What Is Auditory Training, And Will It Help My Child With Autism?

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AutismTreatment/story?id=5387586

What Is Auditory Training, And Will It Help My Child With Autism?

Lori Warner, Ph.D., Director, HOPE Center for Autism, Beaumont

Hospital's Center for Human Development

Oct. 23, 2008

Question: What is auditory training, and will it help my child with

autism?

Answer: Auditory integration training, or AIT, became popular in the

1990s after a mother wrote a book about her experiences with auditory

training and those helping her daughter. Proponents of AIT state that

many symptoms of autism may be due to hypersensitivity to sounds,

making some sounds actually painful for children.

The mechanism by which AIT works is somewhat unclear. Children listen

to specially modulated music on headphones. The music has had certain

frequencies filtered out. And the idea is that by listening to this

music, the child's hypersensitivities will regulate and the child

will improve. The problem is that when AIT has been looked at

carefully in controlled research studies, they have minimal to no

benefit. And national policies statements state that speech language

pathologists should not be using AIT except in the use of research

protocols.

Likewise the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that the use

of AIT is unsupported at this time.