Elisa's Journal

Ever wonder if you could improve your child's academic performance without taking him/her to a tutor after school 365 days a year, spending the entire college fund in the process? Are you or is your child an athlete who wishes to excel at a sport? Well hang on to your hats, folks, because I have first hand experience with something that works--Interactive Metronome. It's a computer program that uses a hand trigger and foot switch to perfect the body's inner timing. It does so by synchronizing three important senses for learning, remembering, planning, organizing, and moving your body in 3-D space. These include the vestibular, visual and auditory senses. In 14 different exercises, you try to hit the trigger and/or foot switch within milliseconds of a reference tone which sounds like a cow bell. Visual and auditory cues guide you by indicating whether you're very early or late, slightly early or late, or right on. This usually takes only 15 sessions. Some of the exercises work on upper extremities, some on lower extremities, some on the right side, some on the left side, some bilateral and some crossing midline. For instance, one involves hitting the right hand trigger and tapping the left toe on the foot switch. This "cross integration" helps build nerve fibers in the corpus callosum which is the conduit allowing the left and right hemispheres to communicate with one another. When this conduit is strong, thinking is easier and you feel like yo're in the zone. In fact, athletes report that when they're finished with IM, they feel "in the zone" all the time. The results are phenomenal. Students generally improve reading skills by 2.5 grade levels and math by 1.9 grade levels. Motor planning, high level cognitive, organizational and focusing skills improve, auditory and visual processing gets better, as does gross motor skills and , yep, behavior too. And when all three senses are in synchrony, dendrites (nerve connections in the brain) proliferate like crazy. As for the athlete, the only difference between Beckham and someone else the same age, size and knowledge is inner timing. Beckham's is perfect. It's all about timing. On a personal level, my 14 year old son actually wants to read. He comes when I call him to do something. He's happier and more organized. My seventeen year old has better eye contact, social skills, handwriting, and behavior. His mood is great all the time. My 12 year old daughter just made A team in volleyball. Even though she's like midget size her serve is kick ass! Please realize we haven't even finished all 15 sessions yet! But we'll see how they all do as the school year progresses. I understand that these new skills stick as they've rechecked patients 2 and 5 years after completion of the 15 sessions. In summary, I recommend it for all students, (especially those with ADHD or LD,) for autistics, for athletes, for those suffering from depression, for klutzes (like me,) and for seniors who want to avoid dementia and frailty. Hell, I recommend it for everyone--especially the Houston 'Stros. If anyone of you knows an Astro, tell them to give me a holler. We'll kick ass next season! Anyway, decide for yourself. Visit www.interactive metronome.com and check out the research, particularly the big golf study and the St. Thomas Equinas High School study.