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Auditory Integration Training and Children with Autism

Introduction

Auditory Integration Training (AIT) by creator, Dr. Guy Berard, is a 10-day non-invasive program that helps with the way the brain processes auditory information.  AIT uses different sound frequencies that are combined with relaxing music to help your child's brain make new connections with the way their brain interprets the sounds they hear.  AIT has been successful working with children on the Autism Spectrum who have a difficult time with speech language development and sensory issues.  AIT can be used at home by having your child listen twice a day for 30 minutes each with the provided headphones.  Dr. Guy Berard recommends that your child be 3 years old before trying AIT.

Participants listen to specially modulated music through an instrument called an Earducator™ during the training sessions.  The process is non-intrusive and rarely are there instances where participants become uncomfortable.  It is a very relaxed environment.  This information was provided by the IDEA Training Center web site.

Dr. Alfred Tomatis is the creator of another modulated listening program called Sound Stimulation.  This program is only Mozart music and Gregorian Chant with an added feature of the mother's voice in utero.  The younger children will be able to enjoy sensory activities while listening to music while the older ones will practice reading and other focusing materials to improve auditory processing.  The Tomatis initial training is one 2-week training with a short interim period and another 2-week training.  Home equipment called the lift is available after the initial training.  Further information can be found at the main center in Toronto.

Related Sites

The Listening Centre
Description:  The Listening Centre helps develop and improve communication skills using the Tomatis method.

Beard AIT Web Site
Description:  This is the official website for Auditory Integration Training. This website with give you the information you need to find qualified professionals trained in the Berard Method in addition to podcasts, articles, and current studies about AIT.

Auditory Integration Training
Description:  This site explains how AIT normalizes the hearing, sense and brain processes. This therapy is a 10 day intensive listening program using filtered and modulated music. It is retraining the brain and changing lives.

Dr. Guy Berard’s Web Site
Description:  Dr. Guy Berard’s website provides his personal story and additional information about Auditory Integration Training process.

Books

When Listening Comes Alive: A Guide to Effective Learning and Communication by Paul Madaule
Description:  When Listening Comes Alive by Paul Madaule is an amazing personal account of the author who, with the help of French doctor Alfred Tomatis M.D. and Sound Stimulation Therapy (Tomatis method) cured him of dyslexia. The Listening Centre in Toronto is where Dr. Madaule works and helps hundreds of children with autism yearly by listening to Mozart music and the Gregorian chant.

Hearing Equals Behavior: Updated and Expanded Edition by Guy Berard, MD, and Sally Brockett, MS
Description:  Hearing Equals Behavior is written by Guy Berard MD, the founder of Auditory Integration Therapy, and Sally Brockett one of his students who has worked with autism since the mid 90s. The book outlines how the therapy works, what the training program requires from each family with each child, and what benefits the child might incur.

The Sound of a Miracle by Annabel Stehli
Description:  The Sound of a Miracle is the author’s personal account of her institutionalized daughter with autism during the 1960’s when autism was not even understood. The author began auditory training with her daughter in Switzerland and wrote this book on her daughter’s journey to recovery out of the world of autism through auditory training.

Tools

Berard Auditory Integration Training Video
Description:  This YouTube slide show provides information and examples of AIT.

Auditory Integration Training: The MIND Research Network Project
Description:  This downloadable presentation will provide an overview of Auditory Integration Training. The presentation will include a discussion of the history and application of AIT and an overview of recent brain imaging data related to the impact of AIT.

Comparison Tool for Listening Programs
Description:  A helpful guide comparing the various Listening Program methods.

Auditory Integration Training (Guy Berard MD AIT): What Is AIT and How It Works in Two Weeks
Description:  How children with hypersensitive hearing can train their ears to process sounds and information in their brain so they can hear without experiencing pain, process language better and calm down their hyperactive nervous system.

Parent Forums/Blogs

Some forums require you to sign in to Yahoo or Facebook to locate forum names.

Forum/Blog Name:  Auditory Integration Training
Description:  This blog is about one family’s story of doing Auditory Integration Training with their child with autism and the successful outcome.

Forum/Blog Name:  Tomatis Method: Brain’s Way of Healing
Description:  This is the Tomatis blog which discusses the many ways of improving auditory processing, listening, learning and communication.

Forum/Blog Name:  Auditory Integration Training
Description:  Auditory Integration Training remediates impairments in auditory discrimination (sound sensitivity and auditory distortion) associated with autism, learning disabilities, and related disorders.

Forum/Blog Name:  Noise Control: 11 Tips for Helping your Child with Autism Deal with Noise
Description:  This blog lists 11 ways to help a highly sensitive person cope with everyday noise.