Research

Music Research

Remembrance, Concentration, other MetaMusic CDs used in a school

Hemi-Sync and the Self-Reflective Lover by Peter Spiro

An Overview: Three Philosophies, Two Questions, One Curriculum

What we know is what we know; it means little, if it means anything at all. But to wonder, and to hold on to wonder about what we cannot know, there’s Man dressed as though He were an angel. Not the most cunning among creatures, nor the most adaptable. But one sterling creature, uncertain as He may be, who can wonder that the very world He lives in exists. Wonder at existence itself. Wonder why there is something rather than nothing. The holiness of the internal experience isn’t accessible to the standards of measurement and achievement to which we hold dearly in school. Having assimilated a mind-centered political/economic philosophy based on fear-fear of the unknown, fear of life, fear of death-we pass on this worldview to children through compulsory schooling and the curriculum of fear, the roots of which can be traced to the philosophies of René Descartes, Thomas Malthus, and Charles Darwin. And by using Hemi-Sync, among other tools, I’ve witnessed a few very troubled youngsters awaken to their own curriculum, which is self-identification and love.

Three Philosophies

René Descartes:

Descartes decided he could not trust his senses to give him reliable information about the world. How could he, he wanted to know, have certainty about anything? He decided he could not. From this point of uncertainty, he realized, there must at least be the uncertain thinker. “If I can think this,” thought Descartes, “I must certainly exist.” Cogito ergo sum. He had found his certainty and his security. He conceived the world as a machine and himself as having little connection to it.

Thomas Malthus:

In 1800, Thomas Malthus, professor of political economics at the British East India company College, found that humanity was increasing by a geometric rate while life-support resources were only increasing at an arithmetic rate. Ergo, he concluded that there are only enough resources for some of us to survive.

Charles Darwin:

A half-century later, Darwin expounded his theory of evolution, and as a consequence believed only the fittest species, and the fittest of each species, would survive. “It has to be either you or me. There is not enough for both.”

Two Questions

The mind asks, “how, what, when, and why”; the heart only asks, “who.”

The mind seeks to understand; the heart desires experience. The mind would like to transcend; the heart wants to embrace. The mind fears for our safety and searches for ways to remain safe; the heart’s promise to us all is freedom.

Does thinking precede existence, or does existence produce thought? What Descartes, in his mystification, missed was mystery itself-the presence of wonder. What Descartes might have experienced had he gently persuaded his mind to relax was the opposite of what he had discovered: that is, “I am, therefore I think.” The wonder of who he was preceded his thinking that he was. Beyond his desire for certainty, there was René’s thumping heart: uncertain, unsure, and unafraid. Beyond thinking and perceiving, there is the eternal self-reflective lover, embracing what can never be understood.

While working for the British East India company, Thomas Malthus helped propagate a philosophy of lack. It’s an economic agenda to encourage competition. If we compete with each other for scarce resources, what we lose is the wealth of our connections to each other. Instead of seeking the kingdom of heaven within, we search outward and measure wealth-not by who we are, but by what we have.

The physical form may indeed evolve, but since we are all much, much more than our physical bodies, Darwin’s theories can become antagonistic to our prime evolutionary concern, which is the expansion of spirit along the ever-widening spiral of life. Is life on Earth just a quest to survive? Or is it more like a laboratory in which we transform from opaque to transparent to the light of God? Darwin equates physical survival with success and physical death with failure. So much for our guaranteed return tickets Home, and the promise of the absolute perfection of eternal Love.

One Curriculum

Compulsory schooling embraces, celebrates, and helps propagate Descartes’s notion that we are our minds. Only by cultivating a potent mind, children are taught, can they go out and get all those scarce resources Malthus warned us about. If they don’t get those scarce resources, as Darwin suggested, they will cease to exist, thus failing in their life’s purpose, which is physical survival. This curriculum supplants the inclusive curriculum of self-identification and love with what it calls “critical thinking skills.” It convinces children to reject the overflowing impulses of their hearts, to compete, to envy those who have more and to have contempt for those who have less; it encourages fear through a comprehensive curriculum of continual observation, fragmentation, disorientation, punishment, reward, grades, and provisional self-esteem. They are drilled with the destructive notion they must “become somebody,” rather than being reminded of the true worth of who they already are. They are taught to “achieve” an abstract goal of unattainable “success,” which propels them forward into a life of chronic dissatisfaction and constant longing.

As a teacher, I tried to help students awaken, to remember who they really were. Within the chaos, mind-numbing boredom, ever-present fear, and potentially violent environment of compulsory schooling, I have witnessed “near miracles” when I’ve offered tools like Hemi-Sync to youngsters stressed by living and surviving day-to-day in extremely harsh and challenging circumstances. Within what may seem like absolute madness, one act of love can seem miraculous. With the faith of a mustard seed, indeed, we can perform miracles.

Step One: Focused Attention [reporting of results]

I taught students who, for one reason or another, had not succeeded in either mainstream schools or other alternative settings. My class was the end of the road in a part of town where only outlaws and fools travel by foot. Year by year, I saw the students get harder, meaner, and more lost. Every one of them had either voluntarily dropped out or been thrown out of a previous school. Their ages ranged from sixteen to twenty-five. Most of the females had at least one child; most of the males had either been incarcerated or were on probation. If they didn’t make it with me, they hit the streets and took their chances. It didn’t take me long to realize that my education courses weren’t doing me, or the students, much good. I needed something real, something that could change outlooks and modify self-destructive behavior patterns.

The year had started like any other year. My classroom was a basement room in a building in a housing project. The windows were ground-level, permitting very little light or air to enter. In the middle of the room was a large steel plate covering a sewage drain, and down the hall was the trash compactor. The room was infested with flies. Mice would scurry along the overhead pipes or inadvertently step onto glue traps where they’d wrestle mightily to free themselves, squealing until a maintenance worker removed them. And there were the students: hot, restless, disturbed, fatigued, undernourished, fearful, and on edge.

I had already run across the books of Robert Monroe and was listening to Hemi-Sync tapes because they made me feel better. So one day I took a boom box into my classroom and attached fifteen-foot wires to the speakers so they could be separated for stereo. I plunked in the Remembrance tape and synchronized the room. Then I nearly keeled over from what I saw. One particular kid, who normally survived each day by acting like a monkey on a pogo stick, suddenly took a seat up front and quietly completed each assignment. Most of the class thought he was absent! Still, I doubted whether the tape alone had helped him achieve this state of contentment.

But the same thing happened the next day, and every day thereafter as long as Remembrance was playing. I finally had to accept that the tape was actually performing as advertised. “You’re trying to calm me down with that brain music, eh?” the kid would quip with a wink as he passed me. He knew. So I ordered a variety of METAMUSIC tapes and played them all day long. And if I forgot to play a tape I’d always get a request, “Hey, play a brain tape.” Soon I started handing out tapes for kids to play in their portable tape players. A kid would come up to me and ask for a “brain tape,” then return to his seat and do the assignment.

The first time I played Concentration for the group, I’d given them a test to take because this was, after all, school. And in school people take tests. I surmised that they obligingly took the test because they liked me. But damn if they didn’t seem totally committed and focused. It was only after the tape ended that the focus and the commitment faded, and everyone began to get restless and drop pencils.

I have looked out in the room as a METAMUSIC tape played and seen a kid’s face so open, so pure and innocent, so peaceful, he looked like a cherub. I like to think the “brain tapes” helped get him there, if only for a short time. How much did a daily hour or two of METAMUSIC alleviate the stress and anxiety these kids lived with all the time? It worked well enough for a few to leave some of that stress and anxiety outside the door when they came to class. What the kids could have used was something intensive, away from the city-like a trip to the Institute for a GATEWAY VOYAGE. They needed a solid introduction to their higher selves, like the one I got during my own VOYAGE where the mystery of who I am got a whole lot more mysterious.

A supervisor of mine was curious. So I gave her Remembrance to listen to in a portable tape player. She thought it nice, and left. But she returned the following morning to ask me where she could get that tape. It seemed her depression had mysteriously lifted after listening to Remembrance that afternoon. I gave her a catalog. At the end of the school year, she greeted me with a big hug. She was thoroughly pleased, grateful to have gotten off the Prozac® she’d been taking. Some teachers expressed interest in the “brain tapes,” but the administrators seemed disinterested in spending budget money for them. The prevalent view was that Hemi-Sync was somehow abnormal.

I tried to get the kids in my classes out of the school system the quickest way possible. The system didn’t nurture anybody. We needed a new paradigm. And I thought Hemi-Sync should be part of that new paradigm in the future and should be immediately incorporated into the existing curriculum everywhere. Instead of marching kids up to a stage to listen to someone sing “I can fly,” they needed to take their own trips into the ether. METAMUSIC worked!

The Second Step: Expanded Awareness

During the 1997/98 school year, while teaching in a literacy program at the Harlem YWCA, I tried to re-create the total TMI experience for the students with my feeble technology. “If I can’t get the students to the Institute,” was my logic, “I’ll bring the Institute to the students.” Like always, it was an ugly room with little light or air. A flimsy felt divider separated the room into two classes. On one side were students who had scored less than a third-grade reading level. On my side were the students who had scored between third and sixth grade. Outside, poverty and violence were omnipresent. As we all left for a class trip one day, we were almost trapped in a cross fire between cops and two fleeing men and had to quickly duck back into the Y!

As my students arrived each day, they were greeted by Robert Monroe’s voice on the Morning Exercise tape. “Good morning,” it begins, “and it is a good morning.” As the Morning Exercise played, I handed out paper and asked students to write whatever was on their minds. I showed them a large bucket labeled “Energy Conversion Box,” and asked them to drop the papers inside when they were done. After they had converted their energy, I asked them to copy an affirmation I had written on the board. “I am more than my physical body” was the inherent message in quotes from various sources like Seth Speaks, Conversations with God, and others. The affirmations often sparked lengthy discussions about their meaning and application to daily living. The reading list was supplemented with metaphysical books such as Betty Eadie’s Embraced by the Light and other accounts of near-death experiences, out-of-body travels, and remote viewing. Hemi-Sync played nearly nonstop throughout the day. I’d mix up Concentration, Remembrance, various METAMUSIC selections and, on occasion, some Mozart and Gregorian chants. Sometimes I’d light a stick of incense, burn a candle, or charm the students by tracing their energy fields with divining rods.

It was a momentous school year in many ways. On the other side of the flimsy felt divider the usual madness transpired: chaos, anger, frustration, and a teacher so overwhelmed and fatigued she had to take a medical leave of absence after a few months. On my side of the divider I witnessed the miraculous: the tenderness of the human heart yearning to be exposed, shared, witnessed. At times the dichotomy became a distraction. Students from the other class flung paper and insults over the felt divider. Yet the students in my class were amazingly restrained. In fact, a common rejoinder to an insult would be: “We’re more spiritual than you.” Not that I equate ego-thumping with spiritual awareness, mind you, but the usual response would have been quick retaliation-with a fist, a box-cutter, or a bullet. Those kids were hungry for spirit. Their hearts were soaring!

Not everybody in the class transformed, but most did to some degree. And those youngsters who couldn’t buy into the program quickly departed. The bond of love that had developed was that strong. By the end of the year, most students were reading and enjoying it. Some of the kids even took extra books home. They read them, returned them, and asked for more. I had to make a supply run to Barnes and Noble because they went through books much faster than I had anticipated. It took a lot of courage to tote a book home for some of them, when just carrying a book could be construed as a symbol of weakness.

Through dialogue and reading what was dropped into the “Energy Conversion Box” I discovered that most all of the kids were experiencing the nonphysical world and were frightened by their experiences. For example, a student tells me that an Indian, whom no one else can see or hear, lives in her house and beats on a drum. Why is this happening? A deceased friend visits another in her room to pass along a message for her cousin. “Am I crazy?” A student writes that she can see the future and wonders if this ability is good or bad. A student describes weird dreams in which he’s walking around the house while his body is still asleep in bed. What does it all mean?

Most teachers would probably have referred them to the school psychologist. If they could not accept the unreality of their experiences, they’d be shipped off somewhere and given strong medication. Their track records of violent and maladaptive behavior could justify all sorts of severe therapeutic approaches. Physical reality is harsh; nonphysical reality is confusing and frightening. How do they cope? Sadly, they kill each other. And sadly, the killing is spreading to places like Springfield, Oregon, and Fayetteville, Tennessee. Why do children kill each other? What are they trying to say? Do they have a message for us? Perhaps we’re being asked to rediscover basic truths, to reconnect with the intelligence of the Divine Plan unfolding in and around us.

I’ve been lucky enough to sit up front and watch as binaural beats, masked by sounds of surf and music, relaxed kids’ minds and unlocked their hearts. They became calm and composed, full of their own inherent sweetness, dignity, and charm. Few things change overnight. I can tell you that by the end of the year reading scores had improved. More importantly, however, a sense of connection to each other and a sense of connection to something even larger than that had developed. Young ones are demanding this connection with a most impassioned appeal. What shall our offering be?

The Third Step: Diving In and Stepping Out During my final two years of teaching I worked in agencies where I was not allowed to use Hemi-Sync in the classroom. With the training wheels removed, I discovered how far I’d come and how much I’d learned. I taught the curriculum less and less until finally I could not, with good conscience, accept a paycheck any longer from an institution that was pressing me to demolish the unique beauty, courage, resourcefulness, and intelligence of these young ones. The gates on my heart had broken completely open, and I could do little more than bear witness to the miraculous unfolding of life before me. Without doubt, these kids were my guides, gently (sometimes not so gently) nudging me toward the realization of who I really was: the eternal self-reflective lover embracing what can never be understood. Into the unknown I go. WHEN CLASS GOES REALLY WELL You can sometimes pass my class and hear voices loud as the rapid ringing of bells, see a flurry of hands like horse tails whipping the air. I move through the room, blazed with golden light, like a torch, probing, answering questions with questions, shrilled on by the sound of my students’ skirl. This is fine. Some say true learning. But when class goes really well you can barely hear breath flexing. It’s as if we had slipped inside a tube of deep round silence. And you feel as you did when you were a child, alone, looking out into freshly fallen snow in the sweet hush of morning eager to make the first fresh print in the field with your own foot. [This paper was originally presented as “Hemi-Sync and the Poetry of Learning” at the Seventeenth Professional Seminar in March 2000. An audiotape of the talk, which includes Pete’s dynamic readings of several original poems, may be purchased for $10.00 plus shipping and handling by calling (434) 361-9132 or e-mailing dec1pd@aol.com] Peter Spiro is a playwright, a poet, and a former New York City schoolteacher. His plays have been produced in New York City and Los Angeles; his poetry has been widely published in magazines and anthologies. Before leaving New York City for north-central Oregon, Pete taught in an alternative high school program for eleven years. Intense empathy for his students sent him on a search for ways to shift the odds in their favor. Here, he shares the philosophy behind his passionate commitment to true learning and the details of two Hemi-Sync interventions that made a difference. Pete became a member of The Monroe Institute’s Professional Division in 2000. You may correspond with him at PSpiroNY1@aol.com

Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc.

Sleeping Through the Rain, Inner Journey, Remembrance, Midsummer Night, Nostalgia, Surf, and Cloudscapes with severe physical and cognitive disabilities.

Hemi-Sync® As A Complementary Treatment With Long-Term Residents

by Richard Staudt, MOT, OTR/L, LMT, and Judy McKee, COTA/L

Experiences during Richard’s formative years made him more than usually receptive to interventions such as Hemi-Sync. He comments, “There has always been a struggle between left- and right-brain perceptions within me.” As a child in San Antonio, Texas, he was exposed to rich Hispanic culture and lore about how fevers and pains were relieved by mothers and grandmothers skilled in folk healing. His own grandmother wielded such knowledge and skill; the Staudt family recognized her unusual intuitive ability. Richard’s open mind allowed him to perceive the unseen gifts that surrounded him. A hunger to know how living and non-living things worked became Richard’s passion. For a while, he turned from intuition and instinctual learning to the sciences. Laws, theorems, and paradigms filled his left brain and the medical model was the new boundary of his reality.

After working with a population of adults with physical and cognitive disabilities, he began to yearn for more than textbook interventions, which usually brought only limited success. Richard’s heart and senses were opened by a new treatment of the whole person, which satisfied his inner conflict. The John Barnes Myofascial Release approach with craniosacral therapy used music to stimulate the right brain while manually releasing soft tissue restrictions of the body. Recipients entered altered states of consciousness and sometimes re-experienced old childhood traumas or delved into emotional past-life episodes. Richard felt they were making “connections” between their bodies and minds that led to a “thawing” of their conscious perceptions. Myofascial Release sensitized him to the possibilities of hemispheric synchronization with occupational therapy interventions.

Richard found that long-term care residents with physical disabilities benefited from a combination of approaches. However, South Mountain Restoration Center offered heightened challenges. The South Mountain Restoration Center has a 100-year-old history of evolving service to the community. It is the last remaining state long-term care facility in Pennsylvania. The median age range for residents is sixty-five, and they are unique. Along with age-related illness requiring nursing care, they also have underlying psychiatric illness. Many are on psychotropic medication. Functional levels range from minimal assistance to total assistance.

Judy McKee says, “I’m an occupational therapy assistant, Richard’s assistant. I’ve only known him for two years, and he has positively changed my life. I was doing the traditional things that occupational therapy school teaches you, and Richard has broadened my horizons.” Judy has twenty-plus years of service at South Mountain and a simple yet profound philosophy of occupational therapy. She feels that a resident cannot benefit from whole-person therapy unless his/her mind instinctually accepts and assimilates what it is receiving without fear or coercion and regardless of cognitive capacity. This is the goal Richard and Judy set for themselves, using Hemi-Sync as the facilitator.

First, Richard and Judy met with the Medical Health Services Board of in-house physicians. After playing Hemi-Sync, Richard explained, “This is just to help relax.” The next step was to screen the residents. Those who were yelling out, who were considered difficult, were the ones they wanted. “We got our first referral from the behavioral health expert and started with a small Phillips CD player, with about eight or ten inches between the speakers, in the therapy clinic. The stereo was on a table, and the residents sat in front of it, probably four to six feet away. We finally got funds and purchased a CD stereo with detachable speakers, which can be placed at opposite sides of the room. Residents have small stereos by the bed in their rooms. Sleeping Through the Rain, Inner Journey, Remembrance, Midnight, Nostalgia, Surf, and Cloudscapes are the most frequently used Metamusic selections. Judy says, “Cloudscapes, Sleeping Through the Rain, and Inner Journey are my three mainstays.”

The occupational therapists also created a Multisensory Room, much like what every sixteen- year- old wanted in the ’60s. Black lights, glow-in-the-dark mobiles, hand-held fiber optic toys, and Hemi-Sync are presented at various “stations.” A dark background was chosen because it’s much easier for residents to perceive the contrast of light on dark. Judy tries one thing at a time, and whatever the person resonates with becomes the facilitation.

The following four case studies illustrate the dramatic effectiveness of Hemi-Sync within the challenging environment at South Mountain Restoration Center.

Case #1

N.W. is a ninety-four-year-old female with undifferentiated schizophrenia, which began at eleven years of age. She was institutionalized at the age of nineteen. No history of physical or sexual abuse was noted. N.W. was referred to Occupational Therapy because she would constantly pound and slap her face everyday until it was beet red. She had indentations on her skull from all the years of pounding. During self-care, she would cry out and could not tolerate touch. We hoped to see a reduction of self-abuse and acceptance of care. Once in therapy, she would not accept any tactile stimulation. Initial treatment consisted of behavioral modification, neuromuscular re-education, and traditional soft music approximately three times a week. Tactile defensiveness was reduced by 50 percent after implementing craniosacral techniques to the parietal and temporal bones. After approximately eight visits, with Metamusic incorporated into the sessions, head striking ceased for thirty to sixty minutes of a one-hour session. This dramatic change was difficult for staff to believe. After about another eight sessions, N.W. made eye contact. After the third or fourth month, she actually started reaching out to her environment, extended her right hand to greet us, and would reach out and hold the hand of her caregiver. She eventually tolerated grooming and skin management without self-injurious behavior. A learned response also appeared to have developed. She would automatically cease or reduce her abusive behavior and become more relaxed when brought to the Occupational Therapy Department. To optimize carry-over, a portable stereo was placed in her room with her favorite Metamusic selections.

After seeing these dramatic results, we felt obligated to try Hemi-Sync with R.Y. This resident possessed a long history of self-abusive behavior and a habit of screaming so loudly that she could be heard in the parking lot from the sixth floor!

Case #2

R.Y. is a seventy-three-year-old female, severely retarded since birth. Her mother cared for her until she was thirty-six; then she was institutionalized. R.Y.’s diagnoses are dementia and behavioral problems that include screaming, pulling her hair, and scratching herself to the point of self-mutilation. She would rub her face, eyes, and lips repeatedly, until they were raw. She did not communicate and was considered to be legally blind. We brought her to the Multisensory Room, and played "Sleeping through the Rain" two times a week. One of R.Y.’s eyes seemed to have some sight, and she responded to the overhead mobiles. Following the first month, she spontaneously said, “You’re red,” to Judy. Three months into occupational therapy, she accepted and would lift her foot for massage. R.Y. usually resisted touch by hitting, kicking, or bouncing in her chair. Soon, her compulsive self-injurious pattern was reduced to occasional light stroking that didn’t cause irritation. Yelling out was reduced to one or two times per one-hour session, and eye contact was maintained during conversation with staff. Within approximately five months of sessions including Hemi-Sync, R.Y. was calm and quiet for up to forty minutes of each one-hour session. She also made a complete, relevant statement regarding the softness of a plush stuffed rabbit given to her by the activity worker-an unprecedented event. A portable CD player with Hemi-Sync, overhead mobiles, and colorful banners were placed in her room for their calming effect.

We monitored residents who could not express themselves verbally by their body language, frequency of vocalization, and intensity of any movements. We had to look for really subtle changes, and hoped for an opportunity to learn from someone who could verbalize their thoughts about Hemi-Sync.

Case #3

Our wish was answered when the secured unit received a new admission. This eighty-one-year-old woman had a diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia with psychosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and anorexia. Recurrent major depression and self-reported auditory hallucinations were also recorded. M.A. was referred to occupational therapy because she would walk out without finishing meals and sometimes remained in her room for entire shifts. She could express herself verbally but unemotionally. She would also strike out at staff and other residents. She was initially wary of the Multisensory Room, so we started Hemi-Sync in the open clinic during simple cognitive tasks. Developing trust allowed Judy to start sessions in the Multisensory Room using the "Remembrance" CD, which markedly decreased M.A.’s anxiety. After a month of sessions three times weekly, M.A. would seat herself in a beanbag chair without hesitation and remain there for craniosacral techniques. During one session, the "Inner Journey" CD was being played when she let out a loud scream and exclaimed, “I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it!” She refused to elaborate on her statement; however, since that “release” she has been more relaxed both on and off the unit. She recognized Judy off the OT floor and requested to attend sessions at scheduled times.

Case #4

N. was essentially immobile and suffered from contractures. She cried and moaned almost constantly. She received Tylenol® for pain. She was brought to the Multisensory Room and put under the space mobile with glow-in-the-dark stars, just on the chance she could see them. Judy kept talking to her and touching her. If N. was doing a lot of moaning and crying and was really restless, after fifteen to twenty minutes with Hemi-Sync, there was no more moaning and crying. Now she responds with “baby coos.” Working on her arms has loosened one of them up, and she can move one finger. Many times now she’s not making a sound when she comes down for therapy, and the moaning and crying isn’t as frequent on the floor. There’s been some weight gain, although her meal regimen hasn’t changed. We’d like to pursue research and documentation in situations like N.’s. In individuals who have long-term or short-term contractures, joint mobility and range of motion would be measured. Then, after incorporating Hemi-Sync with the neuromuscular manual therapies, we’d check to see if there was a difference. Presently, we check the chart for decreases in medication each time a resident improves. Most of the time there’s no decrease, but we’re heartened that usually there’s no increase in quantity or dosage.

These cases are pioneers in the integration of complementary and traditional interventions at South Mountain Restoration Center. The Occupational Therapy Department, encouraged by these successes, plans to investigate the utilization of Hemi-Sync in the dining areas. The dining rooms are sort of like middle school cafeterias. The residents get supplements, protein powders, and everything they need. They just do not want to eat because of the disruptive atmosphere. Responses could be measured through weight gain, number of different foods accepted, relaxation, and focus of attention. We also envision Hemi-Sync relaxation rooms on each unit. The rooms would be a sanctuary away from the hustle-and-bustle on the floor-- somewhere residents could go on their own or be taken by a staff member if they are agitated. There’s a lot of wonderful cultivation waiting to be done at our facility and others.

Richard Staudt earned concurrent Bachelor of Arts degrees in biology and psychology from Texas Lutheran University in 1989. He then attended Texas Women’s University, Houston campus, for a Master’s of Occupational Therapy in 1992. He and his wife, Katie, pursued travel therapy positions in long-term care settings across the United States. After settling in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Richard attended massage therapy school and passed the examination for national certification and licensure. Richard is also a full instructor of the John Barnes Myofascial Release approach. He is currently the occupational therapy supervisor at South Mountain Restoration Center near Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. South Mountain is the sole remaining state-owned, long-term care facility in Pennsylvania.

Judy McKee currently holds the position of certified occupational therapy assistant at South Mountain Restoration Center. Initially employed as a restorative aide, Judy graduated from Penn State Mount Alto and returned to become an integral part of the occupational therapy department. During her twenty-one years in healthcare, Judy has also acted as a therapeutic activities service worker.

Remembrance

Hemi-Sync® and Autistic Children

by Nora Rosen and Berenice Luque

Nora Rosen is a Monroe Institute professional member and an OUTREACH Trainer in Argentina. She collaborated with Berenice Luque, a mental health specialist in the city of Rosario, to incorporate the Hemi-Sync technology into the treatment programs of a group of autistic and developmentally challenged children under Berenice's care. The case studies below represent some early results from that initiative, reported a few months after it began.

Berenice Luque is a speech and development therapist who works with children, adolescents, and adults who have communication and speech disorders, among other dysfunctions. During therapy sessions Berenice uses Hemi-Sync recordings played over speakers in the consulting area while she is working with the patients on various activities. Her patients do not have access to Hemi-Sync while at their special schools. Their only exposure is during forty-five- minute therapy sessions with Berenice, which usually occur twice a week, and in their home environments.

Case Report 1:

Ezequiel is twelve years old and has been diagnosed with generalized development disorder. Therapy began in June 1999 and Hemi-Sync was integrated in May 2002. Ezequiel is a flexible child, well-disposed to learning and to direction from his therapist. He is happy and docile. His language skills are limited to single words and simple statements, accompanied by basic gestures, and he has a contextual comprehension level. He attends a special school where he has shown notable advances in the course of his therapy.

Remembrance was used for mental focus and concentration. Ezequiel listened for twenty minutes each morning before going to school and for one hour in the afternoon while doing homework. After Hemi-Sync exposure, Ezequiel's parents commented: "During the first twenty days, and lasting for a few seconds as the tape began to play, he would become nervous, but after that he would calm down as if he'd been sedated and from that moment would be more committed to his homework. After the first twenty days he no longer became nervous at the sound of the tape. He now concentrates more on whatever he is doing and demonstrates curiosity, asking questions about things that previously did not interest him. He is always ready to learn, tries to read schoolroom charts and posters, forms short words using letter cards, and can remember his grandfather's telephone number. He likes to sing or dance when he hears the music."

The teachers at the special school concur in their observations that Ezequiel concentrates more on what he is doing and is more connected to the other students and to his teachers. As of August 2002, due to the advances he has made, he was promoted two levels and has begun attending class for full days instead of half days. While listening to the Hemi-Sync, Ezequiel makes more eye contact, is more attentive and motivated, remembers more of what has been learned, pronounces difficult words in syllables, reads single words with less help, and solves jigsaw puzzles, which he was unable to do before.

Case Report 2:

Jesica is ten years old and diagnosed with generalized development disorder with autistic traits. Therapy began in March 2002 and Hemi-Sync was added in May 2002. Jesica is a young girl with generalized motor-skill complications. She drools, and when she is angry will throw things and scream. If she doesn't like something she throws it on the floor and steps on it. The most serious problems in school were always related to her defiant conduct, hyperactivity, and lack of attention and motivation to learn. Her language skills consisted of a few single words, gestures, and sounds. Her comprehension level is contextual. She attends a special school.

Remembrance was used in the morning and afternoon. According to her mother: "When she heard the tape for the first time she began running all around the house, shouting joyously. In the afternoon she did the same thing but then settled down and sat more quietly. The following day she listened quietly, while cutting paper and drawing. Then that afternoon when we put the tape on she began to cry and turned it off. The next afternoon the same thing occurred-she cried and turned it off. The next week Jesica was enthusiastic and turned it on by herself, playing and running around, making noises as if she was trying to say something, and moving her arms up and down. Many afternoons when she listens, she falls asleep. After ten days she became very familiar with the music, and didn't have tantrums. At school she helps the teachers, no longer throws herself on the floor, and seems more interested in doing things. She eats her school lunch without incident. She allowed a cap to be put on her head while watching a football game; before she wouldn't allow anything to be placed on her head."

During the Hemi-Sync sessions, Jesica is more attentive, remains seated, pays attention to games, understands instructions better, and accepts interventions in her activities. She tries to imitate words by watching the speaker's mouth, and says single words with better articulation. Her manual coordination has also improved.

A home for young people and adults with a variety of disabilities is employing Einstein's Dream in work areas, and Remembrance during the meal hour. Results from this experiment have not yet been analyzed.

[A longer version of this article will appear in Focusing the Whole Brain, edited by Ronald Russell.]

Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc. dba Monroe Products

Hemi-Sync in a School

Hemi-Sync with severe physical and cognitive disabilities

Hemi-Sync and Autism