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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.autism
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 16:20:49 -0600
              <AUTISM@SJUVM.BITNET>
From:         "Lynda W. Huggins" <HUGGINS@MERLIN.NLU.EDU>
Subject:      RE: What exactly IS AIT anyway?

I will quote from Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D.:

   Auditory training was developed by Guy Berard in Annecy, France to
help people with auditory processing problems.  According to Dr. Berard,
processing problems may occur if one hears some sound frequencies much
better than other frequencies.  For example, a person may be hypersensi-
tive to the frequencies 2,000 and 8,000 Hertz, but hear all the other
frequencies in the spectrum at a normal level.  The frequencies to which
a person is hypersensitive are referred to as 'auditory peaks,' and
these peaks take on the appearance of a mountain range in one's audiogram.

   Auditory training is accomplished by a device which randomly selects
high and low frequencies from a music source (a cassette or CD player),
and then sends these sounds via headphones to the trainee.  In addition,
if the traineehas auditory peaks in his/her hearing (as evident from an
audiogram), those frequencies are filtered out completely (blocked out)
or partially (stressed at only a low level) from the music.  The trainee
received auditory training twice a day, each time for 1/2 hour, for ten
days.  During the first five hours of auditory training, the sound level
for both ears is equal.  For those individuals who have speech and
language impairments, the sound level is reduced in the left ear after
five hours of training.  Since the right ear is connected more directly
to the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere, and since the left
hemisphere is responsible for precessing speech and language, Dr. Berard
believes that a higher sound level in the right ear will stimulate the
left hemisphere.

   An audiotest is conducted prior to the first listening session to
determine whether the person has auditory peaks; a second audiotest is
given after five hours of listening to determine whether the auditory
peaks are still present and shether new peaks have developed; and a
third audiotest is given after the completion of the listening sessions.
According to Dr. Berard, after completion of the program, all frequencies
should be perceived equally well; and the person should no longer have
peaks in their hearing.

   Auditory training can be considered a form of sensory integration in
which stimulation may sensitize or desensitize one or more senses.  There
has been much research in the past 10 years to indicate that many autistic
individuals have sensory dysfunctions in one or more areas:  tactile,
vestibular, auditory, olfactory, taste, and visual.  These senses may be
hypersensitive or hyposensitive to stimulation.  Theoretically speaking,
if one or more senses are impaired in an individual, he/she may develop
a distorted perception of the environment.  And if one's concept of the
world is distorted, then his/her output (behavior) is likely to be
distorted.

   At the present time, we do not know exactly how auditory training may
affect a person's behavior.  One possible explanation is that auditory
training is actually conditioning the person to shift their attention
more easily.  Dr. Eric Courchesne of Children's Hospital in San Diego
has recently found that autistic individuals have much difficulty shifting
their attention from one stimulus to another stimulus.  Since high and
low frequency sounds are sent randomly to the trainee, auditory training
may be teaching the person how to shift their attention more rapidly and
effortlessly; as a result, they may be better able to attend and thus
understand the contingencies related to sounds and movement (e.g., hand
gestures).  Another possible explanation relates to the fact that autistic
people are often described as "tuning out" others in their environment.
By sending high and lwo frequency sounds randomly, the person cannot
anticipate the sounds; and thus, he/she cannot tune them out.  As a
result, they are, in effect, being trained to "tune in."  If one or both
of these explanations are correct, then it is possible that individuals
who do not have auditory peaks may also benefit from auditory training.
Finally, it is possible that the person starts to perceive sounds,
expecially speech, more clearly; and as a result, he/she will be better
able to learn relationships between a sound and a behavior, object,
action, and event.  Even though all three explanations listed above are
hypothetical, they do suggest how a person may possibly benefit from
recieving auditory training.


Hope this gives you some idea of what AIT is and how it may work.  If
you would like to know more, please do contact The Center for the Study
of Autism or the Georgiana Foundation.

Lynda in Louisiana
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