difficulty processing sensory information, listening, attention, and communication. Parents, teachers, and therapists have seen significant results by using Therapeutic Listening including:
  • Increased Focus and Attention 
  • Better Moods 
  • Balanced Energy Levels 
  • Greater Tolerance to Noise 
  • Improved Sleep 
  • Better Handwriting 
  • Fewer Tantrums 
  •  Less Anxiety 
Used by thousands of therapists around the world, Therapeutic Listening is a highly individualized, music based tool that activates listening to help people tune-in to and respond to their world. High quality music, recorded specifically for Therapeutic Listening, is altered to exaggerate the sounds that naturally capture attention and tap into the parts of the brain involved in regulating bodily functions, relating to others, and organizing behavior.

Our first forays into Therapeutic Listening were not fruitful. Truth be told, I didn't notice any changes with Little Miss. That is, until we got to the Peach, Rhythm & Rhymes, and Raspberry programs. Take a look at this:


We started Peach in mid-November. Notice a difference? Us too.

And -- the meltdowns we were having were shorter, less intense -- and Little Miss was becoming able to recover from them on her own. It was amazing.

We've shifted gears into a new set of programs now (kicked off by "Nature Pops") -- so I'll try to keep you posted on how things go.
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4 comments:

  1. Anything that correlates to decreased meltdowns is great but I just don't understand how it works. I looked at the website and watched the YouTube video of the mom but I still don't get it. With our kids both having seizures (although LM's are different from Toots') I wonder how this could work. What kind of music is it? How can it "tap into the brain involved in regulating bodily functions"? Toots has less meltdowns now too but I think it is because he has learned how to cope with some of the many sources of anxiety for him and that he has gained experience and ways to communicate which are & were, much of the source of his meltdowns previously. I hope it is working but I know that LM is growing and maturing too. How much do you think is due to the program versus all the other interventions you have going for her?

    Regardless of the how, I'm very excited to hear that her meltdowns have decreased! xoxo

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    1. You've got some very good questions, as always, Karen. I share many of them. You're right about the science being sketchy -- I can't seem to figure out exactly how it works either.

      The music itself varies from chip to chip. One of the chips that had the most impact for Little Miss was the nursery rhymes. Her most recent one (Nature Pops) includes tracks from the Beetles (I think) and other popular music.

      When you listen to it, certain tones fade in and out. Maybe the high notes become more intense for a few seconds... then the low. It's like having someone play with the equalizer on your car stereo.

      I still don't give the whole thing the credit it claims it deserves, but the dates and the chip changes and resulting behavior changes are just too much of a coincidence for me to completely discount. You know what I mean?

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  2. This actually is a fairly mainstream therapy. It is used widely in pediatric OT, which is where we were first introduced to it. I think it worked well for Pkin, though it is a bit hard to say as it was started at the same time as her sensory diet and weekly OT sessions, so who knows if it was this, the other, or all combined. Our goals in using it were varied, but it was primarily for sensory defensiveness to sound. Again, I don't know if the therapeutic listening is the cause, but she has very few issues with this now.

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    1. Hi there! I haven't seen you around in a while! So nice to know that you and Pkin are doing well :-)

      I think you bring up a really good point (and some of the same thing we've experienced) -- our kids often have so much going on with other therapies that it's really hard to pinpoint one thing that makes an improvement. And for that matter, sometimes it IS the whole cocktail of therapies that is responsible. Pull out one element and well, you just have a nasty drink -- am I right?

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