Audioblox, Balametrics, TLP, or Brain Gym?

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

Hi there,

I have a 16 year old son with Apsergers who I’ve homeschooled for 3 years. He’s going back to public school next Fall. He struggles with dysgraphia/written expression and reduced cognitive processing speed. I’ve seen all sorts of possible intervention to complement any accommodations, specifically Balametrics, Audioblox, The Listening Program, and Brain Gym. Which of these, if any, would be best suited for his needs. He established lateral dominance fairly late and had delayed fine and gross motor skills. He doesn’t appear terribly clumsy, but I’m not sure he’s had an opportunity to demonstrate this lately.

Any help/advice appreciated!

Elisa Medhus

Submitted by Beth from FL on Wed, 04/19/2006 - 3:02 PM

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We’ve done about every therapy around so I have broad familiarity with the programs you’ve mentioned. My son is dyslexic and diagnosed with nonverbal learning disabilities. He does not have the same profile exactly as your son and I am a parent. So this is just my fairly informed opinion.

I would consider Interactive Metronome which is not on your list. It made a big difference with my son in terms of fine motor skills but also social skills. I have read antedotal evidence also that social skills have improved for AS kids.

We had great results but not every kid seems to be able to do IM. We first got our son evaluated and were told he was so bad (on next beat) that we needed to do other therapy first. We did and I think that was an important reason why we later had great success.

I have read that kids do better with IM having done TLP first. We had done it. I would do TLP first.

The vestibular system is an important indegredient in how well a child does with IM. On the pretest, after doing TLP and Neuronet, my son scored lower (which is good) on the feet exercises. These have a vestibular component compared to hands. Neuronet is not widely available or I’d recommend that but it incorporates Balametrics into it.

So if your son’s scores on IM are high (70 is average for untrained person), you might do some Balametrics before IM.

We never did Audioblox but did PACE which is also a cognitive processing program. Frankly, we got much better results from programs that dealt with the motor part because my son’s problems have a motor component. It sounds like your son’s problems do too so that is where I am coming from.

My son was ready to use assistive technology but after doing IM, his handwriting endurance had improved enough that it wasn’t necessary.

Beth

Submitted by drmedhus on Wed, 04/19/2006 - 3:12 PM

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Thanks, Beth. I’m going to start scouring the Net for information on these. Can I do them at home or do I need a specific provider to do the therapy?

Submitted by Gemini on Fri, 04/21/2006 - 2:25 PM

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Brainbuilder is a cognitive program similar to PACE, that does not require a provider. I read it’s better for older kids/adults so probably you should consider that.
My son has Aspergers too, recently diagnosed. Last year he did PACE and it helped his processing speed. Last two years he has been in a small private LD school where he has balametrics every day. Now we are talking care of his metabolic problems (vit. B12 deficit, high mercury and copper - he is undergoing chelation to get rid of these toxic metals, getting supplements - vitamins, minerals, cod liver oil, probiotics). After chelation I plan to do some kind of listening program - TLP, Tomatis or Somonas. He does swimming, biking and bowling. I think all this helps his gross motor skills.
G.

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