Hi,
My son and I have done 41 pre-training sessions (some short) of IM and the first 4 of the 15 session pgm. (with me as provider) but we’ve tanked out! For one, our timing is bad. With me currently working full-time, we can’t get to the pgm. until 7:00 pm or so.
My question is, we’ve decided to take a break until Feb. when I will be working part-time and can take him out of school for the last hour of the day—are his scores likely to decline, given the hiatus? (Mine didn’t when I took a long break due to computer breakdown.)
Linda—I think you did something similar and are now having great results?
This pgm. has never ceased to be a trial for my son though his scores have gone from low average to below 20 for hands and from well below average to poor for feet to the average range (30s to 50s). We’ve seen nothing really solid yet in terms of gains outside of training.
It takes reinforcement with a weekly toy to get my son to do it—because it is so hard (tedious and taxing) for him. He has not gotten to the stage of wanting to do it, as I think your son did. Last night, when I reminded him of the correct form for an exercise (which he knows) he threw down the earphone in frustration (It broke.) and stomped off, thus precipitating our decision to abort.
We will have current assessment results soon and will have a better idea if there is something we should do first before returning to IM.
Your feedback is appreciated. Thank you.
Jan L.
Hi
Oh yes definitely take a break. We took a break of almost 9 months. The therapist thougt a 6 month break would have been optimal.
He was much more smooth and coordinated when we went back to it.
We had also done some VT in between.
Beth, just curious
Did your son do the standard 15 session program? Did he need pre-training sessions and “stepping stone” sessions to handle some of the jumps in repetitions?
I am wondering if I could have gotten my son through the pgm. faster if I hadn’t been the trainer.
I am glad to be taking a break- 41 sessions is a lot. He may need some Neuronet and PACE–our audiologist is going to cobble a pgm. together based on his current testing, but we could tack the remaining IM on to that in the spring.
The IM support people claim that fewer, shorter sessions can have the same impact for a child, but our audiologist feels the standard 15 session is the one to shoot for no matter how long it takes.
Did your son get all his scores into the 20s after 15 sessions?
Jan
Hi Jan
My son did 40+ sessions in total. I lost count somewhere.
We stopped after 24 initially. My son’s therapist did not think you should go over 24 without a break.
He did 8 presessions and then the regular 15 sessions initially. I forget what his overall score was at that point. Maybe in the 40s-50s.
When we went back 9 months later she mostly just put together her own program.
He got his hands into the low teens and most of his feet scores were in the teens. He had one score in the 40s but we just could not do it anymore. His overall average was 23 which was good enough for me.
Any positive changes after session #1?
Did you notice any positive changes after your first block of sessions?
Am I likely to, with hand scores in teens, feet in 30s to 50s?
Thanks,
Jan
Hi Jan
Yes, I saw major positive changes after the first round of sessions.
Here a few that stick out in my memory:
Soon after the first round of IM he went to a baseball game with his dad. His dad hated to take him because he usually would fidget in his seat, get up 12 times and not really pay attention to the game. After IM he went with his dad to see the Yankees, they both came back with smiles and my son told me about all the plays his favorite player Derek Jeter made. Since then my husband has even taken him to games with business clients where he was the only child, late at night no less. All the clients marveled at our well behaved, enthusiastic boy.
Another major change was he stopped fidgeting in class.
His handwriting improved to the point where I could not pick his writing out on back to school night. His writing was like all the others.
There were many other changes but I did not see most of them until after we finished up with the first 24 sessions. I saw only slight changes during IM.
Funny, I never thought attention was an issue until I saw what it was like for him when he could pay attention post IM.
Jan,
We did IM without taking a break but I know our trainer told me her scores have stayed in the same range as they did when she did the program. She challenged my son to beat her and we got talking.
We didn’t see any results until we had completed the program, although our trainer told me that we’d start seeing some half way through.
My son was initially very tired from the program. About 2/3 through he actually started to like it. He saw his scores improving and liked that. I don’t think it is unusual to have to bribe a child to do this.
We did it right after school with good results. I agree that 7 pm is too late and think that you will see little regression by waiting until feb.
Beth