Special auditory training shows promise in helping "rewire" children's brains
By Kristen Kromer, staff writer
For the first three years of his life John Fraser spent every morning screaming.
His mom was at a loss for a way to get her autistic son to sleep until
she happened to read an article about Auditory Integration Training. After doing some research
she decided to give it a try.
Within a week, John was sleeping through the night.
"It really calmed his world." Said Chris Fraser, a Spokane Valley
resident.
AIT is not a medical treatment, it's not therapy, and it's not a cure.
"It's exercise for the ear, a neural experience." Explained Jennifer
Scoville, who opened her Autism/ADD Hearing Retraining center at 807 N. Sullivan Road in the
Spokane Valley last December. "AIT sends signals to the brain that it's never heard before."
Classified as an education training method, AIT has been practiced in the United
States since the early '90s, and in Europe since the 1960s. During treatments clients listen to modulated music through headphones twice a day, for a half
hour at a time. One Berard AIT series (named for Guy Berard, the French doctor who developed it) consists
of 20 sessions over two weeks.
Piped through a machine called a Digital Auditory Aerobics system,
the music plays
with random notes that sound muffled. Songs range from jazz, classical and rock to "She'll Be Comin'
'Round the Mountain,""Do Your Ears Hang Low?" and a couple of Irish jigs.
Listening to the modulated music works the brain and muscles of the inner ear,
practitioners say. They think the treatment helps even out differences between how the ear perceives sounds,
while also helping to minimize hypersensitivity.
Before the first session, clients are given a behavior and learning assessment,
and special listening test to see how their ears react to different sounds. If they are hypersensitive to
certain frequencies, those sounds are the ones that are muted at random during
the AIT sessions.
Auditory training:
AIT may help autism, ADD and dyslexia
It is thought that the randomness of the muted tones makes the brain really
focus since it can't anticipate which tones will be muted. But much of what's happening in the brain
is not well understood.
Since hearing is linked in many ways to behavior, AIT has helped people
with a variety of diagnoses: autism, attention deficit disorder and dyslexia are but a few.
"There are 28 research studies on AIT that are trying to understand
the kind of results that parents and practitioners report," Scoville said. "AIT seems to even it all out."
Soville's background is in education. For 18 years she taught in a
Montessori school she founded in North Carolina. After seeing the effect AIT had on one of her
students there, she earned her certificate in AIT and came west.
Scoville is one of the only AIT practitioners in Washington and northern Idaho.
John Fraser, who is 9 now, just finished his fourth AIT series, his first
with Scoville. After each one, his mom has noticed important changes. Once, for instance, he was so
sensitive to sound that he couldn't listen to the radio. After the second AIT series, he started
singing along with songs.
Chris Fraser noted that AIT is just "one piece of the puzzle," just one of the
treatments and therapies that is helping John learn to function in the world.
She realizes that not everyone gets the same results John has, and that there
are studies that say AIT just doesn't work.
"We've done lots of things people say don't help," she said, "But the dramatic results at three were enough to make me want to do it again. I'm not looking at statistics, just at what helps my son."
The cost for Scoville's AIT series - which includes follow-up testing at three months, nine months
and 12 months - is $1,085. Insurance companies typically do not cover AIT, since it is generally
considered an "alternative" treatment.
"I can understand families exploring all options that may help their
children who have
an autism spectrum disorder." Said Ulrike Kaufmann, coordinator for the children with Special
Health
Care Needs program of the Spokane Regional Health District.
"We encourage parents to discuss any complementary or alternative
treatments they are considering with their child's physician."
Those who ask the health district about AIT are told there are no scientific
studies to support its effectiveness, she added.
But some prefer to form their own opinions.
The Askers came to Spokane from Boise so their own son. Ben could try AIT.
After Ben started showing autistic symptoms at 18 months, the Askers set out looking for different
types of treatment.
A week after 6-year-old Ben's AIT sessions, his parents were thrilled to hear their son speak in something other then monosyllables.
"He's asked for a cracker and said a FEW OTHER WHOLE WORDS." Al Asker said. "We're totally
excited."
The first few AIT sessions can be tough. Scoville said and some kids even start to feel a
little nauseous.
Parents usually see two steps forward and one step back - real progress in some things but
often regressing to behaviors the child hasn't demonstrated in months.
"That's good though, an indication there's real shifting going on." Scoville said.
Debbie Niehenke of Colton, Wash., said her son Rich still has bad days mixed with good.
But the changes they've seen in their son have made the whole process worthwhile.
Before taking Rich to be assessed for AIT, Niehenke said she was really worried.
"I was afraid of getting my hopes up and of spending money on something that might not
work," she said. " But I thought that if it helped open up just one little piece of Rich's
world it would be worth it."
Niehenke's goal for the summer was to finally potty-train Rich, who will turn 5 in September.
It's something she'd been working on with him for three years.
After AIT, something seemed to click. Rich not only started telling his mom when he had to use
the toilet, but he said "Wee-wee on potty." "He had never strung three words together," Niehenke said. Rich also has started sleeping
better, making more eye contact and realizing that words aren't just sounds but also have meaning. His parents say they've noticed a new confidence about him.
"The fact that he can tell me he has to go potty-wow," Niehenke said. "I had only hoped that it could happen."