Therapeutic Listening  & Prenatal Substance Exposure

Thomas

Thomas was an imaginative and playful four-year-old with signs of attachment disorder. He was particularly reactive to light, sound, and touch, and as an infant and toddler he required constant movement to feel calm. While in utero, Thomas’ mother was dependent on cocaine and used substances regularly for the first three months of her pregnancy (before knowing she was pregnant) but also in her latter months. Thomas spent the first weeks of his life with his mother. After that his father and step-grandmother took care of him, moving him back and forth between their homes every four days.

Thomas’ step-grandmother, Martha, was a special education teacher and had become alarmed about some of his odd behaviors. For example, he had a constant need to be bounced, and although he loved to be held, swaddled, and confined, he would scream when he was put down. As he grew, he screamed in response to certain stimuli such as brushing his teeth, being moved from a shady spot into the sun, and hot temperatures (as in food or bathwater). When he was in a public bathroom, he would cover his ears and run out as if the sounds were too loud for him. Thomas also showed signs of tactile defensiveness; he did not like cuffs on his sleeves or zippers on his clothes and hated putting his hands in the mud.

Thomas had particular ideas about how things should look, feel, and be done. For example, when he began eating solid foods, he would scream if he saw a Cheerio that was not formed in a perfect circle. Martha also noted that if she had one strand of hair out of place, he would stop what he was doing, return it to place, and then continue with whatever task was at hand. Thomas loved to play and was fortunate to have a step-grandmother so willing to play with him. In his younger years, she spent an average of seven hours a day playing with him, encouraging full range of motion in his arms and legs while he crawled and doing her best to establish spatial awareness and sensory comfort.

As Thomas got older, he did not engage in spontaneous, creative play. Instead he gave Martha exact instructions and screamed if she did not follow them precisely. For instance, when they played with cars on a ramp, Thomas would tell her when to move her car, where to move it, and how long to wait before moving it again.

After Therapeutic Listening

Following her training as a special education teacher and her intuition as a grandmother, Martha implemented several therapeutic activities in their daily routine. While Thomas was in his bouncing stage from days to seven months old, she began having him listen to a Therapeutic Listening CD over speakers. She combined the listening with good food and active crawling and sensorimotor games. Martha reported that after one week, his need for bouncing had decreased by 70 percent.

When Thomas was old enough to use headphones, Martha started him on a Therapeutic Listening program. As he progressed in his program, Thomas became more tolerant of low-frequency noises, and his sensitivity to tooth brushing subsided. He also became more flexible in his play, more amenable to change, an gained better body control. For example, he began to be able to balance on one foot instead of toppling over as he had always done.