Pilot Study BC Broekhin

School:  BC Broekhin Roermond-NL- (Secondary school)

Period:  November 2003 – June 2005

Purpose:

What are the effects of Hemisphere Specific Auditory Stimulation (Johansen-IAS therapy) on a group of dyslexic students (age 13-17) compared to a matched group of dyslexic students and a matched group of non-dyslexic students.

Planning:

28 students were divided into three groups.

Group 1: 10 students diagnosed with dyslexia, receiving specific remedial education and auditory stimulation.

Group 2: 10 students diagnosed with dyslexia, receiving specific remedial education but without auditory stimulation.

Group 3: 8 non-dyslexic students.

According to the following criteria there were no significant differences between the three groups: age, grade, gender, total IQ, verbal IQ, performance IQ, reading comprehension, mathematics/calculation.

Significant differences between group 1 / 2  and 3 were found in technical reading (decoding) and spelling. 

The following tests were used with all three groups before and after the period of auditory stimulation of group 1:

Technical Reading:             

EMT (one-minute-test): read as many words as possible (vertically) within one minute.

KLEPEL (non-word-test): read as many words as possible within two minutes.

READING TEXT: read as much as possible within two minutes.

Reading Comprehension:   

Five texts with multiple choice questions. The results are ranged in micro- (word-level), meso- (sentence-level) and macro (text-level).

Spelling:                           

Dictation of 8 sentences.

Speed copying:                  

Copy as much of a sentence as possible within two minutes.

Visual Memory:                 

24 cards with symbols (square, circle, triangle, etc.).

Auditory Memory:              

Digit span test.

Phonemic Analysis:     

20 non-words. Skip the first, the second or the last letter. Then repeat the word.

Rapid Naming:          

Read the following cards as fast as possible: Dice, figures, colours, numbers, letters, words.      

Parent-questionnaire : ABC-questionnaire:    Attention-Behaviour-Coordination

Student-questionnaire:  Automation-questionnaire (items others than language / spelling).

Audiogram, Binaural Pure Tone Audiometry, Dichotic Listening Test.

The students of group 1 listened to an average of 8 CDs in periods of 8-12 weeks. Each CD was recorded with individual customization according to an audiogram taken just before the CD was made.

Results:

Group 1 significantly improved compared to group 2 and 3 on the following items:

Technical Reading (decoding)       

Spelling                    

Phonemic Analysis     

Visual Memory           

Rapid Naming    

Audiogram                

Laterality (D.L.T.)       

Group 1 improved also on the following items, but not significantly:

Reading comprehension

Speed copying           

Auditory Memory

On the item behaviour of the ABC-questionnaire group 1 improved significantly. They also improved on attention and coordination, but not significantly. They also can be said about the automation-questionnaire.

Conclusions:

The effects on language of a period of auditory stimulation in combination with specific remedial education are tremendous. Stimulating nerve pathways into and within the brain can speed up connections within the language centres. This can lead to more efficient processing of language.

It would be helpful if similar research could be done in different schools in different countries. We could then compare the results and see if those results are the same in different countries. This would help a lot to get more international recognition for the effects of auditory stimulation as recommended by dr. Kjeld V. Johansen.