Sensory Integration Therapy - Symptoms and Treatment for Home and School!

Jamie became certified to administer the Sensory Integration and Praxis tests in 1994. She serves as a Regional Consultant for children with sensory integration difficulties, working with families, schools, and therapists throughout North Dakota and Minnesota. Jamie has also served as the Sensory Integration Special Interest Section Chair of the North Dakota Occupational Therapy Association for several years. She guest lectures at University of North Dakota, University of Mary and Northland Community and Technical College in EGF on sensory integration topics.   

Auditory Integration Training

AIT is an intervention that is used with individuals who have difficulty with auditory perception, discrimination, processing and hyper and hypo sensitivity to sounds. These problems often result in learning, social and behavioral concerns such as poor attention and memory, inability to follow directions, slow processing and delayed response time, poor coordination, difficulty understanding social cues and inappropriate affect and interaction. These characteristics are often associated with individuals who have learning and/or developmental disabilities. The Berard AIT program is ten days of training, run with a certified Berard AIT practitioner. Each day consists of two thirty minute sessions separated by a three hour break. Preferably, the ten days are consecutive, running through the weekends. Participants listen to specifically modulated music through an instrument called the Earducator. The process is non-intrusive and rarely have trouble with individuals listening to the music. The music is tailored to meet the child's level of sensitivity. Individuals with learning and language disorders, sensory processing disorders, attention deficit, dyslexia, pervasive developmental disorder, autism, central auditory processing disorders, and hearing sensitivity have received AIT. Berard AIT is based on electronically modulated and filtered music retrains the ear and auditory system to work properly. Participants listen to the music through specialized headphones for a total of ten hours. Audio tests are administered prior to training and during training provide information about the individuals auditory pattern. It is believed that once the cause of the problem is corrected, therapies and educational programs become more effective in producing changes that enable to individual to achieve.  

Emily J. Wangen, MT-BC, NICU-MT, is a Board Certified Music Therapist. She owns and directs a private music therapy practice, Music Therapy in Motion, based out of Larimore, ND. Emily also has a certification in Berard Auditory Integration Training and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Music Therapy. Emily practices music therapy and AIT throughout the Red River Valley, including the cities of Grand Forks, Grafton, Crookston, Fargo, Moorhead and Valley City. Emily has worked with over 300 children in the area, providing music as a stimulation to improve and increase the level of communication, cognitive functioning, social awareness, appropriate behavior and sensory integration. Music therapy is an allied health profession which utilizes music as the stimuli to improve, increase, or enhance the quality of life. Berard AIT is Auditory Integration Training, which is an intervention that is used with individuals who have difficulty with auditory perception, discrimination, processing and hyper or hypo sensitivity to sounds. These problems often result in learning, social and behavioral concerns. NICU-MT is practiced within a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Multi-modal stimulation of massage, touch, music and rocking are coordinated to increase the level of stimulation a neonate has while in the NICU of a hospital. Music acts as a reinforcement for infants who have failure to strive and is used in coordination for procedural support to decrease over-stimulation. Emily is also a Clinical Music Therapy Supervisor for students enrolled in UND's Music Therapy Program. Emily lives in Larimore with her husband Jason and son Levi.