The Power of Sound:
A Therapy Worth Listening To?
By Kristie Lockwood

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No Two Programs Are Exactly the Same
The various sound intervention programs have vast differences in the theory behind them and in how they are implemented, but many have similar goals for their end result. Some children and adults who have been helped by these various forms of therapy include those who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities, sensory integration disorders, executive functioning disorders, auditory processing disorders, pervasive developmental disorder, autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, attention deficit disorders and social skills difficulties.

Though several listening or sound therapy programs are available through trained providers or on the internet, described below are only seven of the most widely used interventions. For further information on these and other sound-based programs, see the sidebar. (See page 17.)

Fast ForWord
Developed and marketed by Scientific Learning Corporation, the Fast ForWord programs consist of nine language and reading programs. Fast ForWord Language, the company’s first and most widely known program, aims to improve a child’s auditory processing skills through a series of seven exercises. The interactive games aim to strengthen a child’s cognitive skills, which the company refers to as “learning MAPS”:  memory, attention, processing and sequencing. By developing these cognitive areas, company literature states, struggling readers form a solid foundation by sharpening listening accuracy, phonological awareness and language structures.

The program, which requires high-quality headphones and a computer, is most appropriate for children ages 4 to 14 though it can be used with significantly older children who need a stronger auditory processing foundation, Hetzel says. The program can be administered at home, at school or in a clinic setting. Children spend between 50 and 100 minutes five days per week on the program for a period of four to 12 weeks, according to Scientific Learning. The intensity of the protocol, according to Scientific Learning, is the key to positive and long-lasting effects on brain development.

Though intense, Fast ForWord practitioners point to the flexibility and ease of use as some of the program’s best features. The program alerts administrators if a child is having trouble with any area. The software then will give the provider a list of several different activities to implement to help move a child forward, Hetzel says.

Other professionals say that they have a comfort level with the program because it has substantial research backing up its efficacy. Fees for the program range between $1,500 to $4,000, depending on whether the program is administered at home or in a clinic.  In some cases, Fast ForWord is offered by the school district at no direct cost to the family.

Tomatis
French ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Alfred Tomatis connected listening to the development of receptive and expressive language, motor control, learning and motivation. Tomatis, through his work with opera singers and factory workers, recognized that the voice could only produce what the ear can hear, a principle known as “the Tomatis effect.” 

Building on this principle, Tomatis said that this improper functioning of the ear is the underlying reason for difficulty with learning, auditory processing, sensory integration, language comprehension or production and other related areas. In an effort to “reprogram” the ear, Tomatis developed an Electronic Ear which has several specific functions, including exercising and strengthening the muscles of the middle ear so it can filter out sounds and lower frequencies so that only the higher more stimulating frequencies are heard. 

Cordero of ITT’s For Children requires an occupational therapy and an audiological evaluation before enrolling a child in Tomatis. Once enrolled, the in-clinic program is carried out in a series of three “loops”. The first loop is two hours of listening per day for 15 consecutive days followed by a four- to six-week break. The second and third loops consist of eight consecutive days of listening for two hours per day with a break of four to six weeks between the two loops. The total cost for the program, according to Cordero, is $6,200 or $100 per hour of listening time.

AIT
Dr. Guy Berard, a French physician who had studied and worked with Tomatis, believed that hypersensitive hearing causes auditory processing problems. Berard developed AIT, which works on retraining the acoustic reflex muscle in the middle ear allowing sound to be processed more efficiently, according to K & L Solutions, a College Park-based company that provides the therapy.

As with Tomatis, AIT also uses an electronic filtering device called an “Earducator.” The Earducator “randomizes and filters the frequencies from the music source and sends these modified sounds into the client’s ears through a set of specialized headphones,” according to K & L Solutions. “The randomized frequencies mobilize and exercise the inner ear and the brain.”

The most notable story of AIT success is chronicled in “Sound of a Miracle,” a book written by Anabel Stehli about her 12-year-old daughter’s experience with the therapy. Stehli’s daughter, Georgiana was diagnosed with autism but lost her autistic systems, most notably her sound sensitivity, after undergoing the 10-day AIT program in Europe. Now 40, Georgiana travels across the world speaking about her experience. She is president of the Georgiana Institute, an organization which promotes AIT (www.georgianainstitute.org).

AIT is administered in 20 sessions of 30 minutes each. AIT participants listen twice per day with a break of at least three hours between sessions. K & L Solutions assesses each participant after 10 sessions, and if warranted, the company makes changes to the program at that point. At the conclusion of the program, K & L Solutions administers a final assessment. The cost for the therapy, according to K & L Solutions, is $650 for the basic listening session.

SAMONAS
SAMONAS is a CD-based program developed by Ingo Steinbach, a German sound engineer. The program, which can be self-guided or administered by a professional with SAMONAS training, consists of more than 40 specialized recordings. Most of the selections are classical music and some include nature sounds. The SAMONAS program offers CDs that vary in intensity.

An envelope-shaped modulator, a special device which Steinbach developed, enhances the upper frequency range of the music.  The CDs have brief passages of intense filtering during which the listener almost exclusively hears these upper frequency sounds. “Listening to these ‘high extension’ passages trains the ear to pay attention to the upper ranges in the sound spectrum,” writes Sheila Frick, an occupational therapist who worked with Steinbach as a SAMONAS trainer, on the NeuroTherapeutics Web site (www.music.nt4kids.com). “Again, the higher tones are the parts of the sound spectrum that captivate attention and hold interest.”

Cordero administers SAMONAS in her practice. Her protocol requires an occupational therapy evaluation and a parent training session before the program begins. Cordero requires the first day of listening to be completed under the occupational therapist’s supervision. Following the first session, participants will listen at home while staying in close contact with the prescribing therapist so that adjustments can be made to the program if necessary. The SAMONAS participant listens twice a day, every day for as long as the program is needed, Cordero says. The music being used in each program will be re-evaluated after three months and then again after six months of listening. Cordero charges $120 for the parent training, and necessary equipment costs the parent $300 to $500, Cordero says.

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