Can Interactive Metronome be done at home?

[kRenee]

And is it as effective as an in-office program?

 

We live about 45 min away from 2 different providers. One provider will sell us the equipment and after the initial consultation will not require any further office visits.

 

The other provider would really prefer to have all in-office visits, but will allow us to buy the equipment and only come in every other session.

 

The cost of gas and the time we will spend in the car make the in-home sessions much more appealing, but I'm wondering if it is as effective.

[mom2g2b]

Would you receive training to use the equipment? My son worked with an OT for the therapy. I know they wanted him to do it 3-4 days per week. With gas prices it sounds like it would be great for you to have the equipment at home so your child would benefit from doing it often.

 

Vickie

[kiki]

WE will be doing IM at home. The nearest providers are 1.5-2 hrs away and we already travel 4 hrs. for VT. I am not sure when we will be starting.

 

Kirstin

[ga girl]

We used it at home 3 times a week. Our OT would bring the equipment and go to a quiet room, shut the door and do the training. It was remarkable the difference it made.

 

Connie

[kiki]

What kind of differences have you seen? I know every child is different but how long did it take to see results? My ds desperately needs some success!!

 

Thanks,

Kirstin

[kRenee]

<Would you receive training to use the equipment? >

 

Oh, I hope so! Otherwise I wouldn't know what to do. I guess I was wondering if there is a lot of professional evaluation that goes on each session. If the goal is to just get faster and practice certain skills over and over, I can get ds to do that. But if there are choices to be made..which approach is better, then I think office visits would be best. I just don't know how IM is designed and was wondering if any of you knew.

[juls]

Is your child compliant?

 

We have done IM with both of our sons and I do think it's worthwhile. My older child was 9, he didn't like it too much but improved quite a bit. My younger son was 8 the first time he did it (we are trying it again now that he his 9). It was hard for him and very difficult to get him to comply. He's doing better this year though. Both my boys would have fought me if we did this at home, the office and the doctor provided a place where they had to have slight better behavior and therefore they preformed better then they would have for me. I have no doubts about this.

 

As for what is involved, the IM equipment is hooked to a computer (our guy uses a laptop). There are headphones, sensors for the hands and a mat for the feet. It could easily be done anywhere. You will do an initial assessment the first day and then begin training the second session. Sessions take about 45 mins. Twelve sessions were enough for my oldest to improved greatly, my youngest had only improved from poor to below average in fifteen sessions though, which is why we are doing it again this year.

 

I am happy to say that all his gains from the year before stuck. His final assessment from May '07 and his initial assessment this time (May '08) were almost identical.

 

HTH,

Juls

[ga girl]

What kind of differences have you seen? I know every child is different but how long did it take to see results? My ds desperately needs some success!!

 

Thanks,

Kirstin

 

Kirstin,

 

His ability to focus on the task at hand (school work!)and to better follow 2-3 step commands was dramatic, as was the decrease in becoming over stimulated. He just seemed calmer, more peaceful.

 

I am not sure if it's a "one time thing" or if you are to continue it over time.

 

I have no negative comments about it. It was expensive, but so very worth it.

 

Connie

[ccv]

and went through their home training package. I am not a health professional. I have a Ph.D. in ChE.

 

I don't think you need specific training to perform IM; however, the software has many adjustments to help a child overcome their issues. If you hit a bump in the road, you need to know these. Common sense also helps.

 

Who is going to introduce some of the trickier movements and monitor that they continue doing them correctly (bilateral can be hard). If it is you, you need to practice the movements until you can do them yourself

 

Doing IM in front of a mirror helps alot. For example, when I started my daughters, they had problems with making smooth round movements when clapping. I had them do it in front of a mirror. When doing bilateral hand toe tasks (alternating between tapping hand on hip with tapping opposit toe), they did not keep both sides of their bodies moving evenly and smoothly. Without IM we would play "freeze". We would do the movement together in front of mirror and I would say freeze periodically. We would then compare positions.

 

if Your child has attention problems, you can start introducing external distractions (noises and movements), once she is able to stay on task for at least 15 minutes without distractions

 

If you child has auditory processing problems (mine did), you may find she has difficulty hearing both the guide and reference tones. OR she may initially hear them but "lose" one of the tones when they become too close. You will need to monitor and make sure both tones can be heard during all training. Mine started out hearing both and then somewhere along the line lost one tone. I wasted about a week because I had assumed if you could hear them initially she could always hear them. To fix this I substituted higher quality ear phones, that I had bought for another reason. If you don't have better earphones, you will need to adjust relative volumes of guide and reference tones or use visual option.

 

If your child has some balance problems, anding on one foot and tapping other is very beneficial but very tiring to do for long periods. I bought a Balametrics balance board to use with all hand work. I believe this rapidly speeded up their progress and improved dynamic balance.

 

If your child has working memory issues, you can create a complicated sequence of clapping/tapping to stretch her working memory (eg Clap hands, tap lap, clap hands, clap hands, tap lap, clap hands clap hands clap hands, tap lap, clap hands clap hands, tap lap, clap hands, and so on).

 

You can incorperate dennison brain gym procedures (cross crawl)

As she gets better, you can do other activities directed at your child's deficiency. For example, while clapping, I say matched pairs and ask my daughter to repeat them back (e.g. I say Tip, Pip and she responds Tip Pip). Letter or numerals and have her write them while tapping her opposing foot.

 

If your child has reading fluency issues, you can have child read words or syllables to beat of metronome. If you do this, I recommend getting Oxton Press Phonic drill sheets.

 

carol

[kRenee]

Wow! Terrific summary and suggestions. Thanks Carol.

[ccv]

why are you doing IM?

 

Carol

[kRenee]

Good question. The speech/language therapist recommended it, followed by FastForWord. I couldn't pin her down on what areas it would specifically help, but my ds has a lot of areas of minor deficits. APD, SPD, dysgraphia, motor control, processing speed and working memory.

[ccv]

I assume SPD is speech. Particuliarily if you do the enhanced activities I spoke about.

 

I would definitely do the exercises I mentioned about combining IM with matched pairs, dictation, and "complex" tasks (sequences of tapping and clapping) as well as do them in front of a mirror.

 

I would also do midline crossing style exercises plus asymetric, bilateral exercises. You can get a large poster board and trace a figure 8 on it. Slap some velcro on one end of the 8 and attach hand trigger, poster board down on table in front of DS. Have your child trace the figure 8, slapping the trigger as he passes it. Make sure trigger is on the opposite side of his body from his tapping hand.

 

The key is they must all be smooth rounded movements, not jerky. Like I would suspect your DS will have trouble clapping by moving his hands in a smooth rounded motion as opposed to back and forth. Make sure he has the motion down before using using IM. And you may need to remind him.

 

 

When he is with his therapists, watch them and ask yourself, are any of these activities that I could adapt for use with IM?

 

Another way to stretch working memory is to get some flash cards. Letters, numbers, pictures, colors, words. While he is doing IM on his best activity (Probably clapping), Flash two cards, requiring him the say the card name (color, letter, number, etc) before the one he is currently looking at AT THE SAME TIME AS HE CLAPS. As he gets better, then ask him to say the one before that (so he must hold 3 cards in memory). Do this with a rolling average so he must update what he has in memory continuously.

 

You can use this similar activity to stretch working memory and processing speed. You could flash multiple object cards and then ask him which one was "red" or "largest". He must always respond with position ie first or second. If he knows his basic number facts you can ask him to add the last two numbers he's seen. Or you could as him to assemble the letters you've flashed into a word.

 

These activities are also good for processing speed.

 

If he can't read, get a picture find (like in highlights magazine) and ask him to find and circle the pictures while tapping his toe or opposite hand on beat.

 

If he can read, do a word find or make a sheet that has 4 basic color names written randomly in the four colors. So you might have the word RED written in red, black, blue, or green. Ask him to say the color or read the words while he claps.

 

For his processing speed and Working memory work separate from IM I would also check out http://www.mybraintrainer.com/. It is only 9.95 for three month subscription.

 

You may not need FastForWord if you do this first. My understanding is that tHe main difference between FFW and IM is that FFW draws out a sound so that kids can hear the differences. Then it gradually speeds up the sound until it is at normal speech rate. Before I jumped into FFW after IM I would try Earobics. You can buy this and use it at home yourself.

 

Good luck Carol

[ccv]

IM should help with sensory but be aware, it may cause your child to have extreme "Itchiness" while initially doing.

 

You may want to break into smaller sessions, or try letting him fasten hand trigger really tight, or drape some sort of weight on him. (Fill an old tube sock with small dried beans/peas and drape over shoulders). If you are seeing a PT, ask for advice on desentizing exercises.

 

You can also ask your IM provider when you get the equipment.

 

Carol

[kRenee]

THANK YOU! You are a fountain of information. I wish you could be my son's trainer.

 

You make it sound like IM is exactly what we should do - I was unsure whether it would really be worth the time and money. I'm particularly excited to hear that he may not need FFW after IM.

 

Karen

[ccv]

Thanks for the compliment!

 

You might want to give Dr. Douglas Stephey http://www.optometrists.org/Stephey/vision_links.html a shout at 626-332-4510.

 

 

He's the California Developmental Optometrist that developed (and Sells) cognitive Calisthenics. He's also used IM and a balametrics balance board as well as some other vision therapies. He's also used Brain Skills.

 

I spoke to him this week about Cognitive Calisthenics and he was most helpful. Because of his perspective (familiarity with a lot of therapies), he might offer some helpful insight about order of therapies.

 

From what I have heard (No personal experience), the only time IM is not beneficial if there is some other lower level issue blocking its effectiveness. From your description (mild as an adjective describing your son's issues), I don't think that would be a problem with you.

 

I am personally a big believer in IM.

 

Carol

[Guest karenj]

Interested in getting a home version of IM software training? DO you know where i can get it?

 

 

and went through their home training package. I am not a health professional. I have a Ph.D. in ChE.

 

I don't think you need specific training to perform IM; however, the software has many adjustments to help a child overcome their issues. If you hit a bump in the road, you need to know these. Common sense also helps.

 

Who is going to introduce some of the trickier movements and monitor that they continue doing them correctly (bilateral can be hard). If it is you, you need to practice the movements until you can do them yourself

 

Doing IM in front of a mirror helps alot. For example, when I started my daughters, they had problems with making smooth round movements when clapping. I had them do it in front of a mirror. When doing bilateral hand toe tasks (alternating between tapping hand on hip with tapping opposit toe), they did not keep both sides of their bodies moving evenly and smoothly. Without IM we would play "freeze". We would do the movement together in front of mirror and I would say freeze periodically. We would then compare positions.

 

if Your child has attention problems, you can start introducing external distractions (noises and movements), once she is able to stay on task for at least 15 minutes without distractions

 

If you child has auditory processing problems (mine did), you may find she has difficulty hearing both the guide and reference tones. OR she may initially hear them but "lose" one of the tones when they become too close. You will need to monitor and make sure both tones can be heard during all training. Mine started out hearing both and then somewhere along the line lost one tone. I wasted about a week because I had assumed if you could hear them initially she could always hear them. To fix this I substituted higher quality ear phones, that I had bought for another reason. If you don't have better earphones, you will need to adjust relative volumes of guide and reference tones or use visual option.

 

If your child has some balance problems, anding on one foot and tapping other is very beneficial but very tiring to do for long periods. I bought a Balametrics balance board to use with all hand work. I believe this rapidly speeded up their progress and improved dynamic balance.

 

If your child has working memory issues, you can create a complicated sequence of clapping/tapping to stretch her working memory (eg Clap hands, tap lap, clap hands, clap hands, tap lap, clap hands clap hands clap hands, tap lap, clap hands clap hands, tap lap, clap hands, and so on).

 

You can incorperate dennison brain gym procedures (cross crawl)

As she gets better, you can do other activities directed at your child's deficiency. For example, while clapping, I say matched pairs and ask my daughter to repeat them back (e.g. I say Tip, Pip and she responds Tip Pip). Letter or numerals and have her write them while tapping her opposing foot.

 

If your child has reading fluency issues, you can have child read words or syllables to beat of metronome. If you do this, I recommend getting Oxton Press Phonic drill sheets.

 

carol

[LizzyBee]

We went to the OT's office to do IM. They were constantly evaluating her. They would have her do IM in short increments, then take her to the hall or sensory room and do exercises that used the IM training. The OT told me that they could do 45 minutes of IM and we'd have a kid who was really good at tapping out rhythms, but instead they want to have the kids use and apply the information immediately so that the IM training carries over to their everyday activities. So, that would be my only concern about doing it at home.

[Misty]

My biggest concern would be that Interactive Metronome is HARD.. It's long and tiresome and there will be meltdowns and begging to quit, etc.. You won't have that at the doctor's office.

 

My girls have all done IM with a psychologist with wonderful improvements. My 7yr old just started it back up. We drive about 35 minutes one way to get to our sessions, but it's very much worth it.

 

Our insurance also pays 100% of our sessions, but that would not be the case if we were to purchase it for home use.

[wapiti]

I don't mean to hijack, but have a couple of questions about IM, if anyone happens to know:

 

Does IM help processing speed, and/or speed of motor movements (any, gross or fine, but specifically handwriting/marking test sheet bubbles, etc. - e.g., what is involved in the coding subtest on the WISC)?

 

Does IM help the speed of, say, responding to a command? (assume that the cause of the delay is unknown, whether it be auditory processing or processing speed)

 

I really don't have time for IM in my life LOL, and Dh would just about kill me, but I have long thought it might be very helpful for one of my kids (and possibly others, though the benefit may not balance with the cost there).

 

thanks for any thoughts :)

[Guest fbeauley]

Does anyone have IM equipment for sale??