Listening in Turkey

May 20th, 2012

After the 5 am call to prayer at the local mosque I went back to sleep and have woken at 6, my favourite time to be up. My travel companions don’t understand how I have so much energy and can sleep so well in any situation. Of course it’s the Sound Therapy which I use for 6 hours per night and sometimes 6 hours per day as well, like yesterday on the bus.

I am travelling in Turkey fulfilling a long term dream of sailing on the Mediterranean. We boarded the boat last night and now at 6 am I am sitting with my back to the mast, enjoying the gentle golden light shimmering on the harbour water as I look out over the sea of masts in the marina and the ruined Byzantine castle on a nearby island, complete with a minaret tower where it looks like a mosque has been added into an old fort.

The day I arrived my flight landed in the morning, and having slept on the plane with my Sound Therapy, I felt fine, even after the 16 or 20 hour fight from Australia.  My friends were just heading off to the Grand Bazaar and I went with them, not wanting to miss the opportunity. We went on to walk around the old city, visiting Aya Sofya, a magnificent, towering Orthodox domed church, now converted to a mosque. We then went into one of the underground cisterns built by the Romans which kept the city fully supplied with water for hundreds of years. Supported by pillars and domes, it is an amazing system of large, walk-in chambers linked to an elaborate network of culverts and viaducts.

My friends kept saying “she’ll flag soon,” but I kept walking around all day, and then slept well at night. Now I’m sure I could not have done that without my trusty travel companion of 5 Sound Therapy MINI players, which I keep well charged up so I am never without music when I need it. Like many of our listeners, I never travel without Sound Therapy!

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Does brain plasticity end at 7?

May 16th, 2012

Last week I met a woman whose doctor told her that brain plasticity ends at age 7. Can you believe it? Not only that, he said this by way of informing her not to seek treatment for her 9 year old son, as it was too late!!!!

She described her 9 year old as having some auditory processing issues. Poor short term memory, only able to remember the first part of an instruction, always asking “what?” to give himself time to process what was being said, an inability to remember his spelling words.

Children like this are stressed by learning, which for them is ten times harder than for others. They struggle to concentrate at home and in class, are teased by peers, suffer low self esteem and have limited prospects of success in school and life. Understandably, their mothers wish to help them and go seeking advice first from their doctor.

Sadly, many doctors are not well informed about auditory processing disorders and seem to just want the mothers to go away and stop asking. I often hear of mothers being told not to worry, that the child is ‘within normal range’ and will catch up.

This is WRONG! Children like this need extra help, and so much help is available, through behavioural optometry, speech therapy, sound therapy, special educational assistance, dietary support etc. Every doctor should have a referral network and help to put concerned mothers on the path as quickly as possible to help their children.

Such doctors seem to think that their job is to stop the mother worrying, that mothers are irrational, emotional fretters who are unable to perceive if their child is struggling compared to other children.

However, I have never before heard of a doctor saying that brain plasticity ends at 7! This is particularly surprising today, since in the last 20 years hard science has proven and accepted that brain plasticity continues throughout life, even into the 80s.

Now it is true that brain plasticity is highest in the womb, just after birth, and decreases throughout life. The younger we are, the faster we learn. All the more reason why it is so important for such a doctor to advise the mother to take action straight away to help her child with every possible form of input and stimulus she can find.

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Dizziness Misdiagnosis

May 5th, 2012

Yesterday I was exhibiting at the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney, where people walk by the stall, unaware that they may be about to discover the key to solving a condition that has plagued them for decades. It is exciting to invite them in, get out the ear model and be able to explain what is really going on for them. Yesterday, as often happens, I met a woman whose dizziness had been misdiagnosed.
She told me she suffered from vertigo, and when I asked if she knew the cause she said it was Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). She had been taught the Epley Manouver, where you lie down and do a series of exercises where you tilt the head in particular directions. The aim of this is to roll the little crystals in the semi circular canals back into the correct chamber within the vestibular labyrinth.
On questioning her further, I learned about her symptoms, which were sudden, unprovoked, severe dizzy attacks involving falling down and nausea that could last a week, and she had had this since childhood. (She was now 47.) These are the classic symptoms of Meniere’s Syndrome, which has been known about since it was first described by Dr Meniere in 1861. BPPV was only identified and described by Dr Epley in 1980!
The symptom of BPPV is mild dizziness, specifically caused by a particular tilt of he head such as when tying the shoelaces, looking up, or rolling over in bed. The resulting vertigo usually only lasts a few seconds or minutes.
This is a completely different condition to Meniere’s Syndrome which is caused by excess pressure in the labyrinth, comes on suddenly and unprovoked (except perhaps by stress) causes compete disorientation, a feeling as if the world is falling way beneath you, nausea, vomiting and in severe cased being confined to bed for a week.
I am shocked at how often people come to me having been misdiagnosed by their doctor. With the spread of education on BPPV, and short courses on how to teach the Epley manoeuvre, it seems many doctors are now assuming that if its vertigo it must be BPPV.
The other sad fact is that medical science has remained blind to the actual cause of Meniere’s, which was identified by Dr Tomatis in the 1960s. His theory explains why Meniere’s attacks are always sudden. The general belief that there is an unexplained, constant elevation of labyrinthine fluid pressure does not explain the suddenness of the attacks, nor indeed why such pressure would cause dizziness at all. Dr Tomatis linked the attacks to a sudden twitch or spasm of the stirrup muscle, which suddenly increases the labyrinthine fluid pressure, causing the effect of a storm passing through the labyrinth.
If we accept this theory it then becomes evident why Sound Therapy is such an effective treatment for Meniere’s. The music provides gentle rehabilitation to the stirrup muscle by activating the brain centres in charge of middle ear muscle tone. Over the course of treatment, this reduces the likelihood of muscle spasms and hence of the vertigo attacks.

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Research on the ear muscles

March 12th, 2012

I am always talking about the middle ear muscles – it fascinates me that these muscles play an active role in how our ear functions. We all understand muscles from our day to day experience. We know how they perform, can get strained, and can be trained and built up to gain strength. They can also become over tight, chronically stiff, and need considerable time and therapy to regain a nice soft, relaxed, pliable tone.
The theory behind Sound Therapy is that the ear is an active organ whose role is to stimulate and enhance brain pathways. The tiny muscles in the middle ear respond to certain types of sound stimulation, making the whole auditory system into a dynamic revitalising tool for the brain. Special filtering algorithms (or patterns) and high frequency filters are used to enhance classical music so that it becomes an intensive, progressive therapy program.
Sound Therapy was originally developed by the ear specialist Dr Tomatis, in conjunction with the Sorbonne University in Paris. However, many of his theories have not been sufficiently researched to gain widespread acceptance. Now, finally, we are seeing new innovative research that is starting to confirm some of Tomatis’s ideas. Some of this is new neuro-physiological research from America.
Stephen Porges Ph.D., the Director of the Brain-Body Center, at the University of Illinois at Chicago has developed Polyvagal theory which explains how the vagus nerve acts through the autonomic (automatic-unconscious) nervous system to control our social-emotional processes. According to Dr. Porges, many children with developmental disabilities are in a state of high anxiety. As a result, it is difficult for them to attend to the high frequency sounds such as human speech.
Stephen Porges may be closing in on the reason why auditory re training with sound therapy is proving beneficial to children with autism and other related disorders. In doing this, he is also demonstrating why, for people in general, Sound Therapy seems to enhance communication and relationships.
You can read more about Porges’ research on this link. http://www.education.umd.edu/EDHD/faculty2/Porges/tlp/tlp.html
Porges has found that the same nerves that control the two muscles in the middle ear also control vocalization, facial expression, heart rate and breathing.
When we experience fear and or anxiety, the middle ear muscles can no longer diminish and limit the impact of low-frequency sounds.
Based on an evolutionary perspective, this would allow the individual to attend to all sounds in the environment, in order to perceive danger, rather than attending mostly to higher frequency sounds such as speech.
According to Dr. Porges, many children with developmental disabilities are in a state of high anxiety. This makes it difficult for them to pay attention to only the high frequency sounds such as human speech.
Porges is experimenting with a form of sound stimulation that is similar to the Tomatis method. After being encouraged to relax and do relaxing activities, the child then listens to specific sounds or music that conforms to a narrow frequency range, similar to the range of human speech.
This frequency range is then gradually widened, which is intended to vigorously exercise the two muscles in the middle ear.
Since the middle ear muscles share the same neural connection with facial expression and vocalization, Dr. Porges expected to see an improvement in communication as a result of an improvement in middle ear function. His 10 years of research on this subject has supported this hypothesis.
Porges research is all based on his theories about the Vagus nerve, a fascinating nerve linking many parts of the body. Emerging from the skull, the vagus then communicates with the heart, lungs and digestive tract, also regulating muscles of the head including the face, middle ear, mouth, larynx, and upper throat.
When they studied the general function of these muscles, they realized that collectively these muscles provide an integrated Social Engagement System which controls looking, listening, vocalizing, and facial gesturing.
Porges puts forward some very interesting points about these muscles.
1. “First, if the neural regulation of this group of muscles were dysfunctional, we would observe a face that did not work in social settings.
2. “Second, the middle ear muscles play an important role in extracting human voice from our complex acoustic environment. When the neural tone to the middle ear muscles is low, the middle ear structures do not actively filter out the low frequency sounds that dominate the acoustic environment of our modern industrial world and do not amplify the frequencies associated with human voice.
3. “Third, the neural regulation of the middle ear muscles is linked to the neural regulation of the other muscles of the face, which control facial expression and vocal intonation.”
This means that using stimulation to improve neural regulation of the middle ear muscles should integrate and stimulate the neural regulation of facial expression, looking, listening, and vocalizing.
Like Porges protocol, Sound Therapy aims to enhance the ability to extract the human voice in social settings via the cortical neural regulation of the middle ear muscles. (i.e. control of the ears by the brain.) this is why Sound Therapy listeners typically find it enhances their ability to follow a conversation in a noisy environment.
The filtering process we use is part of a complex algorithm that modulates the intensity of various frequencies to “exercise” and “stimulate” the neural regulation of the middle ear muscles and serves to integrate the components of the Social Engagement System.
This would explain why Sound Therapy listeners report better communication, self expression, receptive listening, and therefore better relationships!

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Breastfeeding Reduces Ear Infections

December 21st, 2011

Only 15 per cent of Australian babies are breastfed exclusively for the first five months of their lives, according to a new study by La Trobe University Mother and Child Health Research senior research fellow Dr Lisa Amir. This is a concerning statistic when we know that the incidence of gastro enteritis is 40% higher among formula fed babies, and the incidence of ear infections is 100% higher!

Ear infections have become a serious child health issue. Though they are hard to control with antibiotics, ear infections have contributed to the overuse of antibiotics by parents wanting to protect their children from harm.

Children who experience repeated ear infections are among those likely develop learning and auditory processing problems which may affect their academic progress. Failure to control the condition often leads to the use of grommets (ear ventilation tubes) surgically inserted through the ear drum. While it temporarily alleviates pressure in the middle ear, such surgery has the risk of leaving scar tissue on the ear drum.

A lack of information on ways to prevent ear infections leaves many parents at their wits end with repeated trips to the doctor, school missed, and concerns about weakening the child’s immune system and disrupting gut flora through too many courses of anti-biotics.

Breast feeding is one way to reduce the likelihood of ear infections. Another excellent support strategy is to use Sound Therapy to improve middle ear muscle function and assist the Eustachian tube to open normally. Because the Eustachian tube is closer to horizontal in babies and young children, it is harder for it to drain. Creating movement of the muscles through Sound Therapy can make a big difference and may mean that antibiotics and the need for grommets (ear ventilation tubes)can be avoided.
To learn more about how Sound Therapy can enhance auditory development and help normal, healthy Eustachian tube function and prevent ear infections, visit our children’s page:
http://www.soundtherapyinternational.com/v3/sound-therapy-for-children.html

There is an excellent article, “How Human Milk Protects Babies From Illness” on this link http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/breastfeeding/why-breast-best/how-human-milk-protects-babies-illness

Here is a quote from the article about how breast feeding affects the ears.
“BREASTFED BABIES ARE HEALTHIER
Derrick and Patrice Jelliffe, pioneers in breastfeeding research, stated that breastfed infants are “biochemically different.” This difference in body chemistry may be the reason they are healthier. While babies are breastfeeding, they have fewer and less serious respiratory infections, less diarrhea, and less vomiting. When breastfed babies do become ill, they are less likely to become dehydrated and need hospitalization.
“Here are some specific ways in which breastfeeding protects babies from illness:
• Friendly to little ears. Ear infections are a childhood nuisance, often following on the heels of stuffy noses and colds. The middle ear fills with fluid, and eventually that fluid becomes infected, causing pain, especially in the middle of the night. Repeated ear infections, or those that go untreated, can lead to hearing loss. This is an important concern in young children, since hearing difficulties can interfere with language, and language problems can later affect reading skills.

Breastfeeding protects against ear infections in four possible ways:
1. The many germ-fighting ingredients in human milk keep harmful bacteria from bothering baby, so that stuffed-up noses and ears are less likely to become infected middle ears.
2. Because breastfed babies are fed in a more upright position, they’re less likely to experience milk backing up through the eustachian tube into their ears; if this does happen during a breastfeeding session, human milk is less irritating to the tissues of the middle ear than infant formula.
3. Breastfed babies have fewer, or at least less severe, colds than formula-fed babies. Fewer colds means fewer ear infections.
4. Breastfed babies have fewer respiratory allergies, another cause of fluid building up in the middle ear, which sets the stage for bacteria to grow.”

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Doctors of Audiology embrace Sound Therapy

December 19th, 2011

In early November 2011 Rafaele Joudry and Helen Walden, the Directors of Sound Therapy International, attended the annual conference for the Academy of Doctors of Audiology in Bonita Springs Florida.
This event is attended by the leading practitioners and decision makers in the audiology field in America. Among the topics covered at the conference tinnitus had a high profile, as did hyperacusis (sound sensitivity) and Central Auditory Processing Disorder (background noise discrimination problems.) While in the past many doctors and even audiologists used to tell their clients that nothing could be done for tinnitus, that has now changed significantly. Many audiologists are making tinnitus treatment a significant part of their practice.
There is a variety of treatment methods that audiologists typically recommend, including Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, hearing aids with noise generators and various forms of sound therapy. While some forms of sound therapy are simply in the form of tinnitus maskers, or relaxing background sound, the Joudry method of Sound Therapy offers a specific program of stimulation aimed at helping to actually reduce the tinnitus sound. This is done by exercising the middle ear muscles, stimulating the sensory cells in the middle ear and encouraging the brain to build new pathways and stop the repetitive firing of the neurons that are causing the tinnitus.
Audiologists at the ADA welcomed the new information provided by Sound Therapy International as the program is much more affordable, portable and easier for clients to use than many other types of sound therapy. Clinics in 10 or more US States are now offering the Joudry method of Sound Therapy. To find a Sound Therapy consultant visit www.SoundTherapySYNERGY.com or call Sound Therapy International in the USA on 1800 323 9956 or in Australia on 1300 55 77 96.

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New Study on Chemicals in the Home

August 10th, 2011

I was heartened today to see that a major study is being launched into the link between diseases and household chemicals. At Sound Therapy International we help families dealing with such issues as ADHD, autism, tinnitus and auditory processing disorder. There is growing recognition of the role that chemicals play in such conditions.
For some years we have been advising families to look into the possible chemical and environmental causes of such problems. This is why in addition to Sound Therapy we offer a range of non toxic products and supplements.
Read about the study at this link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-05/study-household-chemicals-childhood-disease/
To learn more about the causes of current children’s health issues and what you can do about it go to: http://www.thehelp15project.com/
The Help 15 Project is an exciting and highly effective way that
we as individuals can create a positive impact on our health and the health of our
beautiful planet, while also helping the children of today and tomorrow.
Planet earth is such an incredible and wonderful place, but unfortunately some of
the activities we humans undertake can have detrimental impacts on our
precious waterways. Not only are there issues of industrial pollution to consider,
but we must also consider what we each do in our own homes. Many people
don’t realise that the very products we purchase on a regular basis and bring into
our homes can create the same sort of pollution that some of our factories do!
How can this be?
If we look closely at many of today’s cleaning products and decipher the
ingredients (if we can!) we see that a large number of brands contain the same
type of high strength industrial cleansing chemicals that are commonly used in
huge manufacturing plants. In fact, even our personal care products such as
toothpastes, shampoos and conditioners, soaps, laundry detergents, face creams
and make-up often contain similar toxic ingredients! Most frightening of all is
that there are harsh industrial cleansers found in many baby products. All of
these toxins are readily available to us in the cleaning and personal care products on our supermarket and chemist shelves.
So we should ask ourselves: “Do we really want to be cleaning our teeth, washing our hair and bathing our children in ingredients proven to be toxic?” We are often told that – ‘there is only a small and therefore harmless amount’ – of toxic chemicals in these products:- but does that automatically mean that these ’small’ amounts are safe? It has actually been proven that, in fact, small amounts, day after day, certainly add up to high levels of toxicity which can build up in our
bodies over years of continuous use. Do we really want to take that risk?
Believe it or not, we have been ‘officially’ warned about this! In 2009, the US
Environmental Protection Agency released a statement which said that “-our
homes now rank as 1 of the top 5 risks to public health-”. Our own homes!! Now
that should get our attention, shouldn’t it? It is crucial that The Help 15 Project
reaches all four corners of the globe, to reduce the impact that this is having.
Let’s consider the effects of these chemicals once they are flushed down our
sinks. What impact do they have on our waterways? Millions of people wash
EVERY DAY using soaps, shampoo’s and toothpastes and also clean their homes daily using dishwashing liquids, laundry powders and disinfectants – and we know that these all end up down the drain and in our waterways. Surely this
would have to have an enormous impact, especially if those very same chemicals were toxic to our environment. Well, they are … and it does.
Never before have we had so many people on the planet, use so many products
each day and pour so much into our waterways. All of this leaves many people
greatly concerned for our health and for our future. It’s a serious issue.
These are some of the many reasons The Help 15 Project was developed, to help combat these effects.
And … – what about the people?
What effects are these toxins having on us and our health? Let’s look at the
statistics:
Eczema – affects approximately 1 in 18 people (2010)
Asthma – affects approximately 10 – 15% of children (2010)
Autism – now affects approximately 1 in 100 children (2010)
Cancer – affects 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women (2009 – Or Samuel Epstein, Cancer Prevention Coalition)
We are experiencing illnesses like cancer, diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular
disease at much younger ages than ever before.
These rates are climbing quickly with each decade. High levels of certain illnesses today can be directly linked with high toxicity levels. It’s time to make some changes. It’s time to take responsibility.
With approximately 7 billion people all sharing this planet, we need to address these issues with a sense of urgency. The time for change is NOW.
So … – what can we do?
The Help 15 Project is a solution that is really very simple – just switch from the
standard brands which contain all those toxic ingredients over to safety
conscious products which can be shown to you by the person who gave you this
information. Just by switching over to these safety conscious products you will
be playing your part in helping to save our beautiful planet and safeguarding
your health and the health of generations to come. You’ll no longer be using
those harsh industrial chemicals on your family, nor will you be allowing these
same harmful chemicals to wash down the drain and end up in our precious
waterways.

Register your interest and learn more at http://www.thehelp15project.com/

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Mind Body Spirit Festival is on again in Sydney and Sound Therapy International will be there!

May 6th, 2011

Find the Sound Therapy team at stand C29 every day. This is a great opportunity to look at (and listen to) the new Mini MX2 players, and ask your questions. 

Show Specials: 
* Buy a book and receive a free DVD. 
* Buy a full-priced program and receive a free set of quality Sennheiser headphones PLUS go into the draw: one lucky customer will have their program fully reimbursed!

Free talk: Rafaele Joudry will present Sound Therapy: Ear and Brain Health for Life on Sunday 22 May at 4:30pm in Seminar Room B (upstairs). This is a rare opportunity to share some time with Rafaele and benefit from her in-depth knowledge of the auditory remapping effect of Sound Therapy. 

Half price Ticket:  http://www.soundtherapy.com.au/PDF/MBSMay2011%20half%20price%20ticket.pdf to download your half-price ticket (normal adult price $18). You can print as many copies of this as you like.

The festival runs from Thursday 19 May to Sunday 22 May, 10am to 7pm each day, at Hall One of the Sydney Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour. 
http://www.mbsfestival.com.au/sydney-details.htm for details of how to get there, where to park and other festival information.

We look forward to seeing you there! 

Rafaele

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Sound Therapy – now with superior sound delivery

March 11th, 2011

Most of us have heard of digital compression, but what does it really mean? And why is Sound Therapy so much better?

Digital Compression
Digital compression is mainly performed in the frequency domain. In compressed sound a few samples of the sound are taken but a large percentage of data, up to 90%, can be discarded. For the average listener the sound can still be recognized without this complex data. The result is a smooth wave form, from which many frequencies, especially the higher frequencies, are missing. This is the core of digital compression.

A single wave form smoothed out by compression is illustrated below. This is an illustration of typical MP3 sound.

Smoothed Waveforms

In addition to frequency compression, sound is also compressed in time, so that fewer samples are played back each second. Here is an illustration of sound waves over a period of time.

Sound waves

After both the frequency and time domain compression processes, the spectrum datum are simplified as illustrated below. (Note: The illustration is overly simplified for easier understanding.) Thus, a huge amount of information is removed and permanently lost. (This is the reason why this type of compression is called “Lossy” Compression.) Moreover, MP3 often uses a lower sampling rate than a CD, which creates a total loss of information above a particular frequency (that being 1/2 of the sampling frequency). Note the sudden information loss over the specific frequency in the illustration.

Sound Waves 2

 

The sound reproduced from this data file sounds okay to the average listener. A piano still sounds like a piano and a trumpet sounds like a trumpet, but the details, nuance, and musicality are lost. The sound becomes rather dull, and is largely devoid of any therapeutic benefit.

What’s Wrong with MP3?
MP3 data contains a minimum amount of information attempting to reproduce the sound in an acceptable quality. A mere 1/20 of the original information is kept and the rest is permanently discarded. (Instead, you can store 20 times more music in the same media.) The narrowed frequency range is another tactic to compress the file size. It is noticeable that the MP3 music obviously has less high-frequency information compared to CD music. This is a common problem to any digitally compressed audio including WMA.

In contrast, the technology used in Sound Therapy recordings both replicates and enhances the original harmonics and frequencies in the music, using a combination of therapeutic filtering systems and state of the art digital playback technology.

A new enhancement for Sound Therapy
Our new playback system for Sound Therapy being launched this week is a beautifully engineered miniature player called the MINI MX2. The MINI MX2 uses two specialized processes to ensure accurate and harmonic rich playback.

MP Process
The MP (Minimized Polynomial Non-Linear Saturation) Process effectively generates harmonics indicated as “ Generated Harmonics by MP Process ” from a “ Fundamental ” note in the illustration below. The even order harmonics create harmonized, warm and comfortable sound, while the right amount of odd order harmonics makes the sound brighter and sharper, when they are added to the original sound. The result is a warm and comfortable, yet distinguished sound.

Sound Waves 3

BBE MP Process
BBE Sound is a premier audio technology process used to improve the quality of amplified sound for those seeking a superior listening experience. BBE High Definition Sound technologies are a cutting edge advancement in digital sound delivery now in demand by world-renowned musicians and top sound engineers.
Sound Therapy International is now implementing BBE High Definition Sound technologies into our products so that they provide a more satisfying and therapeutic audio experience for our listeners.
The BBE Process, which provides a linear phase advance in proportion to the frequency, is placed before the MP process. The MP process evenly generates higher harmonics from the entire audio bandwidth. Since the BBE-processed sound has a tapered time alignment (the higher the frequency, the more time advance), the generated harmonics are time-advanced in the higher frequencies. This allows the brain to analyze the sound more easily with the least amount of added harmonics. (It is common knowledge in the psycho-acoustic studies that time-advanced harmonics, compared to fundamentals, make the brain’s interpretation of sound easier.)

Sound Waves 4

The BBE process progressively enhances the higher frequencies. The harmonics generated by the MP process tends to have more elements in the higher frequencies compared to the lower frequencies. The degree of this contrast is optimized by the BBE process gain.

The BBE MP process ensures optimum rendition of the complex fluctuating high frequency-rich Sound Therapy retaining its complex variations with absolute detail, clarity and sharpness, for ultimate neural stimulation and brain recharge. Sound Therapy has never sounded better!

Visit our website www.SoundTherapyInternational.com to view our listening programs currently available.

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Why are learning difficulties increasing?

March 1st, 2011

Sometimes I wonder, and I’m sure you have too, why the incidence of learning and developmental difficulties seems to be increasing. In a society with better standards of living, more research and better medical care you wouldn’t you expect the reverse?

In my work with Sound Therapy I have encountered many, many families facing the journey of seeking help for a child with developmental difficulties. What I have concluded is that it would be so much better if these could be prevented in the first place. But what is the cause?

I have been investigating in this field for some years now, and the evidence is becoming very clear.

Today children are born into a world teeming with toxic chemicals that previous generations never encountered. Research published in the Lancet in 2006 (1) verified that neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorder, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy are linked to industrial chemicals such as, lead, methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], arsenic, and toluene. These compounds are recognised causes of neurodevelopmental disorders and subclinical brain dysfunction.

Researchers in a variety of studies have found that exposure to chemical toxins during early foetal development can cause brain injury at doses much lower than those affecting adult brain function. For this reason, urgent steps must be taken to protect our children.

Recognition of the risks has led to evidence-based programmes of prevention, such as elimination of lead additives in petrol. Although these prevention campaigns are highly successful, most were initiated only after substantial delays. Another 200 chemicals are known to cause clinical neurotoxic effects in adults. Many chemical exposures occur in the home from the chemical cocktail of cleaning and bathroom products found in most households.

The toxic effects of such chemicals in the developing human brain are not known and these chemicals are not adequately regulated to protect vulnerable children. Sadly, the two main impediments to prevention of neurodevelopmental deficits of chemical origin are the great gaps in testing chemicals for developmental neurotoxicity and the high level of proof required for regulation. Therefore researchers concluded that new, precautionary approaches are needed for testing and control of chemicals which recognise the unique vulnerability of the developing brain.

Meanwhile, families can take steps themselves to learn which chemicals to avoid and protect their children, at least in their own homes. An exciting new initiative called the Help 15 Project is opening the door for many families to do this. Follow this link to see a very moving but encouraging 4 minute video about the project. I hope that some Sound Therapy listeners would like to become involved.
www.thehelp15project.com

(1) Grandjean, P. Landrigan, P., “Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals”, The Lancet, Volume 368, Issue 9553, Pages 2167-2178

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