Would you recommend IM if my son scored in the above average or superior range on his IM pretest?
Though it is true that the child's general timing is above average it's important to note that IM impacts more than timing. Quality of movement, connectivity in different brain regions, distractibility, and stamina are a few of the other significant factors to consider.
Quality of movement:
1.When a student has practiced a movement enough times, the movement becomes 'automatic'. It then looks very smooth, predictable, accurate. The movement is more automatic. This automatic movement is more SUBCONSCIOUS rather than CONSCIOUS. When a child can talk with me and maintain his score, then the task is automatized. I also may have them toss a ball, do math problems, or name words in a category, expecting them to maintain their score (usually under 20 ms.) If the child's score changes significantly while loading the task, that task may not yet be automatized. Learn more here about quality of movement and mental processing -Conscious versus subconscious processing
2. Retained infant reflexes also show up in the movement patterns of children during IM. These retained reflexes can cause significant learning challenges.
3. In my experience, students with Aspergers often have reasonably good timing, but they don't move typically. They are extremely bright on occasion, maybe because their timing is so good. But... The fluidity of movement isn't there. IM significantly helps this population with typical Aspie issues, as well as improves fluidity of movement.
Connectivity: Connectivity - how different parts of the brain talk to one another. Connectivity between brain regions, and even some regions being too weak to carry their own weight, hemispheric imbalance, seemed to be an issue for my son Brad. Brad had studied piano, vocal and trombone, plus had taken 4 years of marching band. His timing was in the average range, yet IM changed his life powerfully. I will be forever grateful to Kayzee at Kansas Therapeutic Pathways for giving Brad his first IM training. She knew his timing was average, not at all deficient, and had expressed that Brad trained so much easier and faster than many of the clients she was seeing with more timing challenges, but she did IM with Brad anyway. IM was the key for Brad - it changed his life.
Distractibility: A child might have good timing, but not be able to tune out internal or external stimuli. These children have difficulty processing sensory information as easily as others. They may have a noisy brain or may not be able to tune out others talking, movement, even smells can be problematic for some. If a child can't begin to focus, refocus when distracted, or maintain focus through distractions, they will struggle even if they are bright enough to do the work.
Stamina: Some children can focus a minute or two, but overtime they mentally crash and burn much easier. The focus length is too short for the demands of their life. All IM formats stretch the length of focus out to longer and longer amounts of time. IM builds mental stamina.
I have the opportunity to train EVERY age group and EVERY timing range. They all gain! I often share how the elite range in timing, under 20 ms, is extremely powerful, a different level of mental processing. Another potential benefit, if there are other issues, maybe this elite range helps the child compensate for these other underlying issues.
1. IM is a non invasive intervention. Non-medicinal and for the most part fun.
2. IM Focused is affordable, an inexpensive beginning.
3. IM is Fast! In less than two months the typical student will gain one to two grade levels in reading and math.
