Jump to content

Menu

Any experience using a metronome??


EdithRene
 Share

Recommended Posts

DS used IM training with an OT for about 6 weeks to help with EF and learning to sustain focus. The OT claimed that it helps with math and handwriting. DS will be 13 in a few weeks and is changing quite a bit. His tutors, father, and I have seen improvement, but I don't know whether to attribute these changes to maturity or IM. His focus has absolutely improved though.

Edited by Heathermomster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They would be much more useful if they'd quit changing tempo on me... :lol:

 

:D

 

For the op, IM=Interactive Metronome. So anything you read about that online applies. You typically do it through an OT or other practitioner. What they're trying to do is to access and activate the EF (Executive Function) part of the brain. Working memory, sense of time, all sorts of things are controlled by working memory. IM is expensive because they use a special machine and headphones to give the person feedback as to how close they were to the beat. Now we can replicate that, just not as well (no feedback), using a metronome app.

 

Sometimes OTs will want you to do other things first (work on sensory issues, etc.) to get the person in a good place to make the metronome work more effective.

 

Every time we've worked on EF issues, whether via vision therapy or the Linguisystems workbooks or metronome or whatever, we've gotten changes in LIVING and functionality as well. It shows up in things like remembering to feed the dog, just really basic stuff. At this point what I'm trying to get is the ability to hold her thoughts (working memory) and write (motor control) and handle some distractions.

 

Well anyways, that's just to say read more about IM and EF. We've had some lists here on the board for books about EF. IM is fascinating. If you find someone you feel confident in and want to pursue it, that might be good. We did OT with someone who wanted to do IM with her. We stopped because she was so disorganized. I decided imperfect, homemade metronome work was going to be better than no metronome.

 

And no, when my dd was trying to learn piano, she could not play with the metronome. But think about it. They're reading, processing, holding the note (all working memory and processing) AND trying to strike the key (motor control) AND dealing with the distraction of the metronome noise. So my hope or assumption is that by getting all those elements into one potent little therapy session, we're building pathways to get all those things to work together. That seems to be in the spirit of what Yllek's super-fabulous SLP has been doing with her ds. They work on working memory *while* he plays with a toy (motor control and distraction). Good therapy builds neural pathways that weren't there before.

 

I can actually see my dd doing better with the digit spans each session and yelling at her brother (extremely distracting) less, so I know it's working. She can now tolerate him being in the same room if he plays quietly, or he can have the tv on (20 feet away) at the lowest setting without her blowing her top in frustration while she's trying to do her school work. My goal is just to keep going. It's not really therapy work for the sake of increasing digit spans, even though it does. It's more that our kids just start to do the things we always wanted them to do and thought they ought to be able to do that they couldn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are just beginning work with the metronome. We went to see a gal in our area who came highly recommended by a friend. Her daughter jumped 3-4 grade levels in reading by using this program. She does testing, recommends curriculum and exercises and also has her own curriculum. She has articles on her site that you may find helpful.

 

Christian Cottage - Terri Spray

http://www.christiancottage.com/Christian_Cottage/index.html

 

How to Use a Metronome

http://www.christiancottage.com/Christian_Cottage/Learning-Rivers-use-metronome-home-school-reading-learning-therapy-special-needs-writing-training-Teri-Spray.html

 

Blessings,

Trish

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are just beginning work with the metronome. We went to see a gal in our area who came highly recommended by a friend. Her daughter jumped 3-4 grade levels in reading by using this program. She does testing, recommends curriculum and exercises and also has her own curriculum. She has articles on her site that you may find helpful.

 

Christian Cottage - Terri Spray

http://www.christiancottage.com/Christian_Cottage/index.html

 

How to Use a Metronome

http://www.christiancottage.com/Christian_Cottage/Learning-Rivers-use-metronome-home-school-reading-learning-therapy-special-needs-writing-training-Teri-Spray.html

 

Blessings,

Trish

 

Well that's interesting! I bought one of the CCUS unit studies a year or two ago and liked it. She's clearly in the loop of our kids. So did you do any of the other things she lists on that page? Our VT place does PACE. They've brought some of the PACE worksheets into our VT sessions, and they're definitely quite challenging. Our VT place though wants kids to do VT *first*. (They want the vision function working properly so they can build on it.) And did you do that Gibson test? I don't know anything about it and was curious what you learned from it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did "hand over hand" IM with an SLP during the early part of summer. I was not sure what to expect and we saw gains in memory, word/letter retrieval and rapid automatic naming. I honestly wasn't looking for these gains and didn't even realize that they were due to the IM until the SLP mentioned it later.

 

We are now undergoing IM again. This time he is performing the tasks solely himself (the tradional way). I was curious if we would see more improvements in rapid automatic naming and developed a little test (nothing scientific). Yes, we have seen some good gains after 10 sessions.

 

I've seen improvements all around with my son. However, it is hard to determine exactly what therapy/exercise is responsible since we do so many at one time. I can honestly say that IM helped with rapid automatic naming and memory. I don't think he is "average", but certainly much better. I still don't understand it, but I'll take it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did "hand over hand" IM with an SLP during the early part of summer. I was not sure what to expect and we saw gains in memory, word/letter retrieval and rapid automatic naming. I honestly wasn't looking for these gains and didn't even realize that they were due to the IM until the SLP mentioned it later.

 

We are now undergoing IM again. This time he is performing the tasks solely himself (the tradional way). I was curious if we would see more improvements in rapid automatic naming and developed a little test (nothing scientific). Yes, we have seen some good gains after 10 sessions.

 

I've seen improvements all around with my son. However, it is hard to determine exactly what therapy/exercise is responsible since we do so many at one time. I can honestly say that IM helped with rapid automatic naming and memory. I don't think he is "average", but certainly much better. I still don't understand it, but I'll take it!

 

So tell us about this! What do you mean by hand over hand? You mean like a hand-slapping game? And was he doing word retrieval activities while he was doing this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So tell us about this! What do you mean by hand over hand? You mean like a hand-slapping game? And was he doing word retrieval activities while he was doing this?

 

"hand over hand" is where our SLP actually moved my son's hands and feet to the beat. For the hands my son wore the button glove and the headphones while sitting in a chair. Our SLP sat in a chair facing him and took one of his hands in each of her hands and performed the clapping.

Sometimes she clapped his hands together and other times she tapped his hand on his legs. While performing thes hand exercises she worked on memory, articulation, homophones...basically areas that she knew

he had difficulty with. All of his verbal work had to be to the beat.

So, for articulation she would show him a picture and he had to say the word to the beat.

 

For the feet exercises, again my son was sitting in a chair, but our SLP sat on the floor in front of him with the mat on her thighs. This time she held an ankle in each hand and stomped his feet to the beat. During feet exercises she had my son work on his motor skills and following directions.

 

We did this for 3 weeks, one hour a day, every day. The SLP uses IM this way for her younger kids and those kids who aren't ready for traditional

IM. It was very interesting to watch. She reports making some wonderful progress using it.

 

He didn't do any word retrieval exercises during the IM sessions. I noticed his struggles with word retrieval while doing vision therapy homework at the time. After about the 8 session of IM my son made a huge jump in his ability to get letter names out quicker. It was like a switch. We went days with him struggling and then one day he could get the letter names out much, much quicker. I thought it was just a fluke day, but it stuck. I remember at the time thinking "what did he eat today?", "did he take different vitamins". I was really trying to figure out what changed him. It wasn't until weeks later when the SLP told me that IM helped in this area that I made the connection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"hand over hand" is where our SLP actually moved my son's hands and feet to the beat. For the hands my son wore the button glove and the headphones while sitting in a chair. Our SLP sat in a chair facing him and took one of his hands in each of her hands and performed the clapping.

Sometimes she clapped his hands together and other times she tapped his hand on his legs. While performing thes hand exercises she worked on memory, articulation, homophones...basically areas that she knew

he had difficulty with. All of his verbal work had to be to the beat.

So, for articulation she would show him a picture and he had to say the word to the beat.

 

For the feet exercises, again my son was sitting in a chair, but our SLP sat on the floor in front of him with the mat on her thighs. This time she held an ankle in each hand and stomped his feet to the beat. During feet exercises she had my son work on his motor skills and following directions.

 

We did this for 3 weeks, one hour a day, every day. The SLP uses IM this way for her younger kids and those kids who aren't ready for traditional

IM. It was very interesting to watch. She reports making some wonderful progress using it.

 

He didn't do any word retrieval exercises during the IM sessions. I noticed his struggles with word retrieval while doing vision therapy homework at the time. After about the 8 session of IM my son made a huge jump in his ability to get letter names out quicker. It was like a switch. We went days with him struggling and then one day he could get the letter names out much, much quicker. I thought it was just a fluke day, but it stuck. I remember at the time thinking "what did he eat today?", "did he take different vitamins". I was really trying to figure out what changed him. It wasn't until weeks later when the SLP told me that IM helped in this area that I made the connection.

 

Interesting! Thanks for sharing! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

DP, I feel like I'm stalking you! Sorry if you feel the same way ;) We initially did IM in office. Based on the initial assessment, the practitioner recommended 15 sessions. We went 3x/wk for an hr each visit. After that we did about 6 more sessions. The practitioner recommended discontinuing at that time b/c my dd was just not advancing anymore. The initial 15 sessions were $1500, the subsequent sessions were $60/ea.

 

I just took the certification course to become an IM practitioner myself. The instructor said she charged her patients $500 for her services. I can't remember the exact details but I believe that was for 5 weeks of monitoring, program adjustments, and consultations. After that she does things on a courtesy basis unless you need a full session/consultation. She has many clients worldwide.

 

IMHome is a win-win b/c it's cheaper for you and it's more time efficient for the practitioner. You get unlimited minutes (the professional model requires the practitioner to pay for minutes used.) You can use it as often and for as long as you want.

 

HTH!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really wonder if just beat bonding activities (things like tapping on a child's shoulders while they attempt to pat the beat on their lap or the floor (clapping is harder than patting, so patchen is taught first) would help? This really sounds similar to what most early childhood music programs (up to about age 7 or so) stress, and there are a wealth of resources that are used to teach them which might work well, especially in combination with a metronome app. It would certainly be cheaper!

 

Here's one of my favorite resources. I've done some of the movement training with Phyllis Weikart, and she's great. Most of these activities would easily transfer over without problem to more age-appropriate music and rhymes for older kids. When I've had older kids who needed these skills, I've found 50's/60's rock music often works well for this purpose, as does Jack Pretlutsky's poetry.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Movement-Steady-Beat-Learning-Move/dp/157379130X

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there are a wealth of resources that are used to teach them which might work well, especially in combination with a metronome app.
Has anybody found a good app to use with the Interactive Metronome exercises (all published in a research study available online)? I downloaded the free "Pro Metronome" app to my iPod Touch and set the metronome to 54 bpm (as recommended in the study). As I tapped the iPod for each beat, it showed my bpm (e.g., 60 bpm) but it also changed the setting from 54 bpm. Is there another metronome app that can stay at 54 bpm and shows you how many milliseconds you are off after each tap?

 

The instructor said she charged her patients $500 for her services.

:

IMHome is a win-win b/c it's cheaper for you and it's more time efficient for the practitioner. You get unlimited minutes (the professional model requires the practitioner to pay for minutes used.) You can use it as often and for as long as you want.

The total cost I was quoted for IM-Home, shipping, duties/taxes, assessment and weekly contact is over $1,200. I'm disappointed that doing everything at home may not be much savings from what some clinics charge, e.g., one person paid less than $1,000 for 14 sessions in a clinic.

 

Is it true that the IM-Home practitioner has full control over your access and can prevent you from continuing to use it after five weeks? IM-Home requires Internet access and all the use of your own equipment is tracked by both the company and practitioner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Technically I think they could prevent you from accessing your acct, but I'm not sure. I mean its unlimited minutes in the usage, so you'd think you couldn't get shut down. i could see the practitioner not updating your sequences/exercises without a consultation, but i don't see why they'd shut you out completely. If I were you I'd look for a more flexible practitioner. I do know that the practitioner sees your profile, when you get on, how long you're on, etc. she can change your routines, add routines, delete routines, etc.

 

I understand your frustration. Seeing your price quotes frustrates me! I paid over $1800 for my dd's sessions. For me IMHome would have been more feasible at $1100 ($600 for equipment + $500 for a block of consultations.)

 

If I were you I'd look for a more flexible practitioner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the reply. Was IM worth the $1,800 for your DD? Desperate parents like me are suckers to trying unproven alternative interventions, so I'm trying to figure out which alternatives to try out first.

 

I think there are shipping and taxes charged on top of the $599 cost of IM-Home equipment. Can you please PM me the contact information of your instructor who charges $500 training fees worldwide? I've only gotten one quote so far because the other IM practitioners who are supposed to be IM-Home Specialists in my area surprisingly expressed negative results with IM-Home, and tried to sell me their other services with IM-Home not an option! :ohmy: Do you plan to become certified as an IM-Home Specialist yourself?

Seeing your price quotes frustrates me! I paid over $1800 for my dd's sessions. For me IMHome would have been more feasible at $1100 ($600 for equipment + $500 for a block of consultations.)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did metronome training and IM at different times.

 

Ds did a variety of activities with a metronome, arrow, pointing, slapping, stomping, tapping, speaking, all timed to a metronome. These seemed to be great for his EF skills as Elizabeth suggests.

 

Later we did IM training with a wonderful OT. That gave him another boost. While I would say his EF is a little low still, it is probably in the range of normal after much hard work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I equate IM to getting glasses (or a new prescription). You're not blind, you can function, but you're just not at the top of your game kwim. You get your new glasses and it's like a whole new world, but nothing's changed. You saw the tree before, but now you see the leaves on the tree. You read before, but now you don't squint or wish your arm were longer. You didn't realize how out of whack things were...but now you can see detail!

 

IM worked like that for my dd. It's not like she was catatonic one day and an Olympian-Nobel-Prize-Winning-Homecoming-Queen the next. She was more coordinated, answered a bit more quickly, connected the dots more readily. She's still my sweet, socially immature, CAPD kid. But she's more in synch with the world than before.

 

IM helps the brain create neural pathways. Once those pathways are built, the brain can use them for anything. The more pathways we create, the more we can overcome our deficiencies. We'll never be perfect...that's the hard part as a parent, right. We want to "fix" our kids so that they won't have to struggle.

 

Was it worth the money? Yes! Do I believe it's worthwhile? I wouldn't be getting my certification if I didn't. Try your insurance. This is the only therapy mine has paid for so far b/c it's considered an OT. Go figure!

 

Edited: I found April's info. I just took the class a few weekends ago, so I'm sure nothing's changed. However, you'll want to speak with her about actual pricing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

To those who did Interactive Metronome in a clinic, what were the total number of sessions and cost? Has anybody done the IM-Home version ($599), which includes the Wireless Button Trigger, Wireless Tap Mat, USB Cable, Headphones, Large and Small Hand Glove, Software and License Fee?

 

 

Both providers we saw for IM charged per session and the number of sessions depended on the severity of the client. Our first IM provider charged $95 per session. She is an SLP and this is her standard in-office rate regardless of what she is doing. The second IM round was through and OT and her in-network rate was $77.00 per session. Our insurance covered most of this because she is in network.

 

It took us 22 sessions for my son to perform in the normal range for most of the IM activities with the OT. He was considered in the severe range. We sent the scores to our SLP (who is out of state....the reason we didn't use her). She is preparing us to do the program at home when he has better endurance. She thinks he can make even more gains if he can get his reps increased.

 

If you can do it with a provider I would highly recommend it. They will probably have a better time motivating your child. I'm dreading the home program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anybody found a good app to use with the Interactive Metronome exercises (all published in a research study available online)? I downloaded the free "Pro Metronome" app to my iPod Touch and set the metronome to 54 bpm (as recommended in the study). As I tapped the iPod for each beat, it showed my bpm (e.g., 60 bpm) but it also changed the setting from 54 bpm. Is there another metronome app that can stay at 54 bpm and shows you how many milliseconds you are off after each tap?

 

 

 

Ok, I missed this. You have a link? That sounds like some helpful free info! :)

 

Not sure what's being so fussy about the app. That's the same app we use. What did you click? We turn it on and it clanks out the beat and we do our stuff to it. It showed YOUR bpm? How did you do that??

 

And yeah almost everyone I called about IM had either stopped doing it or said the results didn't stick. I think, like another poster said, that you CAN change brainwiring and get some long-term improvements that the dc builds upon and holds. I took it to me that not everyone is equal with this, sorta like all eye docs not being equal. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not an app but it you read music, even basically, you could get a music notation program. You would set the bpm you want and then "play" (in most you can do this with a keyboard so you could use say, the space bar) into it. It will show by the notation that comes up how accurate you are or aren't. Notation programs can be expensive but still much cheaper than $1,800!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, I missed this. You have a link? That sounds like some helpful free info! :)
If you are referring to the free details of the IM exercises, it's on pages 85-89 of Training in timing improves accuracy in golf.

 

Not sure what's being so fussy about the app. That's the same app we use. What did you click? We turn it on and it clanks out the beat and we do our stuff to it. It showed YOUR bpm? How did you do that??
I was hoping that there's an iPod metronome app that can remain at 54 bpm while it gives feedback on my actual bpm each time I tap the iPod. Basically, I was hoping to simulate IM as much as possible without risking $1200-$2K that it is yet another product that does not help my child.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are referring to the free details of the IM exercises, it's on pages 85-89 of Training in timing improves accuracy in golf.

 

I was hoping that there's an iPod metronome app that can remain at 54 bpm while it gives feedback on my actual bpm each time I tap the iPod. Basically, I was hoping to simulate IM as much as possible without risking $1200-$2K that it is yet another product that does not help my child.

 

 

Well I guess go to the chat board here and see if someone has a geek child who has learned to write apps who will do it for you...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are rhythm apps like rhythm training or rhythm cat. They don't do exactly what you want but they do give feedback on whether you are "on beat". I think in rhythm training you can set the beat to what you want as well- but still doing the preset "rhythm". I haven't played with it much to see if you can change that at all though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are rhythm apps like rhythm training or rhythm cat. They don't do exactly what you want but they do give feedback on whether you are "on beat". I think in rhythm training you can set the beat to what you want as well- but still doing the preset "rhythm". I haven't played with it much to see if you can change that at all though.

 

 

Wow, thanks for sharing that! I didn't know there was such a thing, but it makes sense!

 

BTW, if you do the metronome exercises *with* your dc and one of you happens to be off, then you have insta-correction there. Apparently I'm always off by a bit. I can't hear it, but dd says I am. Go figure. Drives her crazy. I just don't think this IM imitation has to be done perfectly to give benefit. I read through those IM exercises, and they seem really primitive compared to the multi-faceted approach of what we were doing. If that's 80% of what they do in IM, then I definitely think there's room to take it further or customize.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just started searching per Laughing Cat's instructions, and indeed there ARE rhythm trainers that will give you feedback! Timing Trainer Pro gives you percentage feedback. I'll keep looking. I don't know if there's one that gives you *immediate* feedback like IM. Once you find that, you've got the boondoggle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, check out Time Trainer Metronome. This one has cow bells!! :smilielol5:

 

It has a bunch of other nifty things it will do too. Might add some spicy to monotonous metronome work sessions... Has settings where it will give you blank spaces (random or predictable) where you keep time and try to be with it when it comes back. Has some more options too. Anyways, just for the other types of sounds it would be fun. (cowbells, xylophone, etc.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've been doing activities like clapping, tapping and walking to the metronome too. We also leave it on in the background while we do other work. My son really can't tell whether he is on beat or not. I often clap or tap his hands/feet for him so he can feel it. My question is this - without computerized feedback about being on or off beat, will his rhythm improve? We haven't been at it for that long but I am just wondering what to expect?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plus that Timing Trainer and Beat Sneak Bandit look great - I must have been putting something that led me down a more music related path when I was searching. There were two others I saw along the music lines that I couldn't remember the names of earlier: Treble Clef Kids - Rhythm and Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer. I haven't downloaded either of those though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have Brain Safari and I know that it incoroporates some sort of timing and tapping. I haven't looked at it in a year so not sure how much focus is on it.

 

I know when we did IM we had to do it at least 3 times a week for about 50 minutes each time. Both our providers stressed that this was necessary to achieve the brain rewiring. This seems to be the case for most neuro work that I read about. Frequency, intensity and repetition seem to be key.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...