I feel like one of those moms who brags that her baby turned over for the first time.

Just wanted to say thanks for yesterday. I am so encouraged by K----- and his behaviors lately. I don't think it has ever been this good for our family and I know it's because of YOU. Last night continued to be good. I threw my back out so B----- (adult daughter) came over and made dinner. K----- was in the kitchen wanting to read the labels. B---- is usually grouchy to him but because he was so nice she was in a good mood and she showed him how to read them. It was really fun watching them.
This morning he was playing outside and D---- (K's sister one year older) came in and said she couldn't find K----. I figured he went in the neighbors shed to help that man so I told her where to look and have K----- come home. K------- came home and I told him it was not okay to go anywhere without telling me. I am telling you Lori, normally K------ would not have been able to handle it and go right into melt down mode. This time he said, "okay mom I will next time. Sorry, can I go back over?" That never happens!! I feel like one of those moms who brags that her baby turned over for the first time. This would seem ridicules to most but its huge for us. Gains! Again, so cool and thanks so much. I really appreciate you so much, thanks for all your work because ITS WORKING!!

IM helps PDD patient focus.

This new case study about a child with PDD is posted on the national IM website.  For complete case study, click here. “Aiden” is an 11 year old boy diagnosed with Pervasive  Developmental Disorder (PDD), high functioning. He is friendly, bright and talkative but has difficulty staying focused and following instructions. While talking he will sometimes insert random comments irrelevant to the topic.

10 yr old girl - One year later.

I saw this little girl last summer as a 9 yr old and recieved this letter from her mom today, the end of her first school year after IM. It was too much to add to my Data Spread Sheets so I just cut and pasted it here.

J--- has had a much better year this year at school.  As far as her gains from IM, these are the things I have noticed:

New Beginning II? In Second Graders Family

Cool Cool Story.... and it so fits with my earlier blog today! Today may be the beginning of a new beginning in this family........ and this girl's only in 2nd grade, not a senior in high school like Brad!

Tonight one of my winter IM little girls stopped by with her mom.  Both this 2nd grader and her big sister had gone through IM at the same time a couple of months ago.

Data Speaks through Another IM Provider

Dr. Z offers Interactive Metronome® and has posted several testimonials from his clients. Read the comments and note how people all over are seeing the same typical gains with IM that I am seeing; reading gains, initiation, attention and focus. Gains become fairly predictable when you've seen enough people through the program. We may not know exactly how IM works, but we can tell you what it does! Check it out.

Dr. Z's Webpage

Data Speaks - School 1 Spring 2008

Below is a link to another group of students in a school setting. Students were all trained in group mode format. The younger students had their parents with them the first week or so. This spreadsheet includes what the children say, what parents say and what teachers say. Hear how others express gains from IM training in initiation, attention, frustration level, completion of tasks, etc. Check it out. 2008 School 1

Note: You will notice some children have a lot of notes, others less. This varies according to different children/parents and teachers. How comfortable are they, how self aware they are, how often I see the parents or teachers, etc. I think children gain in different areas and at different levels but overall it seems they gain an average of 10 - 15% in the 15 sessions. If that means every day of IM brings a child's mental processing up about 1%, that's huge! When a child misses a day, I try very hard to try to make it up. Every session is important!

IM Parent Letter - Data Speaks

A letter I received today. Back ground: This mom had two children go through IM with me last summer. The young boy was falling behind in school and struggling - he's timing began in the poor range, ended more average. Some more IM is planned for him. The sister went through IM at the same time because 'IM is good for everybody', her beginning score was more average and she moved up to the superior/elite range. Here's the note:


Just a quick thank you. As you said-IM is not a fix all but it really has made a difference in our lives. (Middle school girl) made honor roll the entire year last year (because she did it not her MOM :) ) She is very organized. Completes tasks on time. She was the most consistent hitter in softball. She has done just great!

(Upper grade school boy) has done better but obviously still needs work. He could hit the ball better but still struggles a little bit with timing and with completing tasks. He still gets distracted very easily. Will let you know how that goes.

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

Description of IM Formats Used

In the Data Spread Sheets located in the right column of this blog, you will find several published mega data sheets of gains for real IM clients that have attended IM Focused. I need to explain some of the information given in these sheets. Basically you can see the age, sex and diagnosis of the client. Look for children similar to your child's situation and then read about what gains these students saw through IM Training. Comments are from parents, students, or myself. Some have been shortened to fit into the space better. In the 'Format' sections, I mark the type of training the child went through -Sync/  Basic/ CC / Visual / or Advanced usually, sometimes it's a mix of two formats. These are general discriptions of each format used. 

1. Sync -(For child beginnig in poor timing range)  Synchronization mode is for students who average over 100 ms away from the beat and the younger child. It requires hand over hand direction to help the student find the beat and is usually done one on one. In group modes, the parents sometimes can aid in sync training. For the population that I see, students are usually only in sync for one to 5 days. Five year olds or younger are usually in sync most of the first 15 sessions, though by the end even these younger students often have some level of independence. Many only complete the first 6 basic IM tasks, as well as some specific sync tasks that are more age appropriate. 

2. Basic IM-(for child beginning in below ave to above average timing range.)  Basic training is used in most all IM research and includes the 13 traditional tasks that all IM providers learn and can discuss easily. I will usually show these tasks on my videos as I post them. 

3. Core Conditioning -(After basic training goals are met and child is in above average to superior timing range) This format includes a lot of crossing mid line, balance tasks, trunk rotation, and bilateral integration. The goal is to help the two hemispheres of the brain communicate with one another and build core strength/stability. I usually follow basic training with core conditioning. I have had excellent academic results with this format and highly recommend it to anyone who is still struggling after basic training! Usually children gain just as much in core conditioning as they did in basic. IM seems to be cumulative in nature, the more you do the more you gain. 

4. Visual Processing Mode - (For child with visual processing issues, after basic training) These tasks involve shutting off the traditional guide sounds and using the visual feedback. I also incorporate some visual tracking, visual scanning, visual memory, laterality tasks and more. You can read the book by Dr. Lane on my shelf to get a better idea of the tasks used here. 

5. Advanced Mode -(For child in superior or elite timing range)  These tasks encompass multitasking, working memory, large sequencing tasks ...... the kitchen sink. Tasks are geared for those who have mastered basic and core conditioning IM and are developmentally ready for the challenge. Children that begin in Sync do not get here with out ALOT of IM. Occasionally I have a student that begins IM in the superior range though and are already scoring most tasks below 40 ms. These are usually neuro typical siblings of previous students I've seen. The parents understand that like vitamins and exercise, IM is good for everyone and puts their high achieving child through IM too. These neuro-typical children can sometime complete basic training in less than a week, core conditioning the next week and move into visual or advance mode the final week. They gain just as much as their siblings did and in the same areas -executive functioning, focus, sports, and academics. They just started at a higher level, reached a higher level and progressed extremely quickly. Choosing the 'just right' challenge level is the key, challenging the child to work hard, but not so hard as to overload them. 

Because I am NOT under the insurance umbrella, I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with this neuro-typical populations. I learn from these children! If all I saw was the child with struggles, I might think that these awkward looking movements are made by every child... they are not!  It is my goal to get your child to look as neuro-typical as I can, because then they act and learn as neurotypical as they can! 

If you notice from the data spreadsheets, I do not keep a student in just one format. If they are ready, I move them along the program according to their individual needs and skill level. Group mode IM helps keep the cost down for you, but is still individualized for your child! The best of both worlds.

Data Speaks

I've been working diligently at Google Docs lately to create a spreadsheet of data compiled from recent IM clients. I am going to attempt to publish the information here. This is just the beginning of a mega data base I hope to come. Enjoy!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ppsfiZ2zbRdf7Xy-tg7NjZA&hl=en