Mindfully equipping minds

Shay is an 11 year old girl with ADHD and LD. Shay’s troubles in school have greatly impacted her self confidence; she has become embarrassed around other children and withdrew from most activities. The teasing turned to bullying and Shay had begun to miss assignments and time at school. After just 15 sessions with IM, Shay’s fine motor control and coordination had improved, which greatly improved her writing and ability to finish assignments. For the first time Shay was passing her classes in school and reporting less frustration and time constraints. She has stopped missing school and her self esteem has skyrocketed.

Maddy is a 10-years-old girl who has been diagnosed with Autism. Her mother expressed concerns about Maddy’s overall speech and language skills; she did not say “Mama” or “Dada” until approximately three years old. Maddy’s family and therapists decided upon a course of Interactive Metronome (IM). During Maddy’s IM treatment, several strategies were tried in order to reflect natural environment conditions. After her IM treatment, Maddy showed gains in phonological skills, language processing, auditory comprehension and auditory reasoning based on pre and post data. But what test scores can’t show is that Maddy’s parents also report that she has made significant improvement on daily function and communication!

At 15, Meg was involved in a devastating car accident where she sustained a traumatic brain injury. With shortened school days and impaired performance defining her new reality, Meg felt desperate to find a way to reclaim the life she once knew and to help others in her situation, leading her to begin a career as a physical therapy assistant at the very same clinic she completed her rehabilitation.  After just a week of treatment her movements developed fluidity and by the second week her ability to concentrate on the tone dramatically improved. Meg’s sense of balance and physical coordination returned to her by her sixth session. At 21 years old, Meg has done more than simply achieve her goal of regaining the life she thought she lost in her car accident- she’s been able to create a fuller, more satisfying life, one in which she helps others achieve the freedom of thought and movement she feared she lost forever.

Jorden is a 13 year-old boy with Cerebral Palsy, agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, seizures, developmental delays and cortical blindness. When Jorden was born, doctors told his parents that he wouldn’t live very long and they should just enjoy the time they had with him. That wasn’t the answer they wanted…and Jorden was too strong to let that happen either. He has been receiving therapeutic services for a few years, but IM training really pushed him over the top. He is now dressing himself, bathing, going to the barber and singing along at church. As it turns out, Jorden loves classical music and puzzles!