Frequently Asked Questions

Is the treatment difficult to do?

For most people the treatment is pleasant and enjoyable. Clients listen to filtered music through headphones and do various activities while listening. Games, puzzles, drawing, coloring or just relaxing in an easy chair are some examples. Clients are also welcome to bring their own activities in such as knitting, scrapbooking, crocheting, or any activity that does not require reading or significant logical thinking skills. We require a parent to be in the room with younger children. The young children love to play games with their parents and enjoy the individualized attention. The only aspect that may be somewhat difficult is that sometimes emotions or temporary side effects such as fatigue, sleeplessness, or irritability may surface especially during the first third of the program. These are temporary and will subside.

What is the process?

An initial assessment is completed for those that have learning difficulties. The initial assessment generally takes 2.5 hrs. This includes the testing, scoring and consultation regarding the results. For those that don't have learning difficulties but are completing the program for other reasons such as stress, anxiety, increased hearing perception, etc. than a full assessment is not necessary, however a listening test will be administered. The listening test utilizes an audiometer which is a machine that is used to test hearing. Once the initial assessment and consultation have been completed the program can be started at anytime. The program consists of 30 sessions for most people. For those with severe issues more sessions may be needed. The sessions are 80 minutes in length and clients are seen two times a week for seven and one half weeks. After the initial 15 sessions, clients take a 3 to 5 week break for integration. Following the break clients are seen for 8 more sessions followed by another 3 to 5 week integration period. Our clients then come back for an additional 7 sessions; at that point the treatment is completed for the 30 session program.

What age range do you work with?

We see clients ages two through adult. There is not an age limit in regard to adults and many people in their 70's have seen significant improvement.

Can you work with people that are out of town?

We cannot do the program long distance, however, we can complete two weeks of intensive sessions. A person can be seen 6 days a week for 80 minutes with an extra 40 minute session every other day for a total of two weeks.

How long will it take to benefit?

Most people see benefit from about three quarters of the way through the end of the program. However, some people start to see improvements after one session. This is not typical but it does occur. Some have not seen any noticeable improvement until a month or more after completion of the program but this is also rare. Often the initial signs of improvement appear to be very subtle and people tend to think a child may just be maturing. Often those that are not perceptive do not notice the changes or attribute them to something else. However, typically the subtleties build until significant improvement is very apparent.

What kind of improvements occur with this program?

The improvements that people have reported are many and varied and some will experience more benefit than others. Some of the improvements that have been reported are: attention, focus, listening, reading, spelling, math, writing, memory, comprehension, speech, balance, sports performance, creativity, musical ability, auditory processing, sensory processing, hearing perception, stress reduction, energy level, organizational skills, multi-tasking, joy and peace.

What happens if I have to miss some of the sessions?

Generally speaking if someone has completed 8 sessions, than a one week break can occur before the 15th session. Although a 3 week break is typical in the program after the 15th and 23rd sessions, a longer break is acceptable as long as it does not exceed 6 weeks, however the program is flexible.

back to topWhat kind of music is played during the DLS program?

Mozart, Gregorian Chant and if appropriate, a recording of the mother's voice. Dr. Tomatis investigated many forms of music. His research showed that Mozart was universally accepted and had the best therapeutic results. The music is filtered and enhanced and does not sound exactly like music typically played on a CD player. Gregorian Chant is utilized because it has a very calming effect on people who are anxious or hyperactive. Also, with Gregorian Chant, the vowels are elongated which leaves an adequate amount of time to perceive them clearly. This aids children with auditory processing difficulties or speech problems to improve their speech.

Is there research on this program?

iLs is based on the work of Dr. Tomatis which has been around since the mid-1900's and is very popular in Europe.

What is an auditory processing disorder (APD)?

An auditory processing disorder is a disruption in the auditory nervous system that interferes with the rapid and efficient awareness, recognition, decoding and integration of acoustic signals, especially speech.

What is auditory discrimination?

Auditory discrimination is the ability to hear sounds and sound changes in words. For example, hearing the nonsense word "pip" and knowing it has three distinct sounds and that the first and last sounds are the same. If the word was changed to "ip", a person with good auditory discrimination skills would know that the first sound was deleted. Children with auditory discrimination issues will often not be able to hear these distinctions. They may hear two sounds as one sound such as hearing "fl" in the word "flip" as one sound. Or they may not hear a specific sound in a word at all such as hearing "had" instead of "hand".

How do auditory discrimination difficulties affect learning?

Auditory discrimination skills directly correlate with listening, reading and spelling skills. If a person does not discriminate well they may "mishear" words. For example, "I read a book" verses "I read a pook" makes a meaningful sentence into one that has no meaning whatsoever. Incorrectly discriminating information can make learning very difficult. The same concept applies to reading. Children must be able to discriminate and sound out each letter in a word and then blend the sounds together correctly to read well. Children that are not discriminating sounds well may reverse or leave out letters and therefore misread information. This is equally true for spelling. To correctly spell the word "plant" each sound must be discriminated clearly or the word will not be spelled correctly.

How do you work with auditory and reading comprehension difficulties?

The left hemisphere of the brain hears and reads information and the right hemisphere of the brain visualizes or pictures information. If the brain does not picture it does not have a way of comprehending or remembering information. Therefore, we teach students to clearly and concisely picture what they read and hear. This significantly increases a student's ability to retain and understand what was learned for the long term. We have had many students raise their grades from D's and F's to A's and B's after utilizing this technique. This is because comprehension and memory skills are the cornerstone of education.

Why are students with auditory processing disorders (APD) often fatigued?

Students with APD work two to three times harder than students without APD to discriminate, process and understand information learned at school. Thus, they are tired. APD is also often misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD because many students do not want to or are unable to work as hard as is necessary to succeed in school and they give up and stop paying attention. These students are often inconsistent in schoolwork as well. They may do very well on one assignment because they are fresh but after so much effort the following assignment may be poorly done as they have used most of their brain power and energy on the previous assignment. Inconsistency in schoolwork is a common symptom of APD.

What therapies do you use in your practice.

We use the Integrated Listening Systems and the Lindamood-Bell programs. We also use various informal therapies for certain specific issues. Please see our therapy page for information about our therapies.

Does medical insurance cover the cost of therapy?

Some of our clients are covered for our services under speech therapy. We are Blue Cross Blue Shield and CIGNA providers and can submit electronic claims to those insurance companies. For other insurance, we provide the CPT and ICD-9 codes on our statements so our clients can submit to their own insurance companies. Our clients pay us for our services and are reimbursed by their insurance company. Also, our services are applicable for a medical services savings account.