Therapeutic Listening® (TL) is an expansion of Sensory Integration (SI). It is an auditory intervention that uses the organized sound patterns inherent in music to impact all levels of the nervous system. Auditory information from Therapeutic Listening® CDs provides direct input to both the vestibular and the auditory portions of the vestibular-cochlear continuum. The emphasis of TL is on blending sound intervention strategies with vestibulo-proprioceptive, core development, and breath activities so as to sustain grounding and centering of the body and mind in space and time. Providing these postural, movement, and respiratory activities as part of the TL program is critical.
Therapeutic Listening® utilizes numerous CDs that vary in musical style, types of filtering, and level of complexity. The music on Therapeutic Listening® CDs is electronically altered to elicit the orienting response which sets up the body for sustained attention and active listening. Above taken from Vital Links 2006 Newsletter
Therapeutic Listening® coupled with SI tends to speed the emergence of:
- Attention
- Organized Behavio
- Self regulation
- Postural control
- Bilateral coordination
- Praxis
- Fine motor control
- Oral motor/articulation
- Social skills
- Communication
- Visual motor integration
For more details on the Therapeutic Listening® program including case studies see this brief introduction to Therapeutic Listening.
There is a new peer-reviewed article on the effectiveness of Therapeutic Listening in the March/April 2007 issue of The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. In this article, Leah Hall (MS, OTR/L) and Jane Case-Smith (EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA) explored the effect of Therapeutic Listening® on children with sensory processing disorders and visual-motor delays.
Therapeutic Listening has always been embedded in the sensory integration framework. This article provides new evidence for the wisdom of that approach. Highlights of the article are provided below.
CLICK HERE for a two-page printable summary (in PDF format).
CLICK HERE to go to the AJOT website and view an online abstract, or to print the full article.