Movement quality gives important insight into mental processing!

Awesome new study that links MOVEMENT quality in mental processing issues, especially the ASD spectrum behavior! When I ask your child to 'make circles' I've always known how they make these circles  is important. Here's an article to help you the parent know that too! Micromovements hold hidden information about severity of autism,

Attentional Control to Self Awareness, to Self Compassion, to Other Compassion

I wrote a note to a mom this morning about her 10 yr old son who ended up in tears during a task today. Great family with wonderful children. Yet, he ended up in tears, overwhelmed by his own thoughts (ANTs - automatic negative thoughts). He quietly kept clapping and trying to hide his emotion, hoping no one would notice the tears, but internally he was beating himself up, feeling HORRIBLE. Here's the post I wrote to this mom. I thought it was worth sharing with others.

Working memory gains improve divergent thinking/fluid intelligence.

 These results indicate that a short regimen of WM training is associated with lower prefrontal activation—a marker of neural efficiency—in divergent thinking. 

Sensory Diets

I find sensory activities very helpful during IM sessions and recommend parents visit with their OT about sensory diets. BUT not all my kiddos have OT's, so I've gathered some good sensory diet links here for you to look over.

Sensory basics: http://sensorysmarts.com/sensory_diet_activities.htmlhttp://www.sensorysmartparent.com/toysequipment.htm

Some sensory wise toys: http://www.sensorysmartparent.com/toysequipment.html

Pinterest sensory ideas: http://pinterest.com/ytherapysource/sensory-diet-activities/ I really liked this site... be creative.

Top 10 Questions About iLs
1. How much does iLs cost?
Therapists interested in purchasing iLs equipment must first complete iLs training.

Summer Schedule for 2013

Time to talk about IM this summer

IM in the summer is very intense, like mini IM camps. Students come 75 minutes each day, every weekday for a month.

The Brains Switchboard Operator

A mysterious region deep in the human brain could be where we sort through the onslaught of stimuli from the outside world and focus on the information most important to our behavior and survival, Princeton University researchers have found. Read more here. 

Hand over Hand with Infants- Synchronization Training

Emma - a baby born without connections between her brain hemisphere gains through IM. She is an amazing story. Hear it here.
Back ground on Emma:



DIagnosis, and pre IM expectations for future outlook

Emma's improvements Sensory/Language/Physical daily gains:

Brad and I share his story at the National IM conference... what an honor! 

What student say they like and don't like about IM

Listen to what the students say about IM training. I have permission from their parents to display these clips.

ANTs as you become independent in Sync training

ANTs
Automatic Negative Thoughts - These nasty guys can rise up just about any time during IM.  Most people, children and adults alike, will experience either a short day of ANTs, or up to a week or two, but they are transient in nature. In time, you can learn to control them. I believe there is GREAT power in IM in this ANT realm.

Comparing IM Home and iLs

I have added two new programs to my offerings lately, IM Home and iLs. This post will help parents make an educated decision before they move forward with either one. Here is my list of comparing the two. IM Home is the home version of Interactive Metronome.  iLs is Integrated Listening Systems. 

Is IM Home right for me?

Is IM Home right for me? 

 IM Home is NOT right for every family, but if it's right for your family, it is an awesome tool!

1. TIME: You have to have 3 - 5 days a week that you can make 45 - 90 minutes of time totally committed to IM. Yes, your child is doing the work, but they NEED YOU there, even if you are not involved much.  Your engagement is powerful. Your praise and simply wanting to walk that journey with them is essential!!! 




2. PATIENCE:   I expect the students to get frustrated at some point during IM training. I expect parents to play the role of the therapist, coach or adult and remain calm.  I make the parents set the goal to be calm and collected at least 95 – 98%  of the time, positive, even if the child is not. Once every 10 days you can have one minutes of “You need to get yourself under control’ type louder than typical talk (not anger, but direct, powerful statements of expectation only) …even if 3 out of 10 days the child needs to 'get themselves under control'  in your eyes. She/he is not making good choices/is emotional. Can you allow your child to be off the wall without it firing emotions in you?  I  know this is where IM Home fails. The adult in charge HAS to be able to disconnect their emotions from their child's. Please be honest with yourself about this, if you can't do this, don't invest the money in IM Home but send them in house to me! 


3. PERSEVERANCE: You have to have researched IM enough that you believe in the program. During training, the first changes you might see may be just the opposite of what you expect. If you don't believe in the program, you may at that point become discouraged and even discontinue.... missing out on all the possibilities that could lie ahead if you persevered.  You need to educate yourself enough to emphatically want what IM has to offer. IM is an intense program that changes lives, but this same intensity is what also makes IM more difficult than some other programs !! I love IM! You will too, if you persevere. 

If you have a baby, like babies or have ever been a baby this is a must see show!! 

Awesome interview !

Dr. Joel Nigg talks about ADHD in his March 14, 2012 lecture at UC Davis MIND Institute. He explains poor parenting and poor teaching indeed can make the ADHD issues worse, but that often times the 'poor' parenting and/or teaching is actually driven by the ADHD behavior, with out the behavior, these parents and teachers look much more positive. He says, though parenting and teaching indeed can have a positive impact on ADHD,  these are NOT the cause of the ADHD.  He goes on to say, " We are looking at dietary factors, toxic factors, biological insults that I am becoming convinced play a role in ADHD by altering neuro - development in subtle ways in vulnerable children."  He uses the example of lead, that we've very much lowered our exposure to lead in the US through regulation, but we still find lead in every individuals blood. Children with ADHD indeed do seem to have more lead and even very low levels of lead have a cognitive effect that looks like hyperactivity. Could their genetic make up have a role in having a higher level of lead in their blood? This is just one environment toxin that they are looking deeper into being an important factor for the cause of ADHD in the vulnerable child.  Watch his whole presentation here. http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/videos/video_dls.html#dls12

Stimulation and stress in your home life - how do these impact brain development? Great 10 minute video everyone should watch.

ATNR Information

IM impacts the timing in the brain and is an essential part of mental processing, good for everyone. But I believe there are some other exercises that could compliment IM training.Retained infant reflexes impact the brains ability to process information efficiently. This is the ATNR in an infant. Your older child should not be influenced by this reflex any longer. Many children I see have this reflex active when it should not be.

Emma' Story - IM with toddlers

IM with very young children. Given the right circumstance, IM is very much an option for the very young. Here's one story.

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive Flexibility is the ability to shift gears, a foundation human process that plays a role in an individual's ability to succeed. IM dramatically improves cognitive flexibility at all levels of functioning. Here are three video clips about this mental process.

A dad shares about how improved cognitive flexibility seen during IM training positively impacted his son's behavior.
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A teen in an elite private school. This video begins with some higher level IM tasks and then you'll hear the student and parent talk about the behavioral ramifications of improved cognitive flexibility.

Research is now being done on elite managers and what's happening in their brains that allows for top end cognitive flexibility that makes them the world's innovators.