Superhero powers - why being able to hear better than everyone else may not be good!
Some people can hear much better than others - they can hear people whispering in the next room, and be the first to hear a car or plane coming. But the flip side of this is that they also hear everything at the same loud frequency, and become overwhelmed and overstimulated easily.
When tested in the pediatrician's office, or at the school nurse, a child is complimented because he or she can actually hear better than the average child. But put that same child in a typical school classroom, and they can hear not only teacher, but also the chair squeaking, the pencil dropping, the whisperings of classmates, the person walking outside the doorway, and the bird outside the window chirping. Unfortunately, at the same time, he/she cannot attend solely to the teacher, and the attention is constantly wandering.
Many times the accommodation given is for extra time and/or an alternative location for tests. Take for example the student who is concentrating on the test and the room is quiet. Someone drops their pencil, and the child breaks his concentration and focuses on the sound. When getting back to the test, it is difficult for him to regain his concentration. His processing speed may not actually be slow, but he needs extra time because he is distracted.
Hypersensitive hearing is caused by an immature auditory system. When babies are quite small, if they hear a loud noise, they shake and sometimes cry. Their moro primitive reflex has been elicited - meaning that the shaking and crying is a reflex action, not something they control. With normal development, a person should be able to stand loud fireworks without flinching. However, if a student or older person has a "retained moro reflex" causing a strong reaction to noise, this reflex action can hold her back from success.
What to do?
Make sure hypersensitive hearing is the problem. Ask the child if they hear better than everyone else. Do they cover their ears in loud situations or avoid them altogether? An audiologist can confirm any suspicions.
The next step is to "integrate the moro reflex" - which means replicate the stage in infancy which causes hypersensitivity.
The Starfish Module DVD and workbook of the Pyramid of Potential Series teaches you how to integrate the reflex, in just 5 minutes a day
For more information and to purchase visit: http://www.pyramidofpotential.com/products-for-parents/. Scroll down to see it for just $34.95 with free shipping! One parent wrote me this after her daughter had done the therapy for 30 days:
"On Thursday, her teacher called me. Of course, as I saw the caller ID I braced myself and answered the phone. She called to tell me that she had had the best week ever with her. (she has been in this classroom for most of 4th grade and all of this year). She went to 3 assemblies and walked right in and sat with her class. She has NEVER sat with her class. Recently she stood just inside the door but usually she is in the hallway crying with her hands over her ears, sweaty palms and terrified."
An alternative is to purchase the Growing Brains Everyday Curriculum. It includes integrating the moro reflex and 5 others, but also works on auditory processing, vision, reading, math, writing, memory, attention and processing speed. The curriculum guide includes full directions for 150 days, 10 minutes per day. The Worksheets and Overheads book is in full color and has over 175 pages. Growing Brains Everyday is on sale NOW until Saturday, November 9 in the download form. It is normally $134.95 for the print version, but for only $52 you can download the entire thing and print out a section at a time. Hurry! This ends Saturday! Go to http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1778774 before you miss out!
Vision and colored overlays.
This article landed in my in-box, and I thought it might shed light and open our eyes to some information about vision:
http://www.coloredoverlays.com/69/colored-overlays-and-the-science-of-visual-perception/
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