A Therapy Option to Organize the Senses: ILs Training

At first glance when you see the iPod and headphones, you'd wonder how listening to music could benefit anyone. But the iLs program goes much deeper than that. Kate O'Brien Minson and Randall Redfield understood that in order to truly benefit, they needed to draw upon experts in the areas of audiology, speech therapy, movement therapy, and occupational therapy.

Kate O'Brien Minson and Randall Redfield state on their website that the iLs mission is to "use their unique system to teach parents, teachers and therapists how to organize sensory integration systems in the most advanced way."

iLs is truly a science.

An ears-eyes-nose specialist named, Dr. Alfred Tomatis helped create fantastic auditory technology that helped those living with learning hurdles. Interestingly, many of these technical devices were created to help musicians and singers with speaking and/or vocal issues. But when Dr. Tomatis began using these same devices on children, he noted a significant difference in terms of memory, attention span, ability to focus as well as posture, coordination and balance.

Dr. Tomatis also realized that by targeting specific areas of the brain using "filtered" music and music with different pitches and tones, it was possible to retrain and improve sensory, motor and learning processing. Most specifically, he realized music helped the functioning of the brain stem and cortex. By using movement in conjunction with the music, he further discovered how to help integrate sensory information much more effectively.

How the iLs System Works:

Basically the sound waves created during iLs training create electrical impulses in the inner ear that are passed along to the brain. It's these impulses that help us to learn to focus on what we need to and to concentrate. People whose brains aren't getting enough of this vital "energy," such as those with SPD or AD/HD, don't have the same ability to pay attention, focus or tune things out the way they're supposed to.

Most people think that our auditory, visual and vestibular systems work individually when, in actuality, the three systems are in constant communication in order to help our bodies with coordination, balance and being able to function effectively in our world. The visual, auditory and vestibular systems work together in order for us to learn, pay attention, process sensory information and to coordinate our movements. The vestibular system communicates constantly with the cochlear system located in the inner ear. It's this communication that helps to integrate our senses as well as assists us with our language development and motor functioning. A disorganized nervous system results in messages getting scrambled and the body not being able to do what we'd like it to do.

What iLs does is help reorganize the disorganized nervous system by helping the brain to create new neural connections so that it can orchestrate the communication among the three vital systems. The brain's ability to change or strengthen in this way is called "neuroplasticity." So, then, the idea behind iLs is that if we exercise these systems all at the same time through the combination of music and movement, it's the best way to "re-train" the brain and help to strengthen those fragmented neural connections.

The music is put together in a specialized way that stimulates the functioning of the eardrum and the tiny bones near it. Using music with different pitches and tones helps to do the following:

Ø Improves the ability to listen where sounds come from, which assists with performing tasks needing the blending of information from both ears;
Ø Increases pitch discrimination to help the recognition of high/low tones. This helps with language development including recognizing tones in speech, question/statement sentences and even how letters are supposed to sound.
Ø Strengthens the ability to tell the difference between different letters that sound similar such as "p" and "t" or "s" and "th". Not being able to distinguish these things can make reading, writing and speaking very difficult.
Ø The cerebellum is in charge of the timing and fluidity of our movements. It also assists us in developing the ability to learn certain movements or actions automatically. It coordinates the signals from the various sensory systems and allows us to practice activities/movements until we "get it". When it isn't functioning effectively, the ability to learn is greatly impacted. Movement with the filtered music helps to increase the integration of all of these systems through auditory retraining.

Who Benefits the Most from iLs Training?

ILs isn't for everyone but it has proven very successful for children with dysfunction in auditory and vestibular integration. (Visit the Research and Testimonials sections on the iLs website for detailed information on results.)

Here are some specific areas iLs helps with:

(a) Attention: When the vestibular system is functioning the way its supposed to the nervous system maintains an appropriate level of arousal and is able to pick up or come down as needed. For the system that is out of sync, the iLs bone conduction headphones helps to stimulates the vestibular system in specific ways. A lot of the problem with dysfunction in the vestibular system is that the muscles and joints aren't getting enough stimulation so they seem ragdoll-like. This includes muscles in the entire body, including those in the inner ears. iLs helps to strengthen these muscles to help the brain learn how to filter out unwanted/unneeded sounds, increase focus and attention as well as stimulates what the under-stimulated brain craves.
(b) Auditory processing: ILs teaches the auditory and vestibular systems to work together to help the brain process sounds, control balance and movement as well as helping to integrate the other sensory systems (touch, sight, and hearing).
(c) Reading: Something fascinating not a lot of us realize is that the ears and eyes work together to help us read. The vestibular system coordinates the muscles in our eyes to help them move across the page while the cochlear system makes the sounds of the letters as you're reading (Don't you sometimes "hear" the words when reading to yourself?). iLs gets those systems in sync so what we see on the page makes sense.
(d) Learning: The cochlear system helps us with selectivity. If the system isn't working properly a person's ability to concentrate and tell the difference among different letter sounds will make it difficult not only to pay attention but also to understand instructions or lessons and even to read and write. iLs targets the muscles and tiny bones in this system to increase that vital selectivity role.
(e) Attention span: Until in proper therapy, children with SPD don't get the right sort of stimulation in order to function appropriately. According to the iLs website, "Sound is, literally speaking, nutrition for the brain." With this program, the areas of the brain in charge of channeling the sensory input to the cerebral cortex increases the levels of focus, alertness and level of energy.

According to the iLs website, using sound stimulation reaches more parts of the brain than any other sort of sensory input (see "Who Can Benefit" section for more details.) Most importantly, iLs training can help increase self-esteem, especially in the case of children with SPD who often have a tendency to develop the "I can't." frame of mind because their bodies fail them whenever they attempt a simple task. iLs training shows them that with a bit of work...they can. After time, the different sensory systems learn to hold hands and work together as the child's body works with greater coordination.

My Jaimie started iLs training a few weeks ago and although we know it will still take some time, she's already feeling confidence she never had before. The other day she actually caught a ball. Her eyes widened as she said, "Look, Mama! My hands listened to my brain!"

I recommend iLs to any parent with children who have auditory and vestibular dysfunction (I found out that if one of these areas is effected the other one often is too). And I'm grateful to be learning about this phenomenal technology.

If your child is already in OT, ask your therapist whether they use it or if he or she can recommend someone who does. It can be blended in with regular OT or other therapies in order to be covered through insurance.

________________

Sources:

Integrated Listening Website: www.integratedlistening.com