EDUCATION
Net Connections for Communcation Disorders and Sciences
Judith Maginnis Kuster's compilation of links to Internet sites related to communication disorders and sciences is one of the most complete sources we've found. This is definitely a frequently-updated site you will want to check out.
The Feldenkrais Method
The Feldenkrais Method is a form of Somatic Education that uses gentle movement and directed attention to improve movement and enhance human functioning. It is a highly effective approach to sensorimotor rehabilitation for children with movement disorders.
Gentle Teaching
The Gentle Teaching Foundation in the Netherlands promotes a philosophy of respect and interdependence in their work with children with special needs. Their teaching puts these ideas into action.
The Hanen Program
The Hanen Program provides workshops, books, and videotapes that support a child-oriented approach to language learning. Their strength lies in helping parents listen to children's non-verbal cues and follow their lead in guiding communication development. This portion of their site provides a series of articles to enhance communication/interaction.
The Tomatis Center
The Tomatis Center website provides detailed information on the Tomatis Method and its applications. Developed by the French otolaryngologist, Alfred Tomatis, this approach focuses on the enhancement of listening skills by the ear and brain. A Guided Tour of the website is provided to make it easy to explore its full content.
Hemi-Sync: How Does it Work?”
The Hemi-Sync sound technology developed by The Monroe Institute offers a very powerful support for easy learning. This section of their web site describes the use of binaural beats and the Hemi-Sync process using graphics, sound files, and text to describe the development and use of Hemi-Sync.
Music and Hemi-Sync in the Treatment of Children with Developmental Disabilities
The role of music and Hemi-Sync was explored in the rehabilitation of 20 developmentally disabled children in this pilot study published in the Open Ear journal. The children ranged in age from 5 months to 8 years with an average age of 2 years. Within the broad category of developmental disability the children had received specific diagnoses of cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism, and uncontrolled seizure disorder. They were referred for therapy because of severe feeding and pre-speech problems. Children were carefully observed in no-music, calming-music, and music with Hemi-Sync settings. 75% of the group showed clearly observable gains when music containing Hemi-Sync was incorporated into a weekly therapy program.
The Option Institute
The Option Institute is a special place - a place where people learn a gentle, unconditional approach to life by looking at their beliefs. Common beliefs in our culture result in unhappiness when dealing with events that we judge to be awful. Barry Neil Kaufman and Samahria Lyte Kaufman show through their books, and their teaching that we can consciously choose to be happy whenever we wish. Their work is grounded in their own experience with their son, Raun, who was diagnosed with severe autism as a toddler. The Option Institute web site is a feast of articles, book chapters, and program descriptions. You can spend a lot of time here and just tap the surface. This is a powerful program for parents and professionals working with children with special needs.
A Miracle to Believe In
Barry Neil Kaufman gives us this complete on-line version of his best-selling book, A Miracle to Believe In. This wonderful book tells the story of the Kaufmans' use of a loving, accepting approach with a young child with and his parents. Robertito is a 5 year old with severe developmental delays and autism. The book shares many insights about following the lead of a child and family, and the role of or beliefs about a child's ability to learn and grow.
Closing The Gap
Closing the Gap is a leading organization in the dissemination of information on Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems. Their web site reflects both the breadth and depth of their conferences, articles from their newspaper, and information on hardware and software. This is a "must visit" site if you are working with children who need extra help with communication.
The Prompt Institute – History
Deborah Hayden discusses the use of the PROMPT system as a therapeutic approach for children with developmental dysarthria and developmental dyspraxia. PROMPT (i.e. Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) is a philosophy of treatment that strives to (re)connect and integrate the motor, cognitive-linguistic and social-emotional aspects of communication. PROMPT may be described as a system of treatment that helps clients gain voluntary control of motor-speech systems and links the necessary motor movements to linguistic (word, phrase) equivalents for use in functional