Special Report: The Interactive Metronome (IM) and ADHD

National Time Management Month is celebrated during February each year. February is the perfect month to focus on time management skills with your clients. Time management is not as complex or difficult as it seems. When children learn time management early in life, they tend to do so for the rest of their lives. Time management in students helps them achieve their academic and recreational goals. It also teaches them to be independent and productive.

Children diagnosed with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have difficulty staying on task and staying organized, all of which can make time management challenging. This is because of the way the brain tends to process things when a person is living with ADHD.

We are Proud to Announce Our February Provider of the Month

Dr. Susan Zapf is an Occupational Therapist and Assistive Technology Professional with over 27 years of experience working with the pediatric population in both private practice and the school-based settings. She is an entrepreneur and is the Owner and Clinical of The Children’s Therapy Center, Inc., a prominent pediatric sensory integration clinic in Houston, Texas. Dr. Zapf is also the Owner and President of Children’s Journey to Shine, Inc, an educational training company that educates healthcare professionals on assistive technology assessment and service delivery and provides therapy services that utilize animals and nature as tools in therapy. Dr. Zapf is the President of Reining Potential of Texas, a non-profit organization that uses the horse in occupational therapy services. Dr. Zapf is adjunct faculty for the Ph.D. Pediatric Science track at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah, and teaches a course on assistive technology. As an occupational therapist, she is passionate about helping children and their families develop skills to reach their full potential and she believes that occupational therapy, assistive technology, and animals can be powerful interventions to assist in this process.

Setting your 2023 Goals

Now that you have settled into the new year, have you set professional goals for yourself? Professional goals are the actionable steps you need to take to grow in your career. Ask yourself that elusive job interview question: “where do you see yourself and your career in five years?”, then build your goals from there. Below are 3 professional development goals where Interactive Metronome may be of help.

Latest Research: How Rhythmic Skills Relate and Develop in School-Age Children

In this first study of its kind, Bonacina et al. provide evidence for how rhythmic skills interconnect and develop in school-age children. Of particular interest is the finding that children who clapped to a beat during the Interactive Metronome (IM) condition, while receiving feedback for millisecond timing, demonstrated the least variability in their synchronization and performed better on all of the other rhythm activities evaluated. Rhythm is complicated, there are several rhythm intelligences, and IM alone impacts all of the vital rhythms that are so important to the development of language and literacy.

Neurologists

Neurologists Problems with sensory feedback and integration are generally associated with neurological conditions. Neurological disorders can extend into areas of memory, language/speech, processing, attention, planning and sequencing. Additionally, most disorders[...]

Are You Reinforcing a Strength or Improving a Weakness with Your IM Training Plan?

Check it out! Amy Vega, MS CCC-SLP and IM’s Clinical Education Director, Clinical Advisory Board Director and Clinical Education Administrator shares with us the importance of focusing on a clients strength to impact[...]

IM Games Create a Platform for Engagement and Success with Sensory Integration

Check it out! IM is featured in the book “When Kids Fly! Solutions for Children with Sensory Integration Challenges” by Sally Fryer Dietz, PT, CST-D. IM Provider, clinic owner and[...]

Helping Hard Hitters!

Do you have patients that are hard hitters? We are here to help! We are here to provide you with a few helpful hints and share how other clinicians like[...]

Restoring Hope with Interactive Metronome!

Sean was adopted at nine months old, now 11 years old, lives with his mother, father, and two sisters. For much of his life, Sean has suffered from mood swings,[...]

IM and Other Treatment Modalities

We sometimes get asked about how IM works with other treatment modalities - and while each situation is unique, our Clinical Education Director, Amy Vega sheds some light on IM and the DORE Program.