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Home › Articles › Special Needs › The Beat Goes On

The Beat Goes On

Interactive Metronome Helps

Children With Attention Difficulties Get on Track

By Emily Gorovsky

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Even after children are diagnosed with ADD, ADHD or other difficulties with attention, coordination and timing, choosing the best treatment is not an easy decision for parents to make. For those interested in trying a non-drug approach, the interactive metronome (IM) is a safe option with proven success for both children and adults.

Sounds, Seconds and Scores
Filtering computer-generated beats through headphones, the program guides users to perform different repetitive exercises that are measured through hand and foot sensors. After each movement is completed, the computer attached to the sensors assesses the accuracy with which the user performs each exercise. This accuracy is essentially the difference between the metronome beat and the individual's response, which is measured in milliseconds. The goal of the IM is to lower the amount of time (in milliseconds) of this difference; thus, the lower the IM score, the more progress that is made.

According to Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, chairman of the Interactive Metronome, Inc. Scientific Advisory Committee, a nationally recognized child psychiatrist and author of The Child With Special Needs (Perseus Publishing, 1998) and The Challenging Child: Understanding, Raising, and Enjoying the Five "Difficult" Types of Children (Perseus Publishing, 1995), the IM improves "motor planning and sequencing so that children can carry out a multi-step process. As timing improves, sequencing improves."

Dr. Greenspan also points to research that has shown the IM increases coordination, motor skills and attention span. Newer research indicates that the IM helps improve students' academic abilities, such as reading and math scores. Additionally, a clinical trial published in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy in March of 2001 illustrated significant gains in control of aggression and impulsiveness for boys with ADHD who used the IM program.

"The IM is not for a specific syndrome," says Dr. Greenspan. "It will help with ADHD, but it is for any attention problems, distractibility, poor motor coordination and kids without special challenges. It improves skills for many children."

Is the IM Right for Your Child?

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