"My Dr. wanted me to ask if you had any students, “clients”, that are willing to talk to me about their child’s success with IM." (Parent of 8 yr old boy)
I passed this email on to a few post IM parents and asked if they cared to respond."
Response 1:
"I have a now 13 year old boy that received IM last year. He has ADHD and is very impulsive and does have a mild form of the tic disorder Tourettes. IM did help him quite a bit. He is overall calmer and more focused. We still use meds but he can carry through several command instructions now that before he would only be able to do one or maybe two. He is better able to "stop" himself and redirect when asked. He still struggles but I truly have seen improvement with him. He also seems A LOT less frustrated. He is a happier child. I think IM helped him see the world in a different light. I am a foster parent and feel this therapy would be VERY beneficial to foster kids as well. It helps their brain "process" easier from what I see from my son anyway. Feel free to give me a call if you'd like. I am hard to catch but my number is XXX_XXXX (Name)
I have an 8 year old daughter that took it last year as well. My mom has said she is more verbal and communicates better. I have noticed she is more willing to read books outloud than before but that is all I have seen on her. I feel this tool is very helpful to kids that have special needs and somewhat helpful to kids that do not struggle as much. I do want to put my daughter through another round since I saw such improvements with my son. My daughter is somewhat uncoordinated and I think this could help her. Lori also directed me to a possible vision processing problem with my daughter. We had that checked out by an eye dr who said she does have some vision difficulties despite 20/20 vision but the next screening is pretty pricey so I have not finished the screening."
Response 2:
"I am the parent of a 17 year old Asperger/OCD/ADHD son. He has difficulty with organization, initiating homework and chores, finishing tasks, and social skills. We were at our wits end with him. We really didn't know what to do. Life was just not clicking for our son.
Then a friend of J-----'s at school recommended IM. We have gone thru 2 rounds of IM with Lori Schmidt. For us, the results have been pretty amazing. He is now initiating most of his homework. I will often walk into his bedroom and find him doing homework!!!!!! Before, we couldn't even find it! I would clean his room and find it stuffed in drawers, the trashcan, etc. He now does his chores without a fight, most of the time. He even volunteers to help his sisters (i.e. last night it was dark and my daughter L---- did not want to take the trashcan to the curb-she is kind of afraid of the dark). J----- did it for her. I didn't ask him to. He is doing kind things for others. The center of the universe is not J----- anymore - at least not as much as it used to be!
His social skills are still a challenge, but they are much more developed than they were even a year ago. He actually had his first girl friend this past year. And he had his first job this past summer. I was beginning to worry that he would even be able to hold a job when he graduated from high school. We have a long way to go, but we are very hopeful for the future."
Response 3:
"Dear Parent of the 8 year old boy,
I would like to tell you about my experience with IM. My daughter participated in it when she was 11 ½ years old. She attended 5 times a week for 3 weeks. We did this so that we could get it done as quickly as possible during the summer. I made an agreement with my daughter that if she did it without complaining then I would not make her work with a math or reading tutor over the summer. After about 4 lessons she told me it was easier to do dance spins on her left foot. (She is a competitive dancer.) I didn’t put too much stock into it at first. Then after she’d had about 10 sessions my dad saw her for the first time in 4 months. He said she didn’t have that “blank” look anymore when he talked to her. I noticed she started talking about things that were more detailed and more important (like telling me she was glad people were starting to care about the environment.) When we’d finished the program I waited a few days and asked her what she thought and she said this, “Well Mom, what I can tell you is this….I think now before I talk.”
Enough said….it was worth every penny! And, as if that wasn’t great enough, she improved on her MAP testing significantly over the summer without any tutoring. Family friends have noted she is more mature. She has better fine motor skills….loves to shuffle cards and was very frustrated by it before. Now she shuffles better than many adults. When she is playing a card game that requires her to keep track of lots of things at once and is based on speed, she can compete now with everyone playing and has even beaten me on more than one occasion. Before IM she needed an adult’s help to get her through it.
I know some of these examples may seem irrelevant. I’m a special educator realize that too often we judge success only on the academic scores. The truth is, IM has helped my daughter become ready to learn and in doing so she’s improving in all areas of her life. The improvements were seen in areas I didn’t even realize were issues until they suddenly were easier and my daughter’s self esteem was booming.
I urge you to give your child an opportunity to benefit from IM. Everyone’s results are unique and it may be that your doctor is basing “improvement” on a very narrow definition.
Best Wishes,
Parent of an 11 ½ year old girl."
Response 4: A mom of a teen ager asked for some referrals and this is one she was sent. This mom carbon copied me in.
Hello, M------!
My thoughts as to why Dr's might miss gains:
I like what the third parent said, 'the doctor might be basing improvement on narrow definitions, one of them being getting off meds. Many students do lessen their need for or even get off medications, but some don't.
Doctors also don't see the children enough to notice the changes. You are in their office a whole 10 minutes, maybe. Other parents or teachers would be better choices for references I believe. Many doctors are use to prescribing medications to impact focus. Even the thought of a movement based computer program impacting cognitive functioning is thinking outside the box for a good many of them. I think gradually doctors will be educated about the success of movement based, timing based interventions, but I expect it will take a long time to get there.
I find that even some parents look at just one or two annoying behaviors, and miss some of the more subtle but significant gains, especially if they are busy parents or themselves have lower than average timing. Many dad's are unable to label the specific changes though dad's will often say the child is 'maturing' post IM. I hear this statement very frequently from parents - "I don't know if it's IM or they are just maturing." Constantly! Because you expect a child to mature, sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. But quick maturation is a huge part of what IM does. IM methodically matures the neurological system. As a child ages, their internal timing improves. The whole concept behind IM is the improvement of the child's internal timing, moving their internal timing up a few years, in other words "maturing it". Noticeable 'maturation' is an IM gain.
I heard from Lori Schmidt that you're considering Interactive Metronome for a teenager. I'm happy to share my/our experience and to answer any questions you might have.
My daughter, M---- (!), did IM with Lori last summer. M---- was 16 and an honor student. She is also frightfully disorganized--seriously messy--and it had reached a point where I thought it could/would really impede her future. --In jobs, in relationships, etc. When I told M---- about the program, I thought she'd balk, but she was intrigued.
The program makes a lot of sense to me and as Lori will point out, you can't accurately predict exactly what kind of impact it will have on your child. One thing I was concerned about was whether or not it would change her so much that she'd have a different personality altogether. That did NOT happen, thankfully.
M---- loved the therapy. She was very excited to see her own improvements and Lori's encouragement was amazing. M---- was always looking for ways her improvement in therapy carried over into life in general.
Truthfully, I didn't see the organizational improvements I'd hoped for, but I would have to say there has been at least some improvement in that area. She used her "cubbies" at camp for the first time ever. She's started using her planner at school for the first time ever. Even though her room still gets pretty messy, she doesn't battle me quite as much about picking up and she seems to complete the job faster than she used to. She's started taking care of herself a little better...
I think the most notable improvement for M---- has been in mental processing. This has evidenced itself in a number of ways. On the lighter side, she was the "drill down" queen at her summer dance camp where she basically won every competition for learning drills the fastest. She mentioned playing some card game that involved quick thinking. She was playing better than ever and winning when she never had before. Those things are fairly trivial and NOT why I sought out IM! But she's a junior this year and took the PSAT. This is the year it matters the most (for National Merit standings). Although she'd done respectfully well last year, it was not even close to range for qualifying as a scholar this year. But she had a HUGE jump in her scores this year (189 last year, 213 this year). As a minimum she'll be a commended scholar and her guidance counselor thinks she has a good shot at becoming a scholar. This is something I never would have expected and I have to think IM played a part in helping her get through the testing with more focus and quicker processing than last year. And just by the way, M---- just doesn't fit any scholarly stereotypes. She still has her very random, unconventional, bubbly personality.
I have another daughter who is 3 years older than M----. More our "classic" scholar. She would love to try IM just to see how it might help her. I don't know if that will ever happen. She doesn't struggle so much with organization and grades were never an issue for either of them.
M---- is still messy. She still procrastinates a lot. IM didn't erase my concerns. But I do think it helped and was very worthwhile, and M---- absolutely loved Lori who (by the way) really makes IM work for her people.
Feel free to email me with questions. I'm inMaryland
R----
My daughter, M---- (!), did IM with Lori last summer. M---- was 16 and an honor student. She is also frightfully disorganized--seriously messy--and it had reached a point where I thought it could/would really impede her future. --In jobs, in relationships, etc. When I told M---- about the program, I thought she'd balk, but she was intrigued.
The program makes a lot of sense to me and as Lori will point out, you can't accurately predict exactly what kind of impact it will have on your child. One thing I was concerned about was whether or not it would change her so much that she'd have a different personality altogether. That did NOT happen, thankfully.
M---- loved the therapy. She was very excited to see her own improvements and Lori's encouragement was amazing. M---- was always looking for ways her improvement in therapy carried over into life in general.
Truthfully, I didn't see the organizational improvements I'd hoped for, but I would have to say there has been at least some improvement in that area. She used her "cubbies" at camp for the first time ever. She's started using her planner at school for the first time ever. Even though her room still gets pretty messy, she doesn't battle me quite as much about picking up and she seems to complete the job faster than she used to. She's started taking care of herself a little better...
I think the most notable improvement for M---- has been in mental processing. This has evidenced itself in a number of ways. On the lighter side, she was the "drill down" queen at her summer dance camp where she basically won every competition for learning drills the fastest. She mentioned playing some card game that involved quick thinking. She was playing better than ever and winning when she never had before. Those things are fairly trivial and NOT why I sought out IM! But she's a junior this year and took the PSAT. This is the year it matters the most (for National Merit standings). Although she'd done respectfully well last year, it was not even close to range for qualifying as a scholar this year. But she had a HUGE jump in her scores this year (189 last year, 213 this year). As a minimum she'll be a commended scholar and her guidance counselor thinks she has a good shot at becoming a scholar. This is something I never would have expected and I have to think IM played a part in helping her get through the testing with more focus and quicker processing than last year. And just by the way, M---- just doesn't fit any scholarly stereotypes. She still has her very random, unconventional, bubbly personality.
I have another daughter who is 3 years older than M----. More our "classic" scholar. She would love to try IM just to see how it might help her. I don't know if that will ever happen. She doesn't struggle so much with organization and grades were never an issue for either of them.
M---- is still messy. She still procrastinates a lot. IM didn't erase my concerns. But I do think it helped and was very worthwhile, and M---- absolutely loved Lori who (by the way) really makes IM work for her people.
Feel free to email me with questions. I'm in
R----
My thoughts as to why Dr's might miss gains:
I like what the third parent said, 'the doctor might be basing improvement on narrow definitions, one of them being getting off meds. Many students do lessen their need for or even get off medications, but some don't.
Doctors also don't see the children enough to notice the changes. You are in their office a whole 10 minutes, maybe. Other parents or teachers would be better choices for references I believe. Many doctors are use to prescribing medications to impact focus. Even the thought of a movement based computer program impacting cognitive functioning is thinking outside the box for a good many of them. I think gradually doctors will be educated about the success of movement based, timing based interventions, but I expect it will take a long time to get there.
I find that even some parents look at just one or two annoying behaviors, and miss some of the more subtle but significant gains, especially if they are busy parents or themselves have lower than average timing. Many dad's are unable to label the specific changes though dad's will often say the child is 'maturing' post IM. I hear this statement very frequently from parents - "I don't know if it's IM or they are just maturing." Constantly! Because you expect a child to mature, sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. But quick maturation is a huge part of what IM does. IM methodically matures the neurological system. As a child ages, their internal timing improves. The whole concept behind IM is the improvement of the child's internal timing, moving their internal timing up a few years, in other words "maturing it". Noticeable 'maturation' is an IM gain.
