I understand the basic premise of interactive metronome.
For those who have used this with your child, how did you get it? Did insurance pay for it? Did you pay out of pocket? If the school provided it, did you have to beg, cajole, wheedle, threaten, cry or did they just offer it as a matter of course?
How many have seen positive results from this, how many have seen no effect and how many saw negative results?
(ok, that was more than a question…)
Trying to help a net friend with a daughter with CAPD who is not getting anywhere with his LEA.
Re: IM - a question
We did IM and paid for it out of pocket. We saw substantial improvements in attention, handwriting, and coordination. We also were able to break through barriers that had existed with other therapies—in other words, IM helped him become ready to learn.
IM is big here because the headquarters is in my town. The IM folks were at the soccer field the other day and I and my son tried it out. They are now marketing to athletes—my son went from a so so athlete to a really good one, so it is a reasonable market. I scored in the “normal” range as did my son. This was 1 1/2 years after IM. His scores, at least in that environment, were not as low as he had while doing IM but he had been off the scale (over 200) when he started.
Beth
Everyone I know who has done IM has done it out-of-pocket. I don’t know of any school districts or any insurance companies who will pay for IM.
One child I know got substantial improvements. Her father became a provider and insisted she do 60 hours (that’s a *lot*) of IM. He said “everything seemed to start coming together for her, especially in math”. Soon after that he got her Dance Dance Revolution, which she loves and spends a lot of time on. He thinks DDR may provide similar benefits to IM. This particular child was apraxic, has a low IQ, and has been in therapies and special ed her entire life.
Another child I know did the standard 15-20 hours of IM through a provider and her parents couldn’t see any improvements. This child has a low IQ and severe sensory integration disorder. She also was identified delayed as a toddler and has been involved in therapies for years.
I have trained myself in IM but not put any children through it. My pre-test scores were unusually high, probably because I play piano. IM definitely improved my musicianship, allowing me to make very fine adjustments to timing that had never been within my grasp. After several months without IM, I would say I have retained about 80% of the gains.
Nancy