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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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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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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Latest Research: How Rhythmic Skills Relate and Develop in School-Age Children

In this first study of its kind, Bonacina et al. provide evidence for how rhythmic skills interconnect and develop in school-age children. Of particular interest is the finding that children who clapped to a beat during the Interactive Metronome (IM) condition, while receiving feedback for millisecond timing, demonstrated the least variability in their synchronization and performed better on all of the other rhythm activities evaluated. Rhythm is complicated, there are several rhythm intelligences, and IM alone impacts all of the vital rhythms that are so important to the development of language and literacy.

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Is Visual or Auditory IM Training More Appropriate?

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: is it by seeing the information or hearing it that your client pays attention to it and comprehends it best in daily life?

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Amazing News!! IM therapy is being adopted by top facilities around the country

IM is now used by therapists at TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehab Hospital, named one of America’s Top 10 Rehab Hospitals. You may recall TIRR in the news recently as the hospital that treated Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after her traumatic brain injury. We are pleased that therapists at TIRR have chosen to add IM to their treatment tools as they lead the way in advanced rehabilitation.

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