What do you do at the assessment?
Assessment for the older child is usually done in the group, for the child under 10, individually.
Parents observe as students are asked to preform 13 very basic movement tasks to a beat. Each movement uses a different part of the brain. The students are hooked up to triggers and headsets that measure exactly when they hear the beat and exactly when they make the movements. The difference between these two mental processes is measured. Feedback is given in milliseconds and measures how close the movement was to when the student heard the tone. The goal is to be as close as possible.
I ask parents to not just attend to the computer based score, but to the movement patterns used as well. You want movements to look smooth and effortless and to be as I've instructed. Circles that are made backwards, or are non fluent in nature tell me about the brain. Differences in the right side and the left side tells me something else. For the final task, I add distracting sounds and see how well the student can follow the beat with other sounds distracting him. The computer will give a standardized score telling me what range your child’s basic timing is. This score helps me choose the format I use and the tasks I give. I talk a little bit about the strengths and weakness that I see and answer questions at the end of the assessment.
What is done at each session. That is very individualized so therefore it varies widely. All formats do include the basic goals of improving timing (mental processing efficiency), improving movement patterns (building and maturing a variety of neuronal pathways), improving mental stamina (attention and focus), and encouraging metacognition (the ability to self analyze, to discover how one learns best) I gear specific tasks to specific students and their needs.
Finally, here's a link to a video of a group mode with one boy that's neurotyipcal and one boy with challenges. The neurotypical (NT) boy ( came into IM with an above average score and doing well in school already.) is on the right when you see both boys together. The second boy came in with more major attention issues, some academic interventions needed and a below average score. After you see several hundred individuals, it does not take long to identify where their timing is based simply on their movements. The boy with more academic challenges has overflow movement of his right hand when he's doing his left hand task, misses the sequence (is one hit too late) in the visually loaded task, and does not balance well, holds his foot low to decrease the challenge and still loses his balance. The difference is obvious when you know what to look for, and makes a huge difference in how well the child performs at school. It does not mean the child is not very bright. It smply means it's harder for him to show the world how bright he is. With poor timing, life is harder.
