How an Assessment can help You
Therapy not Labels
Many parents who contact the Sound Learning Centre have already spent years speaking to educational experts and health care professionals. All of which have been keen to pin a label on their child but none of them have been able to offer what parents really want for their child – therapies .
“The effect of the therapy is brilliant. … His temper tantrums have stopped.”
The Sound Learning Centre provides a variety of therapies that are carefully chosen for the child based on the results of a full assessment. Therapies including Auditory Integration Training, Lightwave Stimulation and Neuro-developmental Programmes. These non-conventional therapies tackle the sensory and coordination issues that are often the causes of the outburst and unpredictable behaviour that child with education problems exhibit.
The Personal Touch
An assessment at Sound Learning Centre is not like a visit to a doctor or educational physiologist. We take our time to make the child comfortable and relaxed, taking breaks whenever they are needed. We also explain to the parents what we are doing and why. All this takes time, normally two to three hours, but at the end of it we have an understanding of your child and their problems.
For more information about how we may help, please see the Therapies section of our website
or Contact us by telephone or email.
I’m and Adult, Can You Help Me?
All our assessment and therapy protocols work with adults as well as children and we understand that education problems in adults causes as many difficulties in everyday life as they do for children. That is why we take as much care in the assessment and therapy of adults as we do with the children passing through our doors. Our staff find it hugely rewarding to work with adults. To see someone who has struggled with a problem for twenty years or more walk out of the Centre, looking forward to their future is unbelievable.
“I always thought you were stupid H, but mum was right, you are intelligent” – Sister of a 15 year old client.
Based on Science and Experience
The therapies offered by the Sound Learning Centre are non-conventional and we are happy to admit it because so many of our clients have been failed by the mainstream educational and health systems. However our therapies are based on scientific research and many years experience. Pauline and Phil founded the centre to help parents because they understood the frustration, anger and desperation parents feel when a child has a problem. If Phil and Pauline did not see the therapies working with their own eyes they would not offer them.
“I could not understand how a child this dyslexic could improve in reading and spelling so dramatically in such a short period.” – Educational Psychologist
Since founding the Centre in 1994, Pauline and Phil’s commitment to helping children and their parents remains just as strong and passionate as it always has done. They have hundreds of success stories and testimonials. Pauline has regularly appeared on TV and radio alongside parents and children whose lives have been changed by the therapy the Sound Learning Centre offers.
Sensitivity
A new born child is overwhelmed with sensual signals: Noise, light, the feel of clothes and blankets, hunger, thirst, hot and cold. Slowly the infant learns to ignore most of these signals, focusing only those that are important. In time the child can make out distinct sounds of voices, gaining understanding and eventually learn to speak.
But not all children’s development progresses so smoothly.
“Everything was blurred before. Now I can hear myself in class without having to wait to see what the others are doing.”
Some children never learn to ignore the overwhelming mass of signals coming from the world around them. These children cannot ignore background noise so they struggle to make out the distinct sound of voices. Flickering lights or sunlight can distract and strain the eyes, making focusing on faces and objects hard. The constant abrasion of clothes irritates and constricts their body.
A never ending stream of signals from the senses exhausts the child and disrupts sleeps. Tired and under constant stimulus, the child seeks escape in whatever way they can. Screaming, blocking their ears, throwing their clothes off, seeking physical contact, moving, hitting, scratching. Desperately seeking out new stimulus that will block out the overwhelming noise and light in their world.
Sensitivity is as individual as a snowflake. Sometimes children are sensitive only to specific frequencies or types of noises. Maybe only the strongest sunlight or light direct in their eyes will cause headaches. Some materials will irritate the the skin whilst others will sooth and calm. Many children with sensitivities will grow to adulthood without realising what it is they are sensitive to. They just know that they don’t like spicy foods, loud music or being out in the sun.
For more information about how we may help, please see the Therapies section of our website
or Contact us by telephone or email.
The Sensitive Child is a Stressed Child
Every adult knows what effect a busy, demanding day has on their ability to think clearly. At first the extra stimulus excites you into working faster, often better than you would on a quiet day. But as time drags on and there is no respite, fatigue and stress take their toll. You start to forget things, you get distracted easily and you become clumsier.
“I felt the clouds in my mind were definitely clearing away. People commented to me that I looked ‘brightened up’ and more animated”.
These effects of stress and exhaustion are well documented. One of the key effects is that the brain has difficultly learning anything. Making new memories and learning new skills takes a lot of energy and resources out of the body. When stressed, the body cannot spare that energy so the ability to learn skills for the future is sacrificed in order to help the body deal with its immediate problems.
A sensitive child is under stress far more often than an average child. The strain of constant noise and light place huge demands on the brain and body, raising the child’s stress levels. Just as with adults, the brain will stop learning so while other children are learning to move, to speak, to read, the sensitive child is struggling to deal with the world around them.
Reduce Oversensitivity
The brain is a truly amazing organ. Through out our entire lifetime it is changing, adapting to our body as it grows and ages. It never stops learning which is why you can teach an old dog new tricks though younger brains do learn quicker.
The Sound Learning Centre uses the brain’s non-stop learning to reduce or eliminate sensitivity in clients of any age. Most children do learn to ignore the unimportant signals from their senses. It is a natural process that for some reason failed to take place in sensitive children. However the process can be trigged at any age.
“During the therapy, we could see her changing before our eyes”
After a careful and detailed assessment, the Sound Learning Centre treats sensitivity through a variety of sound and light based programmes. Over a period that can be a short as ten days, the therapy gradually introduces the colours and sound frequencies that the client is sensitive to. By progressing slowly, like getting into a hot bath, the brain and body adapt and accept the stimulus.
Let There Be Light
The Sound Learning Centre offer a variety of light therapies depending on the results of the assessment. Therapy usually takes place at the Centre over a two week period, using our high quality, precision Lightwave Stimulation equipment. The equipment and therapy protocol have been developed by Dr. John Downing, O.D., PhD, over the course of 25 years of research and clinical observation in the study of neuro-sensory stimulation.
For more information about how we may help, please see the Therapy section of our website
or Contact us by telephone or email.
A Sound Idea
The Sound Learning Centre is one of the leading clinics in the world offering Auditory Integration Training and is the only one in the UK authorised to provide AIT practitioner training. The technique was developed by Dr. Guy Bérard, a Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. Using high fidelity equipment to filter specific sound frequencies, the client listens to music for 30 minutes, twice a day. Over the ten-day therapy programme the frequencies the client is sensitive to are re-introduced.
“He is like a different child. It is like he has had an injection of brain cells. Something has clicked! ”
Other sound based therapies are used depending on the clients problems including the Tomatis method plus three home-based programmes, the Johansen and SAMONAS Sound Therapies and The Listening Program. The range of therapies and experience of the Sound Learning Centre staff allows them to pick the right therapy for every client’s situation.
Movement
Just as sensitivity and stress can limit a child’s learning in speech and reading, they can also impact on learning how to control the own body. Many children with dyslexia and ADHD have poor coordination and balance leading to clumsiness and poor athletic ability. To a child, sporting ability and physical activity are important to social standing. Children lacking this ability often have low self-confidence that in turn, impacts on their education.
Movement, coordination and balance are all skills that can be learnt. By slowly starting from first principles, the skills that a baby learns in its first few months of life, children and adults alike can develop highly skilled physical coordination. The Sound Learning Centre offers three different movement based programmes: Neuro-Developmental Delay Reflex Inhibition Programme developed by Peter Blythe and Sally Goddard in the UK, HANDLE developed by Judith Bluestone in the USA and Brain Gym (Educational Kinesiology) developed by Paul and Gail Dennison in the USA.
“I have been given a new life. I feel like I have gone through a tunnel and have come out happy and clever” – 9 year old after therapy
These therapies are carried out at home over a number of months. Regular assessments ensure that the client is progressing and has the right exercises. As the client’s physical coordination improves their self-confidence also develops as they realise they can keep up with the other children and partake in games as an equal.
The Future Starts with an Assessment
Before any therapy starts, there has to be an assessment of the child’s abilities and sensitivities. The aim is simple, to identify any sensitivities and development problems your child has. As well as verbal report, a detailed written report including audiometer and visual-field test results is prepared. From this, based on decades of research, twenty years experience and the family’s situation, a therapy plan can be developed.
Therapy Can Start Immediately
Often therapy can start the very next day. Sound and light therapies can be combined into an intensive ten day therapy with two 30 minutes sessions everyday. The dedicated staff keep the centre open over many weekends and over holiday periods so the that the therapy is delivered in the short possible time.
Act Now, Request an Assessment
To book an assessment and find out how the Sound Learning Centre can make a difference to your child’s life, fill in the form below. We will contact you and discuss your child’s needs and how we can help.