SOUND THERAPY: An Explanation
by Jonathan McKee, OTR/L
Sound is all around us; it provides us with much of the information that we need to survive. Hearing our child cry alerts us to a problem or thunder can alert us to an upcoming storm. Our ears warn us about emergencies from sirens and barking dogs to strange footsteps. Often we can choose to tune out many sounds that are not important but sometimes we cannot. We communicate with co-workers, listen to lectures, and blare our music in the car. All of this seems like a typical day but the process of receiving this information is quite complex. The sounds must be taken in through the ear, transferred into mechanical then electrical impulses which are then sent along neural pathways to the brain to be interpreted and an appropriate response created.
Many children and adults have difficulty with processing the sounds they hear. This is not necessarily due to hearing loss but to the decreased ability to process the sounds that are heard. Auditory processing skills underlie perception of all sounds including speech. There are varying aspects to listening, for example: discriminating who or what is making a sound or filtering the important sounds of one person's voice from the sounds of a noisy restaurant. Often times what is being heard through the ears of someone with a listening problem is similar to constantly being in a very noisy school lunchroom. They hear all of the sounds in the room but cannot filter for themselves the unnecessary sounds to hear what is truly important. If the ability to filter environmental sounds is not well developed even in relatively quiet environments conversing or concentrating will be difficult. Often, children unable to process all of the incoming sounds stimulation become agitated and overactive. Some also become so overwhelmed with the noise they shut down and block out the nose along with the information needed to learn.
Those with a history of chronic ear infections, developmental delays, ADHD,Autism or other neuron-developmental injuries also often display auditory dysfunction. They often have a misunderstand of the words or intent of the message which distorts the context. This will negatively affect their interaction with others and their daily ability to listen to instructions and learn.
Since our nervous system was created with the ability to be changed and improved there are methods to improve how our ears interpret the sounds we hear. One of these methods is to use classical music which has been filtered to refine the sounds and retrain the muscles of the ear. By listening to the filtered music through special headphones the muscles and neural pathways of the ear are enhanced to perceive and process sound more accurately. This will improve social interaction, increase focus and make way for other developmental gains for those with listening problems.
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