Premium
Auditory Integration Training (AIT): Sound Therapy? Case Studies of Three Boys with Autism who Received AIT
Author(s) -
Link Hanna M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.1997.tb00021.x
Subject(s) - autism , audiology , psychology , sound (geography) , training (meteorology) , speech sound , developmental psychology , medicine , geography , acoustics , physics , meteorology
Auditory Integration Training (AIT) is an experimental ‘alternative’ therapy aimed at individuals with hypersensitive hearing. Developed by Otorhinolaryngologist Dr. Guy Berard, AIT involves listening to electronically‐processed music through headphones for 20 half‐hour sessions. Berard (1993) believes that many cognitive and behavioural problems, including autism, dyslexia and depression, result partially from distortions in hearing, and thus, that clinical symptoms can be alleviated by use of AIT. For example, Berard (1993) considers autistic behaviours to be largely an avoidance reaction to noises heard too acutely. The progress of three boys with autism receiving AIT was closely monitored. Few if any beneficial effects on behaviour were observed. Sound hypersensitivity remained unchanged. The paper also questions the validity of the AIT technique used, and highlights a need for an AIT ‘watchdog’ in the UK.