07 Feb
Best Practices, Early Intervention, Enhancement, IM Blog, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Success

We are Proud to Announce Our February Provider of the Month

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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.
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02 Feb
Best Practices, IM Blog, Success

Setting your 2023 Goals

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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.
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06 Dec
Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Learning Disability, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Sensory Integration/ Sensory Processing Disorder, Speech & Langage Deficits

Use of the Interactive Metronome in the Rehab Setting

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Prior research utilizing kinematic analysis & functional MRI have shown that Interactive Metronome (IM) training facilitates measurable and statistically significant improvements in golf shot accuracy (distance to the pin) and substantial improvement in performance consistency (Sommer &  Rönnqvist, 2009;   Sommer et al., 2014).  In the present study, 20 professional female golfers from the KLPGA participated in a randomized, controlled study comparing the effect of IM training (35-40 min, twice weekly for 6 weeks) to spending more time playing the game of golf (increasing golf playing time by an additional 35-40 min twice weekly for 6 weeks).   The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of IM on swing speed during putting, which was specifically executed at a distance of 2-5m, which has been previously determined to set apart elite golfers who achieve a par or birdie compared to those that demonstrate only about a 10% success rate (Pelz, 2000). Golf putting movements and brain activity were analyzed using Kinovea Software and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). Performance variability (or consistency) was measured as the standard deviation of mean swing speed (SSD) during 3 sections of the swing: backswing, backswing-impact, and impact-finish.
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Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Learning Disability, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Sensory Integration/ Sensory Processing Disorder, Speech & Langage Deficits

New Reseach! Published in Human Movement Science!

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Prior research utilizing kinematic analysis & functional MRI have shown that Interactive Metronome (IM) training facilitates measurable and statistically significant improvements in golf shot accuracy (distance to the pin) and substantial improvement in performance consistency (Sommer &  Rönnqvist, 2009;   Sommer et al., 2014).  In the present study, 20 professional female golfers from the KLPGA participated in a randomized, controlled study comparing the effect of IM training (35-40 min, twice weekly for 6 weeks) to spending more time playing the game of golf (increasing golf playing time by an additional 35-40 min twice weekly for 6 weeks).   The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of IM on swing speed during putting, which was specifically executed at a distance of 2-5m, which has been previously determined to set apart elite golfers who achieve a par or birdie compared to those that demonstrate only about a 10% success rate (Pelz, 2000). Golf putting movements and brain activity were analyzed using Kinovea Software and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). Performance variability (or consistency) was measured as the standard deviation of mean swing speed (SSD) during 3 sections of the swing: backswing, backswing-impact, and impact-finish.
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07 Sep
Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Learning Disability, Pediatric, Provider of the Month, Sensory Integration/ Sensory Processing Disorder, Speech & Langage Deficits

Interactive Metronome ® is featured in THE HEALING JOURNAL

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Interactive Metronome® is featured in THE HEALING JOURNAL! How Feedback Synchronizes the Auditory Brain - by Kraus, Nina, PhD; White-Schwoch, Travis The Hearing Journal: September 2018 - Volume 71 - Issue 9 -p 44,46 doi: 10.1097/01.HJ.0000546269.84810.98 Hearing Matters Making sense of sound is about a lot more than just hearing: The auditory brain is...
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05 Sep
Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Pediatric, Provider of the Month

Interactive Metronome ® is being presented at: Sound Health: Music and the Mind Shaping our Children’s Lives Through Music Engagement an NIH -KENNEDY CENTER PARTNERSHIP

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Interactive Metronome® is being presented at:  Sound Health: Music and the Mind  Shaping our Children's Lives  Through Music Engagement an  NIH -KENNEDY CENTER PARTNERSHIP On Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8, 2018, the National Institutes of Health and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in association with...
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30 Apr
IM Blog, Pediatric

Motivation: How to Motivate a Teenager!

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Wendy Harron is back with a follow-up to her popular piece on motivating children. This time, how to motivate teenagers. Teenagers are going through a period of change, and compounding that with difficult therapy is a recipe for disaster. Find out how to help keep kids working with therapists to achieve everyone's goals.

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14 Jul
Best Practices, Clients, Early Intervention, IM Blog, Interactive Metronome, Pediatric, Provider of the Month

Meet Our 2017 July Provider of the Month! Stephanie M. Foster

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Meet our July 2017 Provider of the Month, Stephanie M. Foster PhD, OTR/L. This accomplished IM Provider, really runs the gamut as far as skills, knowledge and experience. After years of working with clients of all ages and conditions Stephanie decided to open her own practice, called Kid's Work. Her...
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23 Jun
IM Blog, Sports Performance

Meet Tina Blue, the Virgin Island’s 1st IM Provider

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Meet Tina Blue, a world class OT who has been practicing for decades. She moved to the Virgin Islands in 2001 and opened her own practice in 2012. In this article, Tina talks about how she has utilized IM with clients from all walks of life, even some superstar athletes. Read more to find out how Tina has been helping clients get the most out of therapy.

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