Music Changes The Brain (image from meditate on it)

Neuroscience reports successful outcomes with specially engineered music therapy programs. Reports of music making a difference abound in science and classical literature. In Bible days musicians were sent ahead of Warriors to maintain morale and to set the climate of victory for battle. Recently there has been much emphasis given to the Mozart effect. In some studies music has been emphasized as being able to even enhance mathematical ability.

There is little doubt that music plays an important role in clinical recovery for many clients. One program I have used personally and clinically with great success is The Listening Program. We find The Listening Program improves many clients’ abilities to hear in noisy environments. Additionally we see improvements in auditory processing speed and attention. 

The Listening Program has matched spectral bands with somato-sensory cortex patterns and taken out some of these frequency bands. Participants enjoy the music in a classical format. The brain then attempts to match the missing frequencies to strengthen synaptic connections in the new pattern. The program employs dichotic listening in order to restore the balance in the way sound is perceived by the ears and translated by the brain.

Impaired auditory processing skills can be seen with imaging techniques as an abnormally enlarged auditory cortex is with the neurons responding over a greater area producing increased sensitivity as a compensatory measure. Unfortunately this also produces a greater signal to noise ratio in the brain. This may translate to reduced auditory accuracy in noisy environments. The ability to filter extraneous interference and to accurately discriminate sound is compromised. This same process takes place in chronic pain patients who are slower to feel the initial sensation of pain but are found to have increased sensitivity to pain, less tolerance and this pain is spread over a wider area.

One logical way to solve this problem would be to help the brain create a new path, making it less reactive to all stimuli and more sensitive to discriminating important stimuli. The Listening Program is effective as a tool to train the brain in this way. The orderly cadence of classical music in its mathematical formation can act as a filing cabinet for the auditory cortex. The frequency filtering allows the brain to come out of an automatic mode and learn a new way of hearing. The stereophonic listening gives the brain an opportunity to generalize where and how it will process new sound.

Song is often used to awaken dormant skills in comatose or stroke patient’s, evoking auditory response and initiating corrective response. Individuals may be unable to say words but they can repeat them when they are sung to them by a participating therapist. After singing, they then say the same words that were impossible for them just moments before. It may be that when people cycle between speaking and singing the contour and spacing of musical sounds may be decoded by additional areas in the brain which can then act as a conduit to the language centres of the brain. This may be because language uses motor, auditory and visual skills.

Singing may engage other brain areas and then cue brain neurons to act as a construction crew to make a detour around the damaged area or to enlist nearby neurons to build a strong new path. Recently neuro imaging tools have advanced so that changes caused by this kind of learning can be demonstrated by an increase in white and gray matter cells in the brain. The Listening Program also serves as a relaxing way to restore cognitive reserve and reduce the fight or flight response created by learning anxiety.

Many brain therapy patients spend hours in occupational, speech pathology, and physical therapy every day. This concentration is required to build new paths in the brain, however in early stages of recovery the brain is vulnerable and becomes tired. The Listening Program can provide a restful interlude in the midst of these other therapies. Clients report that using The Listening Program between other therapies refreshes them and allows them to be more productive.

Let me tell you the story of this documentary.

The parents of three special needs young adults designed a “color guard” program for “developmentally disabled” young adults. Now if you are wondering what a color guard is, modern color guard is defined as “a combination of military drill, also called marching, and the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, shields and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movement.” It is typically seen in parades or halftime events. Until now it has never been part of the special needs world. Now, thanks to the vision of Jerry and Ellen Kleinert-Cohn, it is.

Anyway, the color guard, now called the Special Needs Color Guard of America, got invited to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the documentary tells the story of that trip.

Ellen Kleinert-Cohn put together a program to train these adults to perform at many local events. She even got them a chance to perform at the Winter Guard International (WGI) Color Guard World Championships.

I was invited to speak at the screening of Bridging the Gap. Here are some excerpts from my speech.

“Martin Luther King had a dream of freedom. Ellen Kleinert-Cohn and Jerry Cohn have dream of inclusion, a dream that children and adults with special needs such as developmental disabilities will be fully included as belonging. They understood that we all have special needs.
Lawrence of Arabia said “All men dream, but not all equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake to find it was all vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous, for they may act their dreams with open eyes and make things happen”.

Dr. King dreamed with open eyes. So do Ellen and Jerry.

I too dream with open eyes. I dream of taking the best of neuroscience research and combining it with great computer technology to ignite people’s sparks of genius. I dream of brain fitness centers where people of all ages “work out” to improve cognitive and executive function skills.

Today people between the ages of six and eighty-three come to Boca Sparks of Genius. They exercise their minds playing computer “games” specifically designed to improve their mental strength, stamina, speed, flexibility and balance and, of course, to spark their genius. We use the term “brainworksbetter” exercises, and each member receives a customized set of exercises. They are assisted by friendly, highly-skilled personal trainers who are passionately dedicated to the success of each member of our fitness community. Many members of the fitness center also “work out” on home computer to maximize brain functioning and peak performance.

I dream of hearing the sounds of success, joy, confidence and discovery as more people around Florida, the country and the world discover, ignite and express their unique sparks of genius in a fun-filled, challenging, supportive, gym-like environment.

I see them all overcoming limitations, defying labels and breaking boundaries with their awesome accomplishments.”

–Dr. Rohn Kessler, Ed. D.

Tonight on NPR I heard an interview with Tim Page, a Pulitzer Prize winning music critic for the Washington Post with Aspergers. Robert Siegel was interviewing him because he had written a description of what it was like to grow up with Aspergers in the New Yorker Magazine. He called the article “Parallel Play”. He felt that the Aspergers led to a lifetime of “restless isolation” because he couldn’t connect with others in “normal” ways.

He said Aspergers was “a different way of processing information.” He was “obsessed with detail, with music and with old photographs. Throughout his life he has possessed an extraordinary memory for facts and data. However, he was oblivious to most social things and had to read Emily Post to learn how other people related to each other. Although he was praised for thinking outside of the box, he admitted that he often couldn’t even find the box.

“Aspergers is something that you never get over, but you learn to live with it.”

Tim Page has lived well and is an inspiration to others.

To hear a podcast of this story please go to:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12750745

Ninah Kessler, LCSW
Life Coach

One way this school has impressed me is the way that they handle academic goals as opposed to developing social skills. In my experience, parents will happily spend tens of thousands of dollars (if they can afford it) in order to remodel their kid’s report card, but the moment you tell them that this will help their child build social skills and make friends, the pocketbook goes under lock and key.

As students are processed for attendance at this school, the administration goes into detail with the parents about what the parents ultimately want for their child. Inevitably, the answer ends up revolving around independence, happiness and friends. This frees us up to work on those vital areas that ultimately decide the child’s fate.

If you are working with a challenged population of children, remember that a child can flunk out of high school and still become the founder and CEO of a major company. But even with straight A’s, a child with inadequate social skills won’t even be able to work as a janitor. Make sure you teach appropriately.

Good luck!
Allen Dobkin

So how can we make it a little easier this year?

How much homework is too much?

Your child, especially a young child, shouldn’t be spending his life on homework. There needs to be a balance. The experts agree that a kindergartener or second grader shouldn’t be spending more than about 20 minutes a day on homework, and even older elementary school kids benefit most from spending an hour at most. After 4th grade, it is important that your child practice math, because since math builds on itself, deficits here can mushroom. When your child is in middle school more homework is appropriate.

If your young child is routinely spending hours completing his work, something needs to be done.

Simple Steps can help

There are some very basic things that we can do to make homework easier. You have probably thought of them but may not have gotten to implement them. Some simple steps from pediatrics.about.com include:

• Provide your child with a quiet, well lit place to do homework with materials such as pens and a dictionary available.
• Establish a set time for doing homework, not right before bedtime. Think about using a weekday morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially those that involve working with others.
• Help your child figure out what is easy homework and what is hard homework. Encourage your child to do the hard homework first when he is most alert.

How much should I help my child with homework?

We all know that it is your child’s homework not yours. You want to give your child as much independence as you possibly can but if the child is floundering, you don’t want him to sink.

Even if your child is doing ok, it’s good to acknowledge him when he is doing his work and to reward any accomplishments. “Johnny, I like the way that you’re concentrating on your math problems.” “Wow, Helen, you worked really hard on your science project. Let’s celebrate with a trip to the park.” As important as acknowledgment and rewards are when your child is doing well, they are ESSENTIAL when your child is struggling

When your child is struggling.

If you child is spending 3 hours on 6 math problems or can’t organize his thoughts to write and essay (see our blog on how to write an essay), then you know there is a problem, and you need to find ways to intervene without taking over.

For example, if difficulty paying attention is the problem with the math, you can cut a whole in a piece of paper so your child only sees one math problem at a time. This is a very low tech solution, but some of the new technology can also be helpful. For example, there is a program called Inspiration (which Dr Rohn used to help teachers teach science) which maps out your thoughts. Once your child’s thoughts are mapped out, it’s much easier for him to write that essay. If writing itself is a problem, your child may benefit from typing his assignments on the computer.

You want to be available for your child, especially when they are having a hard time, because you don’t want them to get so frustrated that they don’t do their homework and then they fall behind in school.

When is the help you do too much? Remember that interference is when you do what the child could do by himself. Additional suggestions can be found at about.com or here.

My child says he finished his homework

Some children who are frustrated with homework will just tell their parents “I already did my homework” or “I don’t have any homework tonight.” In the old days the main way a parent could verify this statement was to work with the teacher to create a homework pad where the teachers would write down the child’s assignments. You could also call a friend.

While there is nothing wrong with this approach, today many teachers will post homework on a web site or will email assignments to parents.

When you need a professional

If there is a problem the first person to go to is your child’s teacher. It is important that parents and teachers can work together on this. The teacher may be able to make accommodations for the child. For example, the teacher may allow you to cut assignments short when the child is having an especially difficult time. If the child does not complete assignments because he can’t write, the teacher may allow you to write down your child’s answers. That relationship with the teacher apprises you of what’s going on, so you don’t get a big surprise at report card time.

The teacher might recommend a tutor, and there are many good ones out there. Sometimes the difficulty doing homework may reflect a deeper problem. For example, if your child just cannot focus or pay attention that could be the issue. Please take the free 39 point learning assessment at our website (SparksofGenius.com) to see if an attention or focusing issue is the problem.

Make sure the homework is in the backpack

My friend would sit down with her son night after night and go over his homework. Then he would forget to put it in his backpack and get an incomplete. She finally helped him organize his backpack and checked to make sure the assignment was there. It must have worked, because now he is going off to college to major in computers. He is a smart kid, just disorganized.

I hope that this makes homework a little easier. If you are frustrated, remember that you are not alone. Another friend of mine thought that having a child was like having a very intense cat. Boy was she wrong. Every problem has a solution, but that doesn’t mean that finding the solution doesn’t require some work. Hang in there and have a great school year.

By Ninah Kessler, LCSW
Life Coach

In recent weeks, three new brain training games have arrived on store shelves, each one promising to give us neural networks of steel. There’s “Hot Brain” and “Practical Intelligence Quotient 2,” both playable on Sony’s handheld PSP. And then there’s “Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree” for Nintendo’s new Wii console.

Full article here.

But do these games really work?

Like most things in life, the answer is both yes and no. New and stimulating activities, including these video and puzzle games, can help you “use it” in lieu of “losing it.” So in that regard, yes they can help.

But once you’ve played a particular game enough times so that the activity is no longer novel, it loses some of its potency. In part this is addressed by offering a variety of games and puzzles. Ultimately, though, these games are not much better than the typical fare you can play online, often for free, at least as far as brain-training is concerned.

Don’t neglect your 9 IQs

We all have those 9 IQs: spatial, verbal, math, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, kinesthetic, naturalist and spiritual. These types of games typically offer spatial, verbal and math style puzzles. That leaves two-thirds of your intelligence untapped.

If you really want to help “train your brain”, learn to play a new instrument!

Make new friends, write an article or life story, take up bird-watching, solve an old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle (or a new-fashioned 3D puzzle), play a sport, read something complicated. To train your brain, you sometimes have to STRAIN your brain. Just like a muscle, you’ve got to push your brain beyond its comfort zone and it will respond by making new connections and strengthening existing neural networks. That’s why most video games, television shows and pulp reading don’t help. Their too easy.

To train your brain, you sometimes have to STRAIN your brain.

Training executive function and attention, two vital higher-order skills, is a different story, and the Nintendo Wii doesn’t have anything to genuinely fit the bill. There are some games that we use here at Sparks of Genius in our Electronic Playground that you can use at home. You’ll find them on this page.

So work your brain hard…and if you’re a teacher or parent, then work your kids’ brains hard, too. They’ll thank you for it later (if they don’t forget)!

Good luck!
Allen Dobkin

How can we help reach out to children who are lacking friends?   Here is some helpful information reported by our friends at LiveScience.com.

When a person feels authentic pride, he or she was more likely to score high on extraversion, agreeableness, genuine self-esteem and conscientiousness. Hubristic pride was most often linked with narcissism and shame.

Read the article here.

We as teachers and parents can capitalize on this information in two ways.  First, we can help a child avoid a potentially embarrassing situation.  Socially awkward kids possess few and weak social skills.  When they are having a bad day, don’t shove them into difficult (for them) social situations or force them to participate in group activities or play dates.  Since this is a challenging area for them, we need to build a track record of success and set them up for success by controlling some of the circumstances under which they interact with peers.

The second way we can use this information to help them make and keep friends is to build them up prior to an encounter.  On the way to the neighborhood birthday party, remind the child of their successes and accomplishments, and have them help you remember the things they are proud of.  The achievements can be social, or they can be academic, sports-related, or anything that helps them feel genuinely good.   Your child will feel better and perform better under social situations when they are feeling good–just like anyone else would!

“A given person with high implicit [or inner] self-esteem may be outwardly self-promoting or may be outwardly very modest,” said study team member Anthony Greenwald, a psychologist at the University of Washington.

Full Article Here

Low Self-Esteem is often confused with learned helplessness. Learned helplessness develops when a child is in school and has difficulty with, say, math. He struggles in math, possibly due to a weak teacher or just doesn’t have the same internal aptitude that others do. Maybe he was sick for a key week at school. For whatever reason, the child does poorly. Spurred on, the child decides to try his best for the next exam. Math being recursive, his lack of understanding of the prior material keeps him from really understanding the new stuff, and he gets a bad grade again even though he tried his hardest.

The child concludes, “I’m bad at math.” That is learned helplessness.

Contrast that experience with low self-esteem. A child goes to school and, despite good grades and many friends, feels like he or she isn’t any good in general.

Both conditions can lead to lack of effort in school and reduced performance, but one is based on a faulty conclusion drawn from real evidence while the other is a conclusion drawn despite external evidence (or due to internal evidence only).

The outward symptoms may look and sound the same, and the two issues are very similar, but they require a different touch to handle effectively.

This is where Sparks of Genius shines. What we do in our Electronic Playground is help children uncover hidden strengths, then we leverage those strengths to make improvements in other areas. How do we create total transformation? Through the 9-5-4 Program.

Even though there are 9 Intelligences, schools only care about one or two; Sparks of Genius taps into all 9.

• Verbal intelligence
• Mathematical intelligence
• Spatial intelligence
• Musical intelligence
• Kinesthetic intelligence
• Interpersonal intelligence
• Intrapersonal intelligence
• Spiritual intelligence
• Naturalist intelligence

Increase three or more [Cognitive Skills] and you’ve got a Total Transformation.

There are 5 Cognitive Skills. Increase one of these, and you increase cognitive ability. Increase three or more and you’ve got a Total Transformation.

• Attention
• Memory
• Learning
• Thinking
• Processing Speed

Finally, there are 4 Executive Functions. These are higher-order functions and essential for long-term success.

• Organization
• Planning
• Prioritizing
• Decision-Making

Students come to us, go through fancy, high-tech evaluations, and Dr. Kessler puts together a customized work-out regimen that plays on the student’s strengths and pumps up the areas that are weakest. 2-3 hours per week on a home computer, plus an hour in our high-tech, high-touch playground is usually all it takes. The results last, and they generalize to school, athletics, home, and the social realm.

Good luck!

Allen Dobkin

A new video game might prove to be a very productive use of time for young cancer patients: It helps kids fight their diseases figuratively and literally.The game, called “Re-mission,” is a 20-level journey through the bodies of fictional patients suffering from different types of cancer, and of course, it can be played by adults and healthy folks as well. But the primary idea is to give patients a sense of control over their disease.

Click here for article.

Children and adults around the world have embraced video games, with both positive and negative results. Here’s another shot in the arm for the folks who see video games as more than just an excuse to stay inside on a sunny day. Sparks of Genius uses video games as alternative therapy for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD or ADHD), Asperger’s Syndrome, Memory training, to fight off Cognitive Decline, and build any number of Cognitive Skills including executive function.

Click here to check out their new Summer Brain Training Boot Camp!

This article reprinted with permission from Rotten Apples: News from the front lines of America’s War on Education.

Get homework done quickly and efficiently without wearing out your vocal cords.

1. De-escalate.
2. Use positive reinforcement.
3. Express interest in homework, schoolwork and grades.
4. Treat homework time like it is a big deal.
5. Do your homework visibly.
6. Spend 15 minutes negotiating Homework Expectations.
7. Write down and post the Homework Expectations.
8. Give your child three free passes.
9. Reward a Perfect Homework Record.
10. Email the teachers!

What about kids with Learning Disabilities?

Challenged Children, those with any kind of learning disability, need the exact same treatment. They need all the rules, reminders and rewards even more! Don’t let their disability fool you: expect them to perform to their 100% capacity. If we settle for less, we do them a disservice.

-From www.whyschoolsux.com

Read the article here.