Brain Training at Learning Charms..and a little vent

"Brain Training" (also called cognitive training) is a hot topic of interest for parents of children who are struggling in school, or who have  ADHD, learning disabilities, attention/focus issues and sensory processing difficulties.  There are many franchises that offer brain training.  Brain training is not new, but is a new "hot word".  Occupational therapists have been helping clients to rewire their brains for decades.  We just called it "occupational therapy".   Occupational therapy increases achievement of students by working on the underlying and foundation issues of development, such as core strength, sensory processing, bilateral use, fluency, motor planning and so on.  Therapists practice increasing left and right brain integration every day because that is part of therapy. This increase in foundation skills increases academic performance.   In the past several decades, new high tech systems (such as Interactive Metronome) have come along that can assist therapists with improving and refining areas of focus, attention and timing.

So, my clients have asked me about these brain training franchises and what they do. I cannot say that I can personally review their effectiveness.  But I will share some insight.  I recently met a student that worked at one of the franchises and I asked what she did there.
 She said she did "the occupational therapy 'stuff' ".  I asked how many O.T.'s that had on staff and she said "none".  I then asked if they used Interactive Metronome to assist with their brain training and she also said "yes" (However, this franchise makes no mention of this anywhere on their website).   The people that do the franchises "therapy" are called "sensory coaches".  According to their website, these sensory coaches are people that have received 20 hours of training by the franchise.   This particular franchise charges about 200% more for 24 hours of visits than we do, including Interactive Metronome.  Oh yeah, and we are actually licensed and certified occupational therapists.  

I personally love Interactive Metronome because I have seen amazing results.  It is very versatile.   I make it pretty demanding on my clients and really push them so that they can get the maximum benefits from it.  I am constantly thinking on my feet and applying clinical reasoning as I am working with clients in order to keep them progressing and having the just right challenge.  Parents, do your homework and be sure to check out your local pediatric occupational therapists before making a decision about brain training.