Berard Auditory Integration Training

Consequences of Distorted Hearing

For more than thirty years, Dr. Berard worked in his ENT practice. During those years, he kept learning. Years later, Dr. Berard determined that distortions in the hearing resulted in auditory processing difficulties. In fact, researchers today know that distorted hearing affects auditory processing difficulties, reading, listening, clear speech and expressive speech. Lastly, individual with auditory processing difficulties often experience distortion in the hearing. Perhaps it occurred when you were a toddler or a preschooler. Did you suffer from ear infections or enlarged adenoids? If so, poor ear health can explain difficulties like listening, reading, paying attention, and completing writing assignments.

Program Recommendations

Your Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire Report and hearing test results determine the best auditory integration training program for clients.  When your Uncomfortable hearing test shows low tolerance to sounds, Cheri recommends Berard-based, In-home Auditory Integration Training.  Often, clients with hearing loss also have sound intolerance. Thus, Cheri collaborates with audiologist to plan for hearing aid use right after auditory integration training. Please see Explanation of Cost page.

Before Listening

Before, after, and while listening to your auditory integration training program, Cheri provides a document of recommended activities. For example, activities like running, swinging, turning around-and-around in an office chair, or even jumping jacks increase your brain activity. When possible, Cheri encourages cardiovascular exercise out in the sun. Exercise saturates your brain with oxygen.

Neurocognitive Changes, Brain Plasticity

Dr. Berard designed Berard Auditory Integration Training to stimulate the brain. He was excited to learn how quickly the brain could change and started to learn about brain plasticity research results. Thus, he believed that the brain could change how sounds were processed in the brain. Additionally, he believed sound therapy could strengthen auditory neural pathways maintaining one’s ability to hear. To clarify, Dr. Berard knew he was not curing hearing loss. He simply hoped he could push enough sound energy along auditory neural pathways to keep pathways strong.

Norman Doidge

Norman Doidge explains brain plasticity in his book, The Brain’s Way of Healing. For example, after an injury, an individual instinctively uses their stronger, non-injured body part. However, this decreases a person’s ability to recover.  Why? Failure to use the injured body part under-stimulates neural pathways from the injured limb to the brain (pg. 102-103). After an injury, physical therapy reconnects the injured body part to the brain through motion.

Likewise, auditory integration training pushes sound energy along auditory neural pathways to stimulate the brain. As long as there is ear health and no hearing loss, Auditory Integration Training strengthens neural pathways. Using hearing test results, Cheri’s goal is to balance your hearing system. Thus, sound becomes more crisp and clear. Then, she strengthens your speech ear by giving you a program with 25% more volume in your right ear.  The fun activity on the video, Who Knew Hearing Your Own Voice Affects Speech Frequency., helps you learn how sound energy from your voice travels to your ears.

Hearing Loss Lacks Symmetry

Have you ever thought about the fact that hearing loss is rarely equal in both ears; thus, sounds fail to synch-up on their way to the brain. Norman Doidge shared that more brain activity must occur when sensory input fails to synch-up. I believe this explains why a child with auditory processing difficulties can listen better while keeping their hands busy or moving. It makes sense that movement provides the brain what it needs for development when the hearing, and often the visual system, is under-stimulating the brain.

Sensory Seeking Behaviors

Individuals seek sensory experiences to either calm themselves or to wake up their brains. Examples of sensory-seeking behavior are touching, hugging, being noisy, repeatedly jumping, prolong swinging, hanging upside down, or even making noises with their mouth. Norman Doidge shares that a “noisy brain” helps a person make sense out of the chaos received from neural pathways signaling out-of-synch. Basically, the brain needs more time to process, to think, about incoming information. Then, they can chose a response, act. The neural pathways are much longer than neural pathways in an efficient brain with no dysfunctions.

Auditory Integration Training 

Moore Auditory-Visual Integration Training uses hearing test results and the information below to develop each individualized Auditory Integration Training program:

1. Research-based OSHA safe listening levels
2. Test of Auditory-Visual Skills to screen for central auditory processing skills
3. Visual Activities to informally assess visual processing skills
4. Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire Report
5. Pre-care questionnaire to review ENT history and health
6. Activities to prepare clients for hearing tests to increase accurate responses.
7. Academic history, existing concerns

Most importantly, hearing evaluation test results and an Ear, Nose, and Throat wellness exam determines if a person is able to benefit from AIT and maintain progress.

• Each client’s middle ear health is evaluated by tests that assess eardrum movement and middle ear bone movements.
• Each frequency is tested until the client stops responding to determine the presence of a sensitivity peak. If found, frequency peaks is filtered during training.
• Inner and outer cochlear hairs are tested when there are hearing loss concerns, especially when they coexist with sound intolerance.

Who Benefits?

Dr. Berard successfully improved the client’s tolerance to sounds. He helped individuals diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, sensory issues, autism, dyslexia, hyperactivity, learning disabilities, language impairments, pervasive developmental disorders, central auditory processing disorder, hearing loss, attention deficit disorder, and depression.

Sound Intolerance Improves

In a majority of Dr. Berard’s cases, auditory integration training improved sound tolerance. Also, learning improved in addition to emotional health.  A summary of Dr. Berard’s various case histories are shared in his book, Hearing Equals Behavior.  Equally important, are the copies of past client’s hearing tests before and after Auditory Integration Training.

The book was published in France in 1982. A revised edition was published in 2011, co-authored by Sally Brocket (ISBN # 978-0-615-474526).

Research, A Double-Blind Study (2016)

Researchers found evoked potentials tracking auditory neural pathway activity found stronger auditory neural responses. Decreased behaviors seen in participants were

• Less hyperactivity
• Less irritable
• Fewer repetitive actions

Earlier research by Edelson and Rimland. 1990’s – 3 Double-Blind Studies with children diagnosed with autism and sound sensitivities had similar findings.

• Decreased negative behaviors
• Improved tolerance to sounds
• Stronger P-3 Brain wave activity is a significant improvement.

1) Sokhadze, E.M., Casanova, M.F., Tasman, A., and Brockett, S. (2016).Electrophysiological and behavioral outcomes of Berard auditory integration training (AIT) in children with autism spectrum disorder. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, DOI 10.1007/s10484-016-9343-z  (summary found at https://www.autism.com/ait
2) Edelson, S.M., Arin, D., Bauman, M.B., Lukas, S.E., Rudy, J.H., Sholar, M., and Rimland, B. (1999). Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 14, 73-81.
3) Rimland, B., and Edelson, S.M. (1996). Auditory integration training: A pilot study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 61-70.
4) Rimland, B., and Edelson, S.M. (1994). The effects of auditory integration training in autism. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 5, 16-24.

Auditory Integration Training Improves Response to Vision Therapy

Vision therapy requires the individual to listen with comprehension and focus on visual work, which is improved by Auditory Integration Training.  Cheri Moore’s desire to improve clients’ emotional response during Auditory Integration Training resulted in the discovery of a high rate of co-existing visual processing difficulties with sound intolerance. Clients either had hearing loss or no hearing loss.  After some clients experienced increased visual processing difficulties during Berard Auditory Integration Training, Cheri Moore collaborated with optometrists specializing in vision therapy. Then, Cheri to track client’s progress.

Moore Auditory Integration Training has resulted in improved responses to auditory integration training and vision therapy.