Develop New Brain Connections with Soundsory {A Review}

When your immediate family includes people with ADHD, sensory issues, dyslexia, and more and your extended family includes someone with a brain injury, the idea that the brain can rewire and heal is hugely encouraging.  Better still is when tools for helping the brain do just that come nicely packaged in an easy-to-use at-home format just as they do with Soundsory from Sound for Life Ltd.

What is Soundsory?

In a nutshell, Soundsory is a multi-sensory home-based program that is simple to use and works to improve motor and cognitive abilities.

Basically, it is a special set of headphones with pre-loaded rhythmic music that you listen to for 25 minutes before listening to a additional five minutes of music while doing special exercises. 

More technically, it is a specially designed program that keys into neuroplasticity - or the brain.s ability to rewire itself.

The Soundsory rhythmic music program in combination with its therapeutic body movement exercises are specifically designed to encourage the brain to change itself and create new connections. The program is also designed to stimulate the auditory and vestibular systems, helping you better integrate body position, balance and movement information within your brain.

The musical program is delivered on comfortable headphones that charge up when connected to your computer and then can be used for hours anywhere you like.  The headphones have a patented Dynamic Filter that captures attention and use air and bone conduction to stimulate the entire auditory system. (They can also be used as regular Bluetooth headphones with the flip of a switch.)

Meanwhile, the exercise piece focuses on body awareness and coordination, moving from primitive reflexes to repetitive complex movement - which sounds complicated, but is made easy through clear, short videos that demonstrate how each exercise is completed.

The entire program is based on scientific research and is also the subject of further research.

All that technical stuff aside, Soundsory is a program that can help improve your motor and cognitive abilities, and it is simple to use in 30 minutes a day over 40 days at a time without ever leaving your home!

Why Did We Choose to Try Soundsory? 

In 2017, we were blessed to review another product by Sound for Life Ltd called Forbrain, which is a headset that uses bone conduction and a dynamic filter to correct the way you hear your own voice, leading to better attention, concentration, and memory.

We have been pleased with our Forbrain headphones and, appreciating that Sound for Life Ltd produces quality products, decided to give Soundsory a try, too.

My daughter wanted see if Soundsory might help her with attention while I was curious if it might help her with her dyslexia. (My daughter is not aware of this, but I have read about how specific movement programs- and working to eliminate retained reflexes - can help people with dyslexia and so am hopeful that using Soundsory might eventually be another tool for her success.)

I also wanted to have the program on hand for when my older son is ready to try it out, since I believe Soundsory can help him with attention, sensory integration, and more, and I know that since the program is built into the Soundsory headphones with an online exercise portion available with a password, everyone in my family can use it.

How Did We Use Soundsory and What Did We Think of It? 

When we got Soundsory, my 12-year-old daughter was excited to try the program.  She said:

I wanted to see if it would work. (When I first got it,) I thought it was cool, but I did not like how you had to do the exercises right after listening to the first portion of music, because it was kind of hard for me to get to a computer right after to watch the exercises and that eliminated car rides, chore times... 

It was also hard because you could not do certain things when listening to the first part of the music - like be onscreen...I thought you could use it while doing anything, but you cannot. (Good protocol says you are not supposed to eat, drive, or be onscreens while listening.) 
So, I used the headphones towards the end of chore times and at night when all my other lessons were done. (When using them), I drew sometimes. Sometimes, I played board games, which I am not sure if you are meant to do, but it did not say not do, so I did. 

(When listening,) I liked certain songs more than others. Some of the songs I did into really like, because they did not have words, but had people chanting, and I did not really like that. I go for word or no word types of things, not chanting. But, most of the music I liked.

(So far), I have not noticed any big changes yet using Soundsory, but think there might be... More attention...maybe help me with academics. 

I want to keep using it, because I want to see if it can help me more. 

I also wonder if my brother could use it.  It could help him with attention, because he has a small attention span. 

And I wonder if A--- could use it. She has a brain injury and I think it could it help. 

People with focus problems could use it, too. 

The exercises reminded me of O.T. when my brother went to O.T. So, maybe instead of going to O.T., you could use this. 

I like it and will keep using it.  

I agree with my daughter on several points:

• Soundsory integrates O.T.-like exercises and can easily be used for at-home therapy. I was impressed with how user-friendly the program is and how simple it made stimulating the vestibular and auditory systems.

• It was sometimes a challenge to find the right times in our daily lives to use Soundsory, because we had to use it when there was 25 minutes of free time followed by five minutes that could be spent following exercises onscreen. This challenge, though, is just because of the way our life flows right now - crazily! That said, I recognize how it is far easier to use Soundsory than to go to therapies!  Indeed, I would have LOVED having this when I was at a stage earlier in our family life when I was running three different kids between O.T., speech, feeding therapy, and more. It may have helped reduce our need for some of the running around.

• The physical exercises really did remind me of what my son used to do in O.T., and I could see how streamlined and well-chosen they were. I can definitely see why Soundsory is said to help with motor delays, balance and coordination, austism spectrum, developmental delays, sensory integration, auditory processing disorder, ADD, and ADHD.

I am pleased that my daughter wishes to continue to use Soundsory and am eager to see what positive changes happen over time as she does. I am also hoping my older son decides to commit to a 40-day period of using the program and am thinking of recommending it to a relation that suffered a brain injury.

Read the reviews.

Soundsory Is Worth A Look!

I would recommend looking into Soundsory to anyone that is interested in user-friendly, at-home tools for helping cognitive and motor abilities. Some others on the Homeschool Review Crew are already having family members making awesome strides with the program, while others, like me, are pleased with the program so far and waiting to see how things play out.

This difference in results is not unusual, as I understand, since it is explained in the Soundsory FAQs that:

The brain needs a certain amount of repeated stimulation in order to develop new connections, reorganize itself and stabilize improvement. Some people see change within a few days, others after completion of forty days of the program. There is no way to know in advance the exact amount of time it will take.

So, in short, I cannot attest to seeing huge changes in my daughter yet, but I can say that I have experienced enough of Soundsory to understand that it is a well-designed, quality program and that I expect to see more pronounced results as we continue using it here. I can also say that you should read some of the other reviews because some people have had amazing results already with children and adults!

Soundsory from Sound for Life Ltd. is definitely worth looking into if you have people in your family that could use improved motor, sensory, and cognitive abilities.

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Wearing SPD Lenses: The Jumping Mattress

When I was writing a guest post for Hartley's Life with 3 Boys, I coined the phrase “SPD lenses”.  Since then, I have shared several of our life-through-SPD-Lenses ideas both at Sensational Homeschooling and here.  Well, today, I have another one for you.  
Original Purpose: baby and toddler sleeping comfort

With SPD Lenses:  Gross Motor, Proprioceptive Fun

It may not be pretty, but it sure is frugal, fun and very useful!  See it there behind our cowboy and that piece of furniture?

Yep, we keep an old toddler mattress behind our “music center” as a tool for Luke’s home therapy.  The idea is that he can pull and push out the music center in order to retrieve and lay the mattress down (getting some great heavy work in the process).  Then, he can jump-jump-jump away.  It works like a charm!

• Frugal alternative for other expensive home therapy tools? Check!
• Something to do during study breaks?  Check!
• Ingredient for Luke’s daily sensory diet? Check!
• Tool for rainy day fun, evening-energy release and just plain old fun for all of us? Check!

 But, the honest truth…  Who uses it most?

Our adrenaline junkie, Nina!  Man those furniture-moving muscles and jumping legs love it!

This post is being shared at Life as Mom Frugal Friday.  Please check out other ideas for frugal living by clicking the links there.  And, be sure to leave a comment here about your favorite home therapy or plain-old-fun activity tools.

Home Therapy: Hugs, Swings and Rough Play

Nina and Luke run to the door. “Daddy!  Daddy!” they call.  They are excited.  They know the fun will begin soon…

Daddy picks each one of them up, offers a tight squeeze hug and, then, swings them down, clock pendulum style, as he tries to enter the house. 

From there, the race is on.  Daddy tries to beat the kids down the hall to his bedroom door so he can go change.  Often, this race turns into a literal “drag race”:  One or both of the kids clings to Daddy’s legs – giggling.

Later, once Daddy is in his comfy clothes, the pleas for “rough play” begin, and the games commence.

Sometimes, the game of the night is a recent one that Daddy, Nina and Luke have made up – Elephant-Rhino.  It entails singing out the name of the game in loud shouts, while enacting the animals with lots of running, pushing, pulling and butting.  At other times, it’s their old favorite original, Red Bull- Blue Bull, which is much like Elephant-Rhino, but with more charging and butting.  Or, it might be their oldest self-created game – Touchdown.  This one was made up one cold evening while Mommy was at work (since Mommy would have never allowed it when she was home!), and it involves running all throughout the house,  dodging one another’s blocks and tackles, while trying to make it to the goal – a dive onto the bed or couch – shouting “touchdown”.  Still other nights, “rough play” becomes just that – rough play.  Pushing, pulling, tackling, jumping and wrestling in madcap mayhem with no particular rules (besides Mommy’s mandate that the general area of play be cleared of extra objects and furniture which might poke out an eye, crack a skull or otherwise turn laughter into crying.)

Now, before you wonder, “Elephant-Rhino.  Red Bull-Blue Bull.  Touchdown.  General rough play.  Don’t these types of play belong outside?”  Let me interject by saying, “Ideally, all this rough play would not happen in the house!  Mommy would very much like slower feet and quieter voices inside.  But, in the name of Dad-and-kiddo fun and health-for all, I have turned a blind eye to my ‘no running in the house rule’, adapting it to 'we only do this with Daddy.'"  Why?  Rough play works for us!

"What", you say.  "In the name of health?  What does that mean?" Well, in the better weather, we have lovely EEE-carrying mosquitoes holding us hostage inside at dusk when Daddy gets home.  So, we feel it's better to be crazy inside then bitten outside.  And, in the colder months, the sun is already down when Daddy gets home.  So, we figure, it's better to play where you can see objects that might trip you up and cause injury inside rather than playing "blind" in darkness outside.  Plus, rough play – inside or out – is just what Daddy, Luke and Nina need.

Daddy spends hours each day stuck in traffic, commuting to a job that requires mostly sedentary mundane mental tasks.  So, for both his physical and mental well-being, he needs the activity and amusement of acquiescing to the cries of “rough play” when he gets home.

Nina is but three – a prime age for ensuring good motor development and skills in the name of better all around development.  (See the book Gorwing an In-Sync Child, which I reviewed here, for more on this.)  All the running, jumping, pushing, pulling and other large muscle work involved in rough play with Daddy are building blocks, believe it or not, for more academic success later on.

And, Luke?  Well, not only is he in the same motor-driven stage that Nina is in, but he also needs a daily dose of much of what rough play involves.  When we stopped doing formal Occupational Therapy (OT) with him in the late spring, his therapist instructed me to continue to do OT with him at home, maintaining a balanced sensory diet which includes ample portions of proprioceptive (muscle) and vestibular (balance) input.  That is just what generous quantities of “rough play” can offer.

So, call the squeeze hugs, pendulum swings and almost-too-crazy-for-indoors play a fun ritual for Daddy, Nina and Luke (and Jack, once he gets mobile, too).  Call it all crazy (as Mommy sometimes fears it may instill bad habits regarding running and shouting in the house).  Call it whatever you like.  We know what it is:  Home Therapy through a Large Helping of Daddy Time!  It works for us.

How about you?  What are some of your favorite at-home therapies or rough play games?  Do share in a comment.  and, be sure to check out links at We Are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday for sundry other tips for home, work and life in general.