Using Light and Sound Stimulation for Successfully Correcting Impaired Sensory Integration

Using Light and Sound Stimulation for Successfully Correcting Impaired Sensory Integration

A large percentage of people cannot process certain sounds enough to process them for understanding and use. Many children and adults have learning difficulties or behavioral challenges that do not totally fall into any diagnostic profile. Some seem to appear attention deficit, others personality disordered and still others are just “out of sync”. All have problems that originate in impaired sensory integration. These impairments include poor motor development, visual development lags, auditory processing disorders, difficult learning and strained interpersonal relationships. A milieu approach developed to diminish difficulties should include light and sound stimulation, vestibular stimulation therapy, visual perceptual training, brain synchronization and nutritional intervention. 

Dr. Jean Ayres, one of the leading pioneers studying the concept of sensory integration, felt that all our senses must work equally. In other words, our sense of touch, taste, smell, sight and sound must work together and these five senses, along with movement and body awareness, must work in harmony.

Ayres beliefs center on the thought that the senses send information gathered to the brain where it is interpreted and organized. This is what is called “sensory integration”. According to Ayres, “if a sensory input fails and does not work in harmony with the others, the learning process and quality of life are compromised.” She also believed that the vestibular system was responsible for body control and that well-modulated vestibular activity is mandatory for maintaining a calm, relaxed state. 

Some people must stimulate their brains through constant moving. These individuals are labeled hyperactive and many medicated to stop the movement. This then, delays the continuing development that is necessary for adequate function. Many of these individuals have auditory processing difficulties. Some experienced loud shouting, mechanical noises, screaming or physical abuse as children and now “shut out” certain hearing frequencies. This defense mechanism, useful when it was needed, proves difficult to surrender later in life when sound is necessary for normal daily living. The survival need continues into adulthood without discovery, making many therapies difficult and non-progressive. It is imperative that “talk therapies” and the like realize that auditory processing may not be taking place and visualization may be the modality that could prove to be more successful. In such cases, the use of a light and sound alpha program will improve the client’s ability to use visual recall. 

Learning requires focus. Complete focus is difficult when hearing is controlled by bone conduction only. Hearing is a function of the entire body, not ears only. The bones of the body are particularly good sound conductors, actually, too good. Loud noises, loud voices are particularly distracting to those who “hear” every sound in their environment. Rooms in schools or the workplace extremely noisy for the person who cannot screen sounds and can hear everything. All these sounds are abusive and the individual immediately shuts out all sound for protection. Thus, any auditory input is cancelled and the person is left to try to decide what is happening. Without auditory guidance behavior suffers and the lack of ability to focus is augmented.

In an auditory processing disorder sound is heard but the act of processing through the brain is impaired. The sounds are transmitted directly to the inner ear without any filter to dampen the intensity thus the sounds arrive in the brain without warning and produce a reflex reaction. A startle-reflex, physically lashing out, or anger can result. People experiencing this bombardment of sound have no ability to “tune out” extraneous noise around them. Every sound has the same amount of value. They try to catch a word but the noise from somewhere else distracts them and they miss part of the auditory process. They do not know what instructions were given or what the conversation was about. As a result they are blamed for not paying attention. 

Any program that will help these individuals must be based on many disciplines. An eclectic approach is mandatory. To date there is no one single modality for improvement but the combinations of dominant right ear training, stimulation of the vestibular system, and audio-visual stimulation will help these people improve.

Using music, light and sound and movement along with therapeutic intervention have been utilized with positive results. When using music during a session along with light and sound units the volume should be low.  An added tip involves using a cheaper pair of earphones, cutting the wire to the left earphone and direct all sound of your voice, music or binaural beats into the right ear will help develop right ear dominance and accelerates results. An important fact to be aware of is that a positive relaxation response and whole-brain synchronicity are necessary for therapeutic regimens to be successful.