myboyluvsdinos Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Hi all, My ds, 13, just finished 8 weeks of Interactive Metronome. I know many are considering it, so thought I'd give a quick account of how it went for us. For background, ds is (was -- Barton saved him) severely dyslexic and dysgraphic, with low processing speed and working memory. According to the neuropsych, he is not ADD, but certainly struggles with time management. He is also very bright. We did IM with an OT who is a certified IM provider in a COVD optometrist's office -- they evaluate and treat together. We pursued this therapy because my ds is a very slow processor, and homework was taking forever in the evenings. I homeschooled him for three years, and he is now in 7th grade at a rigorous private school. He has also struggled with word retrieval, etc. Anyhow, I am delighted to report that we have seen some changes in processing speed and working memory! Ds is definitely able to complete his schoolwork quicker. I did not tell his teachers we were doing the therapy, but near the end asked them if they had noticed any changes in him. His math/science teacher said he was no longer the last child to complete his practice problems on his whiteboard (3 or 4 were now slower), and he was no longer the last child to complete his tests. He was required to outline chapters in history, which was extremely difficult for him. He was now able to actually outline faster than the teacher's lecture. At home, he went from spending 2-4 hours on homework, to an average of 1 hour. He is quite level-headed and aware of the placebo affect, but still felt he was benefiting. He felt that before the IM, his processing speed was a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. Upon completion, he rated it a 7+. The IM provider did her own before and after tests, which showed the following: Visual modality - went from 16% to 37% Auditory Modality - 21% to 34% Delayed Recall - 37% to 75% Word fluency - 16% to 70% Now, being the skeptic that I am, I decided to have a neuropsych administer just the working memory and processing speed sections of the WISC IV to see if there was more "objective proof" that his speed had improved. Even though I believed it had, I was curious if those numbers would go up as a result of the therapy. And since ds has had 3 evals over the years, I had lots of previous numbers to compare to. :) So, from his latest testing in June 2011, his working memory was 86, and his processing speed was 80. Last week, on the same test, his working memory was 91, and his processing speed was 94. That increase from 80 to 94 in his processing speed is significant, as it's almost a standard deviation. Anyhow, I was pleased with those results and felt that having an objective 3rd party test him was further proof that it actually helped. The OT said IM has a cumulative effect, and that she would expect improvements to continue over the course of the next year. I may just test him again in a year out of curiousity. She did say that ds was an extremely hard worker at IM, and that she felt she really maxed him out as much as possible in the program. While she thinks some kids can benefit from a "tune-up" in another 6 months, she felt that ds would not need that as she had made the program as difficult as possible for him. So, I hope that by sharing our experience, it may help someone else. Obviously each child is very different, but I know that I appreciate hearing others' experiences. Hope this is helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aanj Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Thanks for posting. We are definitely considering it. I wonder why its not a better know therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Were those scores you gave for processing speed #s or %iles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myboyluvsdinos Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 I WISH they were percentiles! :laugh: The WISC-IV scores are composites. So his processing speed of 94 is the 34th%, up from the 9th%. And working memory of 91 is the 27th%, up from 18th%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Well that's awesome progress, I'm definitely impressed!!! :party: :party: :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aanj Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 How many times a week did you do the IM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myboyluvsdinos Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 Twice a week for an hour. You can't really do IM straight for an hour -- they need breaks. But they would work hard for an hour with little breaks in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValRN Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 :bigear: New to this (long story). DS was evaluated by a neuropsych 3/15/13 and was diagnosed gifted (98th %ile) with about 4 standard deviants. He also has ADHD - inattentive type, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia. He recommended meds, but I'm looking into alternative treatments/therapies. Just as I begin to think that maybe I have homeschooling figured out for my family (I know, one never really figures out homeschooling), I get his with this curve ball. Now it's back to the drawing board. I'm trying to learn everything I can about everything before I make any decisions on how to treat my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herekittykitty Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 That's great news! I have considered IM but we decided to do Neuronet first. Did you do the IM home in between sessions, or just the sessions with the provider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myboyluvsdinos Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 I looked into the IM Home first, but couldn't find someone to oversee it in our area. So just did the sessions in-office with the provider. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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