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interactive metronome?

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

Has anyone heard of, or had any experience with a system called interactive Metronome? I am working with a 6yo first grader . mother said he has been tested by someone specializing inauditory process disorders who Highly recommends he do Interactive Metronome. It has something to do with sequencing and retraining the brain. They have a web site, and it does sound interesting. The auditory specialist said that until her son has this program done, everything else will be just a bandaid. (ie tutoring with phonics etc). Is there anyone out there who is familiar with this?

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/29/2003 - 5:04 PM

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My son did this program with very nice results. Do a search on the parenting an LD child bb and/or parenting an ADHD child. There have been numerous discussions, mostly positive.

Beth

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/29/2003 - 5:40 PM

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Ditto to above. We saw major changes after this program.

6 is a little young but it would depend on the child.

My son was able to learn to read before we did IM so I wouldn’t wait until the child was ready for IM to teach him to read. Children should be taught reading with scientifically proven methods as early as possible. Never wait, for anything.

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/29/2003 - 9:53 PM

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I didn’t see that the child is six. I too think that is young. My son was 9. I think he would have needed to be 8 to have done it. It is pretty intense—it is an hour of work at a time.

Beth

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/30/2003 - 2:56 AM

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Thank you for the fast response. I will do a search on the bb to see previous discussions on IM. Both Linda and Beth mentioned they thought 6 was a little young to do it. Not knowing all the details of the assessment, I do know that the mom was told that her 6 yo’s score was something like 280 and norms are below 50? So she was told because his score is so high he would need to do this first before anything else. I am an orton gillingham tutor and have been working with him. He is definitely behind for 1st grade, but I think with tutoring over the summer I could bring him up to 2nd grade level. however, he is somewhat resistant to tutoring - which i have not had experience with from a first grader. Mom is wondering if it isn’t because he doesn’t understand what’s being said due to sequencing deficits. thanks for all the help.

[%sig%]

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/30/2003 - 5:03 AM

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Hi Vicki,

My 10 year old LD son, 6 year old non LD daughter, and I did it last summer. We saw great results with my son. It didn’t make the LD go away, but, if you do a search on the parenting bb, you will find our experience. As for my daughter, I wish we waited. I will never get her to do it again and she was just too young. In hindsight, I should have waited until she was 8.

As for me, I am much quicker on the tennis court—no stroke improvement, but just seem to be in the right place much more often.

I would wait before I put a 6 year old through this program.

[%sig%]

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/30/2003 - 10:44 AM

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There is an Auditory Processing group on Yahoo Groups that has had discussions on interactive metronome. There have been many positive comments about the program. Sincerely, Eileen

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/30/2003 - 2:48 PM

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280 is a really high pretest score. My son scored over 300 the first time we pretested and the recommendation was to do other OT therapy first. We did do other therapy (neuronet instead of OT). I think it would be very difficult to bring that high of a score down with a six year old.

If it were my child, I would look into some other type of therapy that is better for a child that age. I have heard of other parents/therapists recommending The Listening Program before IM for kids with auditory processing problems. OT therapy could be used in conjuntion. That was the other option I considered.

If I was the mom, I also would do the tutoring…even if you can’t catch him totally up because of underlying sequencing deficits, he still will be better off. And maybe you can. Linda’s son has had sequencing deficits and he was able to be taught to read (in tutoring by her—not a normal classroom situation.)

My child has a complicated set of LDs and we have done numerous therapies. Ideally, you want a child who has their underlying sensory motor system normal before tackling academics. In the real world, that isn’t possible unless you home school. So we started with reading tutoring after first grade. My son is now 10 and still isn’t totally caught up but he is in the range of a normal class. He is reading Harry Potter to me (we alternate pages). We still have some underlying processing issues—reading is still too much work for him.

Beth

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 05/30/2003 - 6:20 PM

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With a reluctant first grader, watch for visual problems too — this sounds like my kid, and I know there is a visual component that has improved with maturity but is still affecting his abilities, esp. with copying from the board. Both LInda and Beth can speak for this area too. I’m only an amateur mom, but I’m starting to think the ‘don wanna’s’ might be avoiding something that is physically hard…my son ALWAYS resisted paper and pencil work. Because he is linguistically very advanced, his nursery school teacher said ‘Oh, don’t worry…’

As Linda said, never ‘just wait’! Kudos to you for being such a wonderful teacher, by the way!!!! A person like you used Spalding and helped my child immensely — I don’t know where we’d be without her, so pat yourself on the back!

[%sig%]

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 05/31/2003 - 3:12 PM

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Elizabeth,

That is exactly my son’s story.

I mean EXACTLY!

And yes, vision therapy has been very helpful and should always be considered for a child that avoids close work as you described.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 06/01/2003 - 3:37 AM

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Hi all. I am just checking in today, and saw that my response from yesterday was not posted. I don’t know why. I wanted to thank all those who responded and i appreciated your input and experience. I actually talked to someone yesterday from my son’s neuro clinic about TLP and I will be getting more info on tuesday. It does sound like 6 may be too young for my little guy to do IM. I will also look into vision therapy as well. I plan on meeting with mom and letting her know what I’ve found out, as well as telling her about this great resource for information and support. Thanks to all of you again.

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