*We are certified to provide this program.
We at Sun Kids Occupational Therapy Pittsburgh feel that Therapeutic Listening can be helpful for select children. Children are evaluated and selected for Therapeutic Listening based on the fit of their occupational therapy profile. Therapeutic Listening is provided as an additional service to children being seen for services at our clinic. Home programming is provided as part of our therapy services and is essential in the success of the children we serve.
Therapeutic Listening Overview: A Critical Link in Sensory Integration (complete information can be viewed at http://www.vitallinks.net under parent information).
Recent clinical practice demonstrates the efficacy of incorporating sound into sensory integrative treatment strategies. In fact, many experts agree that the auditory system is a critical link in sensory integration theory. Therapeutic Listening® is an innovative program for providing high quality auditory input within the context of sensory integrative treatment. Most important to Sun Kids Occupational Therapy Pittsburgh is that research exists that demonstrates this program as highly effective, as we continually assess and work to provide the most effective programs. Read new research on Therapeutic Listening below or visit http://www.vitallinks.net for additional research information.
Listening is a Sensory Integrative Experience
Sensory integration is the ability to organize sensory input from the body and the environment and to incorporate it adaptively in meaningful occupations. In everyday listening we are doing just that – attending selectively to auditory information and integrating it with multitudes of other sensory data.
What is Listening?
Listening is the process of detecting sound and organizing and integrating it for use with information from other senses. Listening skills include both conscious and unconscious processes. Although we are not aware of it, we constantly monitor the ambient auditory environment. When a salient sound occurs, we shift our attention to orient, locate, and select that sound for further investigation. This constant monitoring occurs in key centers in the brain and is a critical first step to a myriad of functions including attention and integrated sensory processing. It is largely done unconsciously so that cortical pathways are free to perform higher level functions. On a more conscious level we voluntarily attend to sound and discriminate and interpret sound.
Both children and adults who have sensory processing and sensory integration difficulties who use Therapeutic Listening coupled with occupational therapy treatment tend to have excellent results. Skills that emerge over time include:
– Attention – Organized behavior – Self regulation – Postural control – Bilateral coordination – Praxis – Fine motor control – Oral motor/articulation – Social skills – Communication – Visual motor integration
What is Therapeutic Listening?
Therapeutic Listening (TL) is an expansion of Sensory Integration. It is an auditory intervention that uses the organized sound patterns inherent in music to impact all levels of the nervous system. Auditory information from Therapeutic Listening CDs provides direct input to both the vestibular and the auditory portions of the vestibular-cochlear continuum. The emphasis of Therapeutic Listening is on blending sound intervention strategies with vestibulo-proprioceptive, core development, and breath activities so as to sustain grounding and centering of the body and mind in space and time. Providing these postural, movement, and respiratory activities as part of the TL program is critical.
Therapeutic Listening utilizes numerous CDs that vary in musical style, types of filtering, and level of complexity. The music on Therapeutic Listening CDs is electronically altered to elicit the orienting response which sets up the body for sustained attention and active listening.
New Research on Therapeutic Listening®
The effectiveness of Therapeutic Listening in the March/April 2007 issue of The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. In this article, Leah Hall (MS, OTR/L) and Jane Case-Smith (EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA) explored the effect of Therapeutic Listening® on children with sensory processing disorders and visual-motor delays.
This web information can be viewed directly at the Vital Links website with the following link: http://www.vitallinks.net/ajotresearch.shtml
Therapeutic Listening has always been embedded in the sensory integration framework. This article provides new evidence for the wisdom of that approach. Highlights of the article are provided below.
Quotes from Hall & Case-Smith*
“The present study produced encouraging findings to support the use of Therapeutic Listening as part of an overall sensory integrative approach to occupational therapy in elementary school-age children. Therapeutic Listening, along with sensory diet strategies, can be effective in reducing many behaviors associated with sensory integration disorder” (p. 215).
“One child’s ADHD medication was reduced after 1 month of Therapeutic Listening because his behavior and attention had improved dramatically” (p. 213).
“[My son] is now interacting with classmates. He [now] talks about [his friends]. His teacher said he used to walk outside the play area with his head down to avoid the other kids. Now he is playing beside the other kids. Eye contact has improved” (p. 214).
Statistical Findings
Mean scores for ETCH Total Legibility showed significant improvement during Therapeutic Listening phase.
Mean scores for VMI Visual subtest showed significant improvement during Therapeutic Listening phase.
Over 12 weeks there was a significant improvement on the Total Sensory Profile Score (mean change = 71 points) plus a significant improvement in 8 of 14 subtests including:
• Auditory Processing**
• Touch Processing
• Multi-sensory Processing
• Oral Sensory Processing
• Body Position & Movement
• Emotional Responses
• Emotional/Social Responses
• Behavioral Outcomes**
**Indicates areas of greatest change
Qualitative Findings
Parents reported improvements in:
• Attention
• Interaction with peers
• Transitions
• Listening
• Self-awareness
• Communication
• Sleep patterns
• Following directions
Handwriting Scores
Two children were receiving services for handwriting skills during the study. In both cases, handwriting performance jumped when Therapeutic Listening was implemented.
| Child | Pretest | Post Sensory Diet | Post Sensory Diet + Therapeutic Listening |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 3% | 5% | 17% |
| #2 | 40% | 48% | 61% |
Dyslexia Therapy Of Pittsburgh 