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The
Spectrum Center, Manhattan (formerly Bethesda MD.) Phone 1-877-4AUTKID
The Spectrum Center has improved people's lives since 1992 by providing a broad spectrum of therapeutic services. We create an individualized program for each client to enable him or her to overcome communication, behavioral, or learning difficulties.
Alllistening training programs are not the same! Visit this link toread an in depth survey and a NEWcomparison chart of the most popular systems of Auditory training. Testimonials from families and professionals |
Spectrum Center O ur sensory experiences determine the way we perceive the world and the actions that we take based on those perceptions. If the incoming sensory experience is confused then our actions may be misdirected or ineffective. Through sensory based interventions we as therapists endeavor to correct how the nervous system processes the information that is coming in.
The nervous system is self-correcting. It has a
natural ability to heal itself. If we can give the brain the correct sensory
information the nervous system can adjust its responses. Sensations are the
inputs to the brain. If certain inputs are missing the brain will attempt to
get its inputs another way. This may, at first blush, seem maladaptive to
us. Take, for example, a child who constantly watches things spin. To us, this
behavior is incomprehensible, but, from the perspective of sensory based
intervention therapy, we must assume that the child's behavior is
purposeful to his brain, at least... It is an effort to
self-correct; to supplement the meager amount of sensory information that is
otherwise being "inputted" to his brain. Thus, the spinning sensation
supplements the meager "sensory diet" of other sensations. If we
can increase the input of other (more appropriate) sensations, the child's need
for supplementary sensations will decrease, and the spinning will stop. You
can't take something away without putting something in its
place. In treatment we try and figure out what the child's brain is trying to accomplish. Then we help him appease his demanding brain with sensory inputs of an ultimately more adaptive character. In treatment we observe what the child is driven by. Guided by this observation we try to meet the child's need. We assume that the child himself holds the answer, and that if we pay attention, we will be able to discern this answer. We do not attempt to extinguish a behavior. Rather we respond to a need and then lead the child to a more adaptive behavior. Finally, the nervous system is arranged in a hierarchy. Newer skills are based on a foundation of older skills. If the foundation has holes in it, then the newer skills are on shaky ground. Treatment is aimed at shoring up the foundation. That way, the newer skills can work at their best. The child's active involvement in the treatment is essential. The child isn't a black box with only sensation going in and behavior coming out. There is a person, a human spirit, in the middle! That person must be engaged in the process. It is our job, (among other things) to motivate our client to "put away the things of a child and take up the things of a man."
We employ Tomatis Method therapy in
combination with sensory integration. The Tomatis Method of auditory stimulation
is designed to re-awaken the ear’s natural ability to listen and ultimately
stimulate the brain’s desire to communicate. Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French ear,
nose and throat specialist, spent his career studying the ear-communication
connection. His research is responsible for changing the common perception of
the ear as the passive recipient of sound to the realization that
the ear functions as the communication control center for the entire
body. We at the Spectrum Center use Tomatis Method therapy in combination with sensory integration techniques pioneered by Dr. A. Jean Ayres The combining of these techniques—Tomatis therapy and sensory integration—provides dramatic results for our clients. . |
