A True Story: C speaks out

C is a non-verbal boy with autism. He is considered "very challenging" to his family and therapists, because he has a host of anti-social behaviours (e.g., drinking from the sink spigot, picking his nose), and although he is a beautiful child to look at, there's always a wildness in his eyes that can be expressed with a giant leap out of his chair and a slap across your face. Still, there's something there that people love... a hint of the intelligence within him.

C did Auditory Integration Therapy with me twice. The first time was because he was so obviously hypersensitive to ... well, everything! If someone cried, if the heater clicked on, if someone was singing downstairs, he'd get upset, scream, cry, hit, scratch, and kick.

His first few sessions of AIT were tough. We had to hold his hands down and his headphones on so that he wouldn't throw the headphones off. This is not unusual -- many kids with autism don't like to try new things because they're unpredictable, and therefore scary. Also, he has a pattern of reacting to unwanted things with a violent edge, so his aggressive behaviour at the start was not atypical for him; we had planned for it.

After the 2nd day, though, things started to mellow for him. He fussed for only the first 10 minutes, then only the first 5 minutes, then for only 30 seconds, and finally just a grunt of protest when the headphones were being put on. And then, one day, he came in, reached for the headphones, and tried to put them on himself! By halfway through the cycle, he was a model client, with the exception of when there was a frequency/decibel combination on the music that was difficult for him to deal with. But since these occurred only very briefly, he'd simply cry out once, then settle down again for more listening. [This occurs when we can't get an audiogramme done, which is common for children with autism. We can't filter out uncomfortable peaks. It's not dangerous, just uncomfortable.]

At the end of the 13th session (the typical turning point for hypersensitivity), he already showed signs of being more at ease. He was much less antsy, less likely to act out against a noise with a quick slap at the person closest to him. Over the next few days, he was responding a bit better in his school work, and he started to verbalise some of his favourite things. Amazing progress!

His performance in school and at home improved. He began learning to identify sight words, which he found much more interesting than letters and sounds. Amazingly, he started to repeat the word after it was said to him -- pretty astounding considering he was unable to imitate single sounds, which are supposed to be easier to produce!

A year later, his mother decided she wanted to see if she could get more out of him with another round of AIT. This time, although hypersensitivity wasn't totally resolved, he definitely wasn't as sensitive to environmental sounds as he had been. So this time, our hope was that we'd see more far-reaching changes.

C remembered the routine and, by the end of the first day, was keeping his headphones on without assistance. He happily sat and looked at toy catalogues, played with magnetic letters, and read out loud the names of his favourite things. He only fussed after about 22 minutes, which is when most kids start getting bored and ready to go home, and then was easily redirected to a new activity.

A week after AIT, I got a message from one of his teachers: "C is talking so much! He asked me, today, to take a shower [part of his daily living skill training], he's asking for new foods, he's using two-word phrases all the time, now, and an occasional full sentence! It's amazing!"

He's not so non-verbal, now!

A True Story: A Hate-Love Relationship

I conducted AIT on a young teenager with autism. This was something that his parent was uncertain about doing -- she just couldn't believe it might really help. I'd known her through my autism work for a while and had been talking to her about AIT on and off for about two years! She finally decided to give it a try.

About half-way through the AIT, his side effects started in. He was a boy who need LOTS of deep pressure and proprioceptive input (input to the joints and muscles to help you understand where your body is). As such, he was inclined to hand-flap, throw himself onto the sofa, wrestle with his dad and brother, and clench his muscles. This behaviour started to get really bad during his treatments. It was all I could do to convince him to sit still enough to keep his headphones on. I typically put a headband over the headphones, so a good deal of movement still won't result in the headphones falling off, but he was really active! He was giddy a lot of the time, and this was occurring at home, as well.

About 5 days after the AIT was done, I received a text message from his mother: "Dena, what have you done to my son?! I am NOT a fan of AIT!" Fortunately for me, the text got "lost in space," and I didn't receive it for several days. I let it sit for another day, wondering what I should say to reassure her that this, too, shall pass.

The next day (about 1-1/2 weeks after he'd finished AIT), I got another text from her: "Dena, he is AMAZING! His teachers are raving about how well he's paying attention in school, he's listening so well at home, he's like a different child! THANK YOU! I love AIT!"

Two months later, when he was faced with his biggest school challenge yet -- a new class, a new teacher, new friends -- he flew through it with ease, amazing everyone yet again!

Side effects, if any, are minimal & temporary

Many people worry about whether there are any side effect resulting from AIT. Berard-type AIT is the gentlest type of AIT available. Because there is no "sitting" on a single frequency, and the ears are given ample time to rest, side effects are rarely seen.

When there are side effects, these are only temporary and typically wear off within a week after the treatment cycle has ended.

The most common side effect is an increase in sensory dysfunction. Many kids who have auditory processing disorders and/or hypersensitivity to sounds have other related issues -- sensory integration dysfunction of one or more types. These SI issues include a need to move (for example, bounce, rock, jump, hand-flap, etc.), a need for deep pressure (hugs, wrestling, hanging out in the bath or shower), and more.

Because the auditory sensory system is being adjusted, all the other sensory systems will also be adjusted. This shows up first as an increase in the sensory needs, and typically starts in the 2nd half of the treatment cycle. It lasts for up to two weeks total (in other words, for about a week after the sessions are finished), then settles down to levels that are lower than they were before AIT.

One week after you finish AIT, it is common to have a difficult day or two. "Difficult" may mean being out of sorts, ornery, irritable, or something else that's not the norm. There may be
a repeat of this a month after AIT is done, and again 3 months after the end of AIT, with this episode lasting as much as a week. Many people do NOT have this irritability, but when it does occur, it is at these intervals, like clockwork.

A True Story: O says hello

"O," a young boy with autism, came to me for AIT because he seemed to be lost in his own world, listening to something only he could hear. Communication is so difficult for him... he has to REALLY want something before he'll use the language he's learned. We did the AIT without having any idea what would come of it. For me, I always wonder, 'Will I get to see the changes? Or will I be gone before they manifest in his language or behaviour?'

I watched O get dropped off at school each morning, and his father would say goodbye to him, then wait for O to say, "Goodbye, Daddy." "Goodbye" generally came quickly enough, although it would be said without looking at his father. "Daddy" was much less likely to come. He'd guess a name at random. Then he'd wait for a prompt. When his father would say, "D...," he'd try a familiar name that began with "D," then another, until he finally guessed "Daddy." The same routine would take place again in the afternoon, when his father came to pick him up and waited for the greeting of, "Hi, Daddy." This was heart-breaking to watch, since I knew the family had worked with him on his greetings for years already!

On our 9th day of AIT, his father came in, and O immediately greeted him with "Hi!" as he looked at his father. When he was prompted, "Hi, who?" he thought a moment, then answered, "Daddy." When he was told to say goodbye to us all, he looked straight at me and said, "Goodbye." Again, a prompt was given: "D..." He quickly said, "Dena." No guesses, no waiting for minutes at a time until he answered, and no talking to the table/wall/door. He answered quickly, easily, and looked straight at me. WOW! Did I imagine that?

No, I didn't. The next day, I got laughter and joy from him all day long -- much different from the sad, disconnected boy I had been seeing the previous days. And when he said goodbye to me, it was with a quick turn to look at me, an easy, "Goodbye, Dena," a big smile, and then he turned and skipped away.

Does my heart good.

AIT can result in a great variety of improvements

Every person's benefits vary from everyone else's. This depends partly on the client's starting point. For example, does he speak or not? Is he distractable or not? Is his eye contact good, moderate, or poor? However, here is a list of things that are commonly seen resulting from AIT. Your child (or you) may experience some or many of these changes, or maybe experience something else that's not on the list.

• improved social behaviour
• increased attention
• reduced sensitivity to sound
• follows instructions better
• improved eye contact
• decreased irritability
• happier
• calms himself more quickly
• improved speech skills
• decreased echolalia
• clearer articulation
• improved sleeping habits
• more willing to interact with others
• improved auditory comprehension
• increased length of utterance
• increased independence
• decreased impulsivity

If there is a specific change that you hope to gain and you don't see it on the list, email me at denapage@gmail.com and I'll tell you if it's something that AIT might achieve.

About Auditory Integration Therapy - a brief history

Auditory Integration Therapy is not a new therapy. Many therapies don't become "mainstream" until they've been around for decades, because it takes that long for the research to prove it works, and for people to begin to hear about it, spread the word, and try it for themselves.

AIT has been around since the 1950's, when Alfred Tomatis developed the original system to treat hearing irregularities common to children with autism. That original therapy (still in use today) used recorded music and the recorded voice of the mother, since Dr. Tomatis felt that the hearing had not developed properly when the infant was in the womb. His patients listen to this music through headphones for two hours per day, for a minimum of three weeks at a time, and they repeat this treatment frequently. Some of the theory behind this original therapy was sound, while other parts were not. So one of Tomatis's students, Guy Berard, took the basic therapy and improved upon it.

Dr. Berard spent 20 years researching and refining his work, and developed a "perfect" protocol. His therapy technique involves listening to music that jumps around through all the frequencies over a range of decibels for one-half hour, twice a day, for ten days. This therapy forces the ear to work harder than it does normally, exercising the inner ear, so that it becomes more efficient at processing sound quickly.

In the late 1970's, Annabel Stehli's daughter, Georgie, recovered from extremely hypersensitive hearing following treatment with Dr. Berard. Annabel then began her life's work to spread the word about Auditory Integration Therapy. Because Georgie had been diagnosed with autism, AIT's introduction was made to the autism world.

It is now recognised that AIT can help a wide range of people with a variety of hearing-related problems. It helps people with autism, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, some people with anxiety disorders (where there is a connection to hypersensitive hearing) and some forms of depression. It also helps people who are struggling with language development -- either learning a 2nd language or the otherwise typically developing "late talker".

Recent developments in auditory integration therapies have brought about home-based versions of AIT. While these seem to be effective to some extent, the results are not as successful as Berard's AIT, nor is there research proving effectiveness yet. More on this in "How AIT works."