Guidance shows improvement in children with Pervasive Developmental Delay
I have had the opportunity of working with many children who are diagnosed with PDD. The diagnosis in general seems to have a very wide range of abilities and areas that are affected. I have found in my area (Northeastern part of the country), that these children seem to fall somewhere between those who are diagnosed with Autism, and those diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. So their responses to using the Interactive Metronome have been very similar, with great progress in a shorter amount of time.
Some of my patients are very sports oriented. When we start IM, I tell them all about how professional sports teams such as the Miami Dolphins or the golf pro ViJay Singh use IM as part of their training to improve and enhance their performance. Every once in a while, I get a patient who just really “gets on a roll” and makes improvements very quickly earning lots of “bursts” (so many consecutive super right on the beat hits).
Bill was one of those kids. He just loved beating his scores during every visit. He got the idea in his head, that he wanted to reach 1000 bursts before he completed his sessions. Every visit, Bill would request to perform various exercise that he knew he was good at, just to increase his number of bursts so he could reach his goal. Now a kiddo (who happened to have Asperger’s syndrome and ADHD) who has set his mind to something is very difficult to stop!...
Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), also called Nonverbal Learning Disability, is a developmental disability which all too often goes undiagnosed. Individuals with this potentially debilitating disorder generally suffer in silence...
A few weeks ago, I met an 8-year-old called Samantha who absolutely could not sit still unless it was in front of the computer and she was playing her chosen games. When she came to the Occupational Therapy Evaluation, she refused to do most tasks on the standardized testing, and could not sit for more than a minute before she was up and running around the room. Even with parental guidance, she continued to refuse to participate and was just falling apart at the seams. Her mother reported that this was what a typical school day was like for this child.
A few years ago, she had received a diagnosis of a Sensory Integration disorder, and had attended therapy. Then, when she started school, she was discharged with a good sensory diet, but family let it go by the wayside over time. As symptoms began to emerge again over time, they didn’t think about restarting sensory diet activities, and behavior got out of control in all of her environments. Because the family wanted to try to keep her calm, she got anything she asked for, was able to decide her own bed time, what she ate at every meal and what she got to do during her playtime – which was almost always sitting in front of the computer. Her...
Principal Julie Sterner's injury impaired her ability to read and multitask after falling in a bounce house. She said therapy helped her become herself again.
York, PA - Last summer, Julie Sterner broke down in the ice-cream aisle at a grocery store. She couldn't remember what she wanted to buy. The bright lights, people and choices were too much for her mind to handle. She felt overwhelmed and panicked.
"I didn't know how to get out," Sterner said.
In April, the 33-year-old fell in an inflatable bounce house during a Dover Area Senior High School event.
Sterner -- principal at Dover Intermediate School -- hooked up to an elastic cord to race a student. She lay on the inflated floor after she slipped and the band snapped her body backward to the ground. She felt groggy as pain circled her head. She thought she was OK, so she went home and slept. She awoke the next day with a headache and felt fatigued.
“IM not only gave me back my life - it became a part of my life”
Joanne had no idea what was in store for her when her daughter enrolled her grandchildren into one of my IM programs. As the weeks went by and the children started to show dramatic signs of improvement, her daughter’s plan to help her began to unfold. It started with an innocent e-mail “I see how much IM is helping my children, do you think it could help my mother?” - and so the plot began to thicken...
Fastening New Skills with the Interactive Metronome - George’s Story.
George is a 78-year-old man, receiving Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy to address functional movement problems as a result of his moderate to severe Parkinson’s disease.
As an OT new to the IM program I was interested to see whether the program would help to alleviate the tremor in both of his hands as he tried in vain to manage his fasteners, buttons and zippers when dressing. I knew from experience that helping clients in this area with traditional therapy techniques (repetition/adaptation/compensation) was often arduous, frustrating and time-consuming.
Undaunted, I looked to the fact that the IM program had helped with many of my clients who had motor problems and set out enthusiastically to help George to “fine tune” his fine motor skills.
I’ve been an OT for 20 years now and have seen many patients with the diagnosis of Developmental Delay. As these children age, some of them do “catch up” but others tend to develop at their own pace. Sometimes other syndromes or conditions or influences are impacting these children as well. One day a mother was talking to me after our OT session and she stated – “He is just marching to the beat of his own drummer!” and that has stuck with me for the past 15 or so years. Well, that statement in itself has a rhythmical reference to it, so I thought why not try IM with some of my patients who had Developmental Delays and see if it would be helpful.
A 12-year-old boy was my first prospect. I had known him and worked with him since he was 18 months old. I reviewed with mom what I had learned, and let her know that I thought this might be a good option for her son who was struggling in school and was very slow and awkward in general. She agreed, knowing that at the very least it would be a good workout for him and that he would have to do some good motor planning during the tasks. She committed to coming in 2x/week before school...
When Brenda and Richard Davis talk about their 9-year-old son, Aaron, they find it impossible to hold back their tears.
A year ago, Aaron, who was diagnosed at age 5 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, had difficulty making eye contact and having a conversation. He couldn’t follow directions and was lagging behind in school by several years.
That began to change last spring after the Davises heard about Interactive Metronome and decided to see if it would help their son. Interactive Metronome is a clinically proven computer-based assessment and treatment tool that has helped children with developmental challenges improve their cognitive, behavioral, social and motor skills.
“We had resigned ourselves that he would live with us and not hold a job or go to college,” Brenda said, as tears spilled down her cheek. “Now, he’s going to go to college, and he’s going to be successful.”
This is one of our most AMAZING success stories involving a TBI patient
Kelly Buggle suffered a TBI from a car accident when she was a senior in high school. Her injuries included upper body trauma, fracture of both arms, broken vertebrates, cracked ribs, and the list went on. Because Kelly had so many physical injuries her TBI went unnoticed at first. Once Kelly recovered physically he family and friends started to notice that she couldn’t identify simple objects like a “microwave.” Prior to the accident Kelly was at the top of her math class and afterwards she couldn’t even do simple addition. In addition she couldn’t comprehend what others were saying to her and felt hopeless...watch her video testimonial...
We’re social people – we invite you to keep in touch with us. Follow us and be the first to hear news, get updates, media stories, press releases, special offers and more!
I have had the opportunity of working with many children who are diagnosed with PDD. The diagnosis in general seems to have a very wide range of abilities and areas that are affected. I have found in my area (Northeastern part of the country), that these children seem to fall somewhere between those who are diagnosed with Autism, and those diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. So their responses to using the Interactive Metronome have been very similar, with great progress in a shorter amount of time.
Some of my patients are very sports oriented. When we start IM, I tell them all about how professional sports teams such as the Miami Dolphins or the golf pro ViJay Singh use IM as part of their training to improve and enhance their performance. Every once in a while, I get a patient who just really “gets on a roll” and makes improvements very quickly earning lots of “bursts” (so many consecutive super right on the beat hits).
Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), also called Nonverbal Learning Disability, is a developmental disability which all too often goes undiagnosed. Individuals with this potentially debilitating disorder generally suffer in silence...
A few weeks ago, I met an 8-year-old called Samantha who absolutely could not sit still unless it was in front of the computer and she was playing her chosen games. When she came to the Occupational Therapy Evaluation, she refused to do most tasks on the standardized testing, and could not sit for more than a minute before she was up and running around the room. Even with parental guidance, she continued to refuse to participate and was just falling apart at the seams. Her mother reported that this was what a typical school day was like for this child.
Principal Julie Sterner's injury impaired her ability to read and multitask after falling in a bounce house. She said therapy helped her become herself again.
George is a 78-year-old man, receiving Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy to address functional movement problems as a result of his moderate to severe Parkinson’s disease. 
I’ve been an OT for 20 years now and have seen many patients with the diagnosis of Developmental Delay. As these children age, some of them do “catch up” but others tend to develop at their own pace. Sometimes other syndromes or conditions or influences are impacting these children as well. One day a mother was talking to me after our OT session and she stated – “He is just marching to the beat of his own drummer!” and that has stuck with me for the past 15 or so years. Well, that statement in itself has a rhythmical reference to it, so I thought why not try IM with some of my patients who had Developmental Delays and see if it would be helpful.
When Brenda and Richard Davis talk about their 9-year-old son, Aaron, they find it impossible to hold back their tears.
Kelly Buggle suffered a TBI from a car accident when she was a senior in high school. Her injuries included upper body trauma, fracture of both arms, broken vertebrates, cracked ribs, and the list went on. Because Kelly had so many physical injuries her TBI went unnoticed at first. Once Kelly recovered physically he family and friends started to notice that she couldn’t identify simple objects like a “microwave.” Prior to the accident Kelly was at the top of her math class and afterwards she couldn’t even do simple addition. In addition she couldn’t comprehend what others were saying to her and felt hopeless...watch her video testimonial...