Book: Delivered from Distraction

Dr. Edward Hallowell's 2006 book, Delivered from Distraction, has some great quotes about cerebellar stimulation - Interactive Metronome, the Dore Method and Brain Gym being the three types of cerebellar simulation he mentions.

These quotes are from Chap 29: Cerebellar Stimulation

"Cerebellar stimulation is a treatment that might help you or your child profoundly, perhaps getting to the root of the problem instead of treating the symptoms". p239

He also shares his own personal story about his son Jack. Jack hated to read! In 2003, after he and his wife had taken the steps that should have solved Jack's problems, they found themselves asking what else could they do. Remember, Dr. Hallowell is an EXPERT - I read his book in the 90's when my son was struggling. He knows the best practices for children who struggle, writes books about them! His quote, that I totally can relate to, "A parent just wants to find help for her child. The more I listened to parents, the more I was roaming outside the usual boundaries of child psychiatry in my search for help for Jack." p230

In time Dr. Hallowell tried cerebellar stimulation for Jack, the Dore Method mentioned above. His son Jack went from hating to read to loving to read, a very common gain I see with IM. "I was elated that we had found a treatment that worked." p232 Another quote, "The cerebellar exercises were able to help in a way that no other intervention had." p.233

The progression of his thoughts: "The whole idea of gaining access to emotion and cognition through physical movement seemed strange to me at first, but the more I learned about it, the more sense it made." p233 He quoted Scientific American stating "The cerebellum may play an important role in short-term memory, attention, impulse control, emotion, higher cognition, the ability to schedule and plan tasks and possibly even in conditions such as schizophrenia and autism." Look at my data speaks graphs - through my experience,those are exactly the tasks that parents notice gains in after IM training!

He ended the chapter, "Whenever I see my son Jack happily reading a book, I feel glad I gave this treatment I had never heard of a chance." p 239

The future of cerebellar interventions: "I felt frustrated knowing how long it will take to produce the studies we need. I had read enough and learned enough and seen enough to recommend that people give it a try." p235 All the research will take years, but I think, and Dr. Hallowell thinks we are on to something good!

Thank you Dr. Edward Hallowell for sharing your own story of success and looking outside the box!

FAQ: What do the IM Millisecond (ms) Scores Mean?

IM tasks are measured in average milliseconds away from the beat. A student is asked to move their body to a slow rhythmic beat, usually 54 beats per minute. The computer measures exactly when the student actually makes the move compared to when their ears actually heard the target sound. The difference is measured in milliseconds - 1000 ms per second - and displayed on the computer. Averaging all the hits together will give a ms average for that task. Generally I have discovered that with different averages, students display different emotions and thoughts. Here's a picture of what I see in terms of IM performance:

100 ms or larger - Students often loose the beat and can not figure out how to get back into the rhythm. They often require what's called hand over hand help. The IM provider will help them find the beat.

60 ms - 100 ms - Student begins to be able to do task independently, but when they lose the beat they may require help to refind it. 60 ms can be quite frustrating for some. 60 ms is right in the middle of the average range for adults who are not IM trained so it is very common..... but when you are actually scoring a 60 ms, you feel 'off'. The computer gives you such direct, quality feedback, that you can definitely see 60 ms is not 'on the beat.' But... because gains are often made fairly quickly from when the individual becomes independent to 30 ms, students often feel a great sense of accomplishment during this part of training.

30 ms - Student are now just beginning to feel some confidence that they can do it. Plateaus frequently happen here. The younger child, under 9 years or so, may end here, though some young students are able to make it into the 20's or even teens.

20 ms - Here is when a student begins to have internal confidence. They trust in their ability to be successful and this often generalizes into the world outside of IM. IM become self rewarding, external motivators are no longer needed. My goal is to get as many tasks as possible under the 20 ms mark. When a student reaches 20 ms, they often experience a huge amount of functional gains.

15 ms - Students that score here enter an almost meditative state, extreme focus in a relaxed, yet highly motivated mental state. You simply can not reach this level with out three key factors - focus, motivation, and relaxation. You are 'in the zone' so to speak. There is a major difference between 15ms and 25ms though it's only 1/100th of a second difference. Those who have gone from 25ms down to 15ms definitely express that the peaceful, relaxed, focused state of 15ms is worth the effort! 15 ms is FUN!

FAQ: What are 'squirrellies' during IM Training

My child can't seem to focus on days that he's done IM, is that typical?

A certain percentage of children respond to IM training in a way that's seems just the opposite of what you are hoping to see, at first at least. Some children cry easily, or bounce off the wall, or nap all afternoon. They can not focus for the life of them, and you are doing IM to IMPROVE focus!

OCD and the Lateral Orbital Frontal Cortex

I just ran across an article that links OCD to a specific brain region. I continuously read information such as this in hopes of some day connecting the dots enough to understand specific IM tasks that could target specific issues. This looks like a good forum to gather the information. Here's the article: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40105

Data Speaks from Spring 2008

I have just moved another spread sheet into published format. These 11 students were trained in a school settings in groups of 3 or 4 grade matched students. For academic gains, students trained during the school year are a better resource of information. During the summer I receive more sports related gains (See last weeks post: Data Speaks. Gains in reading, math, and visual processing testing are similar though. Check out what parents and students said this spring.

School 2 Data - Spring 2008