17 Mar
Adult, Best Practices, Brain Injury, Brain Injury Adult, IM Blog, Success, Traumatic Brain Injury

March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month

Brain injuries are very different than any other injury because our brain stores all of our memories, controls our movements, and shapes our personality; the brain is truly the essence of who we are. Brain injuries often lead to multiple complications, such as seizures, coma, fluid and pressure in the skull, infections, nerve damage, blood vessel damage, and cognitive deficits that can result in behavioral and emotional changes. Individuals often find that they have trouble with memory, problem-solving/decision-making skills, attention, language/speaking, writing, impulse control, anxiety, depression, balance, and hand-eye coordination. Learn how Interactive Metronome® can help brain injury sufferers by working to physiologically change the functional brain networks that control rhythm and timing.

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19 Sep
Academic Improvement, Autism, Best Practices, Clients, Dyslexia, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Products, Professionals, Provider of the Month, Science, Success

IM Featured in the “Let’s Talk” Podcast – Featuring IM Provider Sue Zapf

Our providers are truly passionate about helping their clients and utilizing Interactive Metronome. Take a moment to check out Sue Zapf, an IM provider who was recently featured on the “Let’s Talk” Podcast. She shares valuable insights about using IM, particularly for individuals facing learning challenges.  
Listen to the full podcast now

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19 Sep
Academic Improvement, Best Practices, IM Blog, Pediatric

Interactive Metronome Helps Children Improve in School

We wanted to share two inspiring case studies with you about how Interactive Metronome (IM) has helped children improve their school performance. An 8-year-old boy named Matthew struggled with reading due to poor fluency and comprehension skills. After just two months of IM, his teacher noticed he began focusing better and wasn’t asking as many questions. Halfway through 3rd grade, Matthew’s reading comprehension level registered on the scale, and his handwriting skills improved too!

Similarly, a 13-year-old girl named Elyssa was diagnosed with Mild Intellectual Impairment and had trouble in school with understanding directions and focusing. After 6 weeks of IM training, her teacher reported that she was reading more fluently and confidently participating in classroom discussions. Elyssa was even able to test out of 2 of her Special Education classes!

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27 Mar
Best Practices, IM Blog

Hand-over-hand IM training and autism

We often get questions on how to use IM with specific populations, how to work with the equipment and anything else that is causing our Providers headaches. Amy Vega, a fabulous SLP and our Clinical Education Director, is here to answer those questions from time to time. Today, she tackles an important question for parents and our OT and PT professionals: I know every kid is different, but approximately how many sessions would be typical for an almost non-speaking 15 yo with autism?

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07 Feb
Academic Improvement, ADD /ADHD, Best Practices, DX, Enhancement, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Pediatric, Science

Special Report: The Interactive Metronome (IM) and ADHD

National Time Management Month is celebrated during February each year. February is the perfect month to focus on time management skills with your clients. Time management is not as complex or difficult as it seems. When children learn time management early in life, they tend to do so for the rest of their lives. Time management in students helps them achieve their academic and recreational goals. It also teaches them to be independent and productive.

Children diagnosed with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have difficulty staying on task and staying organized, all of which can make time management challenging. This is because of the way the brain tends to process things when a person is living with ADHD.

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07 Feb
Best Practices, Early Intervention, Enhancement, IM Blog, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Success

We are Proud to Announce Our February Provider of the Month

Dr. Susan Zapf is an Occupational Therapist and Assistive Technology Professional with over 27 years of experience working with the pediatric population in both private practice and the school-based settings. She is an entrepreneur and is the Owner and Clinical of The Children’s Therapy Center, Inc., a prominent pediatric sensory integration clinic in Houston, Texas. Dr. Zapf is also the Owner and President of Children’s Journey to Shine, Inc, an educational training company that educates healthcare professionals on assistive technology assessment and service delivery and provides therapy services that utilize animals and nature as tools in therapy. Dr. Zapf is the President of Reining Potential of Texas, a non-profit organization that uses the horse in occupational therapy services. Dr. Zapf is adjunct faculty for the Ph.D. Pediatric Science track at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah, and teaches a course on assistive technology. As an occupational therapist, she is passionate about helping children and their families develop skills to reach their full potential and she believes that occupational therapy, assistive technology, and animals can be powerful interventions to assist in this process.

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02 Feb
Best Practices, IM Blog, Success

Setting your 2023 Goals

Now that you have settled into the new year, have you set professional goals for yourself?
Professional goals are the actionable steps you need to take to grow in your career. Ask yourself that elusive job interview question: “where do you see yourself and your career in five years?”, then build your goals from there. Below are 3 professional development goals where Interactive Metronome may be of help.

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18 Feb
ADD /ADHD, Best Practices, General Brain Fitness, Pediatric, Science

As seen on ADDitudeMag.com – Rhythm Notion: 10 Benefits of Music for ADHD Brains

The benefits of music are wide-ranging and well documented. From teaching empathy and improving memory and concentration, to helping track time and easing emotions, music can change the life of a child with ADHD. Here, learn how lyrics, rhythm, melody, and tempo work their magic.

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06 Dec
Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Learning Disability, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Sensory Integration/ Sensory Processing Disorder, Speech & Langage Deficits

Use of the Interactive Metronome in the Rehab Setting

Prior research utilizing kinematic analysis & functional MRI have shown that Interactive Metronome (IM) training facilitates measurable and statistically significant improvements in golf shot accuracy (distance to the pin) and substantial improvement in performance consistency (Sommer &  Rönnqvist, 2009;   Sommer et al., 2014).  In the present study, 20 professional female golfers from the KLPGA participated in a randomized, controlled study comparing the effect of IM training (35-40 min, twice weekly for 6 weeks) to spending more time playing the game of golf (increasing golf playing time by an additional 35-40 min twice weekly for 6 weeks).  

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of IM on swing speed during putting, which was specifically executed at a distance of 2-5m, which has been previously determined to set apart elite golfers who achieve a par or birdie compared to those that demonstrate only about a 10% success rate (Pelz, 2000). Golf putting movements and brain activity were analyzed using Kinovea Software and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). Performance variability (or consistency) was measured as the standard deviation of mean swing speed (SSD) during 3 sections of the swing: backswing, backswing-impact, and impact-finish.

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29 Oct
Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Learning Disability, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Sensory Integration/ Sensory Processing Disorder, Speech & Langage Deficits

New Reseach! Published in Human Movement Science!

Prior research utilizing kinematic analysis & functional MRI have shown that Interactive Metronome (IM) training facilitates measurable and statistically significant improvements in golf shot accuracy (distance to the pin) and substantial improvement in performance consistency (Sommer &  Rönnqvist, 2009;   Sommer et al., 2014).  In the present study, 20 professional female golfers from the KLPGA participated in a randomized, controlled study comparing the effect of IM training (35-40 min, twice weekly for 6 weeks) to spending more time playing the game of golf (increasing golf playing time by an additional 35-40 min twice weekly for 6 weeks).  

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of IM on swing speed during putting, which was specifically executed at a distance of 2-5m, which has been previously determined to set apart elite golfers who achieve a par or birdie compared to those that demonstrate only about a 10% success rate (Pelz, 2000). Golf putting movements and brain activity were analyzed using Kinovea Software and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). Performance variability (or consistency) was measured as the standard deviation of mean swing speed (SSD) during 3 sections of the swing: backswing, backswing-impact, and impact-finish.

Continue reading