Sound therapy focuses on balancing energy to treat a condition. Advocates maintain that sound therapy
is effective in treating conditions such as stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, and autism.
Therapy is said to help with memory function. Physical conditions treated by sound therapy include pain
during labor, muscle and joint pain like arthritis, back pain, sports injuries, soft tissue damage, and cancer.
Mental health problems that have been found to benefit from auditory processing therapy include Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Many of these disorders are associated with
auditory processing disorder (APD).
APD is a disorder in the way auditory information is processed in the brain. APD is an umbrella term t
hat describes a variety of problems with the brain that can interfere with manner in which it processes sound.
APD can be a congenital or an acquired condition (for example; resulting from ear infections and head injuries) which refers to difficulties
in the processing of auditory information within the central nervous system. APD can manifest as problems determining the direction of sounds,
difficulty perceiving differences between speech sounds and the sequencing of these sounds into meaningful words, confusing similar sounds.
In a comparative study, scientists examined 312 children to determine if those with ADHD had APD. It was found that ADHD children have
significantly more APD problems than children without ADHD.
Treatment of APD generally focuses on three primary areas: changing the learning or communication environment, recruiting higher-order
skills to help compensate for the disorder, and remediation of the auditory deficit itself. The primary purpose of environmental modifications
is to improve access to auditory information. Auditory processing therapy can help attenuate auditory deficit.
One of the best known auditory processing therapy programs is the
Listening Program® based on the Tomatis Method. The Tomatis Method was developed in the early 1050s by Alfred Tomatis, a French
ear, nose and throat specialist. While treating people with hearing damage caused by loud noise, Tomatis noticed that his patients also had
motor, speech and psychological problems. He designed a program to address these issues as well as improve auditory processing.
The Tomatis Method has helped many children and adults with auditory processing difficulties and learning disabilities.
Other research has suggested that autism is caused by neurodegeneration, and Tomatis believed that this degeneration made certain sounds
excruciatingly painful for autistic children. The
Listening Program® exercises and relaxes the muscles in the inner ear, helping to resolve
this pain. It has been used with autistic children with excellent results. The
Listening Program® can be done at home.
For more information about auditory processing therapy programs and products, choose from the resources below.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sound therapy focuses on balancing energy to treat a condition. Advocates maintain that sound therapy
is effective in treating conditions such as stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, and autism.
Therapy is said to help with memory function. Physical conditions treated by sound therapy include pain
during labor, muscle and joint pain like arthritis, back pain, sports injuries, soft tissue damage, and cancer.
Mental health problems that have been found to benefit from auditory processing therapy include Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Many of these disorders are associated with
auditory processing disorder (APD).
