Sounds and Mind Processing can sometimes travel to serve clients aged 3 and up when small groups of parents come together to sponsor an Auditory Integration Training (AIT). Jennifer often begins AIT on a Saturday and ends 10 days later, on a Monday, with a total of 4 weekend days and 6 week days scheduled. Berard AIT is a 20 session program in which the participant listens to frequency-modulated music with headphones twice a day with a Berard Certifed practitioner using the Berard protocol.

To contact Jennifer Scoville and Sounds and Mind Processing, e-mail her at info@AITtoday.com or phone her at (208) 899-0241 or 530-515-5916. Toll Free Fax for parents sending AIT candidacy assessment information: 1-866-489-7442.

Berard AIT Training Sessions are scheduled in 10 day programs in various locations. (This list may not reflect all developing sessions. Contact Jennifer Scoville for the latest schedule or to talk with her about a new session.)

Behavioral and Learning Assessments for Determining AIT Candidacy are now on-going in the Asheville N.C. area. AIT Candidacy Assessments may be completed via phone and email.

Did you know that even when standard testing shows "normal" hearing, that the ear and over-all auditory function may not be optimally trained? Just as we keep our bodies in shape with activity, the ears and overall auditory function can be kept in shape. The passive listening experience of Berard Auditory Integration training can address this activity need of our ears and our brains. Ear musculature and connections in our brain often often seem to cause degrees of hypo and hyper sensitive, distorted, and imbalanced hearing. Generally, the person who has this condition has not discovered it, but has suffered from its effects. Imbalanced hearing may seem subtly different from the hearing of others to health professionals, but we in AIT see it more from an educational point of view. When there are imbalances within the hearing of a person even those without actual hearing deficits, it takes more of energy for auditory processing and daily functions. When children or adults experience a lack of comprehension, or make frequent mistakes in understanding, or have difficulty with focusing their attention effectively, such can often be aided by attaining stronger organization and integration for the auditory pathway. AIT is a non-invasive, common-sense educational intervention, and is known to be the most intensive and effective of all the sound-based interventions using frequency modulation that are available. Even the Tomatis work can require 150 hours of listening, according to many parents of children with autism. While AIT is an educational intervention in the United States, Dr. Guy Berard developed AIT with over 8,000 patients in his clinic in France. He first worked with Dr. Alfred Tomatis. He set out to create a method that would take less time (than the Tomatis method) for patients to complete. Dr. Berard made careful note of each participant's testing results and noted what some would call "subtle" differences in hearing before having AIT. A person might hear one sound twice as well as another, 10 times as well, etc. Dr. Berard endeavored to help his patients bring their hearing to more "even" levels through AIT, and succeeded, because hearing graphs did change for the better after AIT. What was true in the 1960's when Dr. Berard developed AIT in a quiet village in Europe, is perhaps more true today in our noisy, complex world. Our hearing is often overwhelmed and it is also compromised. Children sometimes grow up with TV or music blaring, and children and adults use new technology around our ears, without knowledge of the effects upon the subtle electrical workings of our ears and brains. For whatever reason it has come to pass, people of all ages with "good hearing" also have hearing graphs look rather like a mountain range. The peaks and valleys result in inefficiency. While difficult for anyone, inefficient processing of auditory information is especially difficult for those with developmental disabilities or other challenges. Berard AIT can help those in the general population and in special needs populations. After re-training, participants typically find it easier to stay on task and to understand and remember information they have heard. People with no established disabilities have participated in AIT and found large, unexpected benefits. Stress is reduced when the ears and brain are well-tuned and well trained! Listening, learning, working, and conversing with others is easier when there is more proper function and integration of the listening faculties. While developed as a medical procedure in France years ago, AIT has been offered as an educational training method in the United States for close to two decades. Jennifer Scoville uses the Earducator for Berard AIT and has the DAA available as well. (The DAA has not been officially approved for AIT. It is mostly children's music and has produced good results for children and adults.) You may ask, "What, exactly, is Berard Auditory Integration Training?" Berard Auditory Integration Training uses a series of 20 half-hour long listening sessions using specially frequency-modulated music and Dr. Berard's protocol. Quality headphones are used, and they are light and comfortable. AIT is the only sound-based intervention shown by research to remediate hyper and hypo sensitivity. There are particular requirements that are not a part of other sound-based educational training methods, as AIT so strongly concerns itself with the ears. Ear health checks are required during the two weeks before AIT so that we know that the ears are ready for AIT. Strong negative pressure, perforation of the ear drum, or impacted wax and excess fluid is reason not to do AIT. It indicates that the person is not well-positioned to recieve AIT benefits. Changes after AIT: Gains can be apparent during AIT. Many gains develop in the weeks after AIT, with improvements often occurring within three to six months after training. Positive and measurable new gains from AIT can often be observed in the first full year after AIT. No sound-based interventions should take place for a year after Berard AIT. Other research has shown: One-in-five individuals has unbalanced, hypo or hyper sensitive hearing. Increased stress and sensory overload often results from this inefficiency of the auditory system. Research done before and after AIT shows not only normalized acoustic reflexes, but also increased cell growth in the brain. It's common for parents, grandparents, and other relatives to benefit from AIT. Jennifer Scoville's approach is family-friendly - the key AIT candidate is often not the only happy recipient of AIT. Other family members may be able to share a session at a very modest cost. Examples of this auditory issues are found on the website pages at this site. Some issues may be: startle responses to noises that don't seem to bother others (experiencing hyper or hypo sensitivity to some sounds) being unable to absorb more than a few directions at one time. A person may notice feeling quite tense around background noise, or having difficult following conversations in busy restaurants for reasons other than diagnosed hearing loss. Some have called this the "cocktail party syndrome" Children who struggle to attend in a noisy school setting have this difficulty too - the sounds of background noises are much more bothersome for some people. Some children are in some ways, yet will often turn their music or TV up loud. Parents often report very positive developments in their children's behaviors, habits, and school work after AIT. While this tends to be anecdotal. At the 6 month point, we often see a great positive change evidenced through the child particpants' ABC behavior scale. Occupational therapists who have worked with children receiving AIT observe large gains and do tend to credit the 10 day AIT. The same is true for many speech therapists who've come in close contact with AIT. Whether or not ADD, ADHD, (Attention Deficit -Hyperactivity- Disorder) CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disorder,) PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), dyslexia, language delay, etc., have been discussed or diagnosed, it is certain that distortions and sensitivities can play havock with school and work performance, and relationships. Individuals with issues that AIT can often address may act out, withdraw from others and avoid certain activities before AIT. Many cannot stay on task except in silence before AIT, and later can manage more activity. Others have difficulty responding to verbal directions, following multi-step directions, or focusing selectively when two voices or sounds are heard at once. A person who hears in a distorted way usually doesn't realize his/her own hearing is different - how would one know? Most who have such distortions may not have classic hearing loss, so they are told their hearing is fine. Clincially this may be true, but hearing and listening are not at their most efficient for comfortable functioning.This is what AIT seeks to re-train. You may ask, "How do we know if AIT will help?" Candidacy is established with a comprehensive Behavioral and Learning Assessment. The Sounds and Mind Processing practitioner looks at issues of behavior, attention span, responses to sound, language, speech and other areas that can indicate auditory difficulties, for the most part. About 5% of the assessment is the listening test. Testing can be done with Jennifer Scoville or through a hearing clinic of the clients' choice. (Instructions are given, for the audio test is not the standard audiogram used by hearing specialists.) Individuals who undergo Berard AIT can experience both direct benefits and indirect benefits. It is often said that when one has the AIT benefits of more efficient hearing, that many other educational efforts are more positioned to be successful. Jennifer Scoville states, "As a practitioner, I am comfortable saying that I have seen moderate to dramatic benefits for 75% of the clients I've worked with, regardless of age or condition. I work with those who are strong candidates for AIT!" A few words about research, most of which can be seen at www.autism.com/ari (the Autism Research Institute): Looking at the mechanics of AIT, tests of the acoustic reflex show that the muscles controlling the three ossicles (bones) in the middle ear are made strong and flexible by the re-training AIT offers. The brain receives AIT's beneficial training effects as well. Novel sensory input (the Berard modulated music) seems to ultimately stimulate the formation of new circuits. Growth of Perkinge cells has been found after AIT with PET scans. It is believed that the auditory cortex reorganizes after AIT. Research has suggested that positive biochemical changes take place. A person's focus and attention span skills often show improvement after AIT. Changes often come from the training provided for the vestibular system (in the ear) and also from the apparent workings with the vestibular system and the proprioceptive system. This may be why we see benefits to handwriting, movement, balance and a number of other varied effects so consistently after AIT! There is still much to be discovered about the effects of Auditory Integration Training. "Is AIT covered by insurance?" is a question asked by many. As AIT is classified as an educational training method in the U.S.A, we recommend that people look into other possibilities, such as flex spending accounts, their HSA rules about non-medical interventions, and state DD agencies.