My readers know that I am a huge fan of Quickshifts in treatment. I have had some amazing successes with Quickshifts for regulation and modulation. Their focus on combining binaural beat technology with instrumentation, rhythm, melody and tone makes these albums effective, and it eliminates the challenges of modulated music for very young or fragile kids. But many parents (and a few therapists!) think that if a child doesn’t have severe sensory processing issues, then therapeutic listening isn’t going to be helpful.
That indicates that they don’t understand the principles and the rationale for the use of therapeutic listening.
Since every movement pattern has rhythm and sequence, it is completely logical that enhancing brain function with an emphasis on a calm-alert state with music will affect movement quality. (This includes speech. Speech is a highly skilled series of very small movements in a precise sequence! )
I am currently treating a toddler who experienced encephalopathy in infancy. A virus affected the functioning of his brain. The residual low muscle tone and praxis issues are directly improved by using Gravitational Grape in sessions. He is safer and shows more postural activation while listening. Endurance while standing and walking is significantly improved.
Another client with low tone has Prader-Willi syndrome. Her movements are so much more sequenced with the Bilateral Control album. Her ability to shift her weight while moving is significantly better during and immediately after listening.
All of us are more skilled when we are in the calm-alert (alpha brainwave) state that Qucikshifts entrain. For people without motor or sensory issues, alpha states can help us think clearly and organize our thought and movement for higher level performance. For children with movement control issues, it can improve their safety and stability. They move with greater ease. Therapy sessions are more productive, and play or school functioning is less work.
Due to COVID-19, I have been forced to do telehealth and use therapeutic listening with more children, rather than rely on equipment or complex sensory processing activities. The silver lining is that parents are more involved in my sessions and can see what benefits this treatment is having on their children. When social distancing retreats, I hope that therapeutic listening will be seen for the powerful treatment it most definitely can be!
