I went to a conference last weekend in Greece entitled Colour, Sound,
Movement, and Exercise in acquiring learning. It was an amazing lineup of
presenters, and there were some methods and theories that might be useful to
you. Here's an overview of the lectures (in the order they presented):
1. Yair Schiftan (Switzerland) presented on his method called Musica
Medica, which is a type of Auditory Integration Therapy that also uses
vibration to improve processing and decrease pain. The therapy is provided
several times per week for several months.
2. Sally Goddard and Peter Blythe (UK) presented on their
neurodevelopmental programme from the Institute of Neurophysiology of
Psychology (INPP). Like NLP, the premise is to retrain the body to work
through the phases of shutting down instincts like palmar reflexes, etc. An
interesting thing about INPP is that they've created a system of exercise
that an entire class can do. They assess the students and design a
programme based on the children who need it, but all the children
participate. It's ten minutes a day for a school year. I asked about
introducing it for older kids (pre-teens/teens) and she said they present it
to the students as a way to make them better at sports, so that there's
minimal resistance. (And I'm sure it's true -- it's such slow movements
that there's probably amazing isometric exercise involved.)
3. Cheri Florance (USA-NY) presented on her theory and programme called
Maverick Mind. She identifies a subset of kids with autism who actually
don't have autism at all, but instead have an overactive visual memory that
shuts down the abilitiy for verbal memory/speech. Her website apparently
has a pre-test, and if your child has this Maverick Mind, she can set up a
program and consult with you via the web. She says a quick pre-screen is if
both Mom and Dad are visual thinkers -- artists, doctors, musicians,
veterinarians, etc.
4. Helen Irlen (USA-CA) and James Billett (UK) presented on Irlen Syndrome,
a visual processing disorder common to autism, dyslexia, and ADD/ADHD that
causes distortions in the perception of printed materials and the general
environment, making reading uncomfortable, even painful. Treatment involves
using coloured plastic overlays and/or tinted glasses. (Side note, I'm a
screener for the general population; James diagnoses people with autism and
will come to Israel. Contact me if you'd like him to come for your child.)
5. Mikhail Lazarev (RU) presented on Sonatal, his method of music therapy
for the unborn child. Although designed originally to treat bronchial
asthma in at-risk fetuses, the extensive research showed a marked decrease
in many other disorders and earlier reaching of developmental milestones.
The program is for unborns up to 10-year-olds.

--
Dena Page, M.Ed., CBA
Certified Irlen Screener
Certified Auditory Integration Therapy (DAA) Practitioner
Certified Behaviour Analyst
054 812 5973


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