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began to explore toys, imitated his body movements and facial expression in a mirror, and was
able to regulate his response to sensory input more efficiently. Gagging and vomiting ceased.
During mealtimes he was more open to changes in his physical position in the chair and
presentation of the food. Although he still needed his videotape at mealtimes, he was more
interactive with his mother and began to come forward to initiate a bite from the spoon when a
METAMUSIC tape was played thirty minutes prior to the meal. He no longer cried and pushed
the food away.
During the next six months of home-programming, his parents felt that he was less alert and
tended to become sleepy when a relaxed-focus METAMUSIC tape was played. When a
concentration METAMUSIC tape was substituted, he was more focused, and no longer
became sleepy. Within ten months, he was taking a wide variety of foods, and had progressed
to chewing mashed and chopped textured foods.
Case Study: A Child with Cerebral Palsy
A three-year-old boy with cerebral palsy received most of his meals through a gastrostomy
feeding tube because of severe disorganization of swallowing and breathing. He had recently
shown an interest in eating, and his parents gave him small oral feedings each day. During
these meals, his breathing was noisy and labored, and he showed frequent choking and
coughing. He had great difficulty moving his body volitionally because of high muscle tone and
strong tonic reflex movement patterns. He frequently arched into hyperextension of his body
and head. He drooled profusely. The base of his tongue was pulled back into a slightly
retracted pattern, intermittently occluding the airway. This pattern contributed to his difficulty
with breathing coordination during eating and drinking. Although it was possible to use gentle
manual traction under the chin to draw the base of the tongue forward, he consistently resisted
this treatment strategy. His sleeping patterns were stressed. As he fell asleep, his body went
into strong spasms that were accompanied by tongue retraction and severe obstruction of the
airway. These episodes of obstructive sleep apnea were terrifying because of their sudden
onset and his inability to breathe. His panic and increased tension resulted in stronger reflexive
retraction of the tongue and long periods of apnea. He resisted going to sleep, and it often took
three to four hours for him to calm down and sleep. When a sleep medication (such as chloral
hydrate) was given, he was groggy and unalert the following morning. His parents preferred to
help him learn to go to sleep while they were up. They gave lesser amounts of the medication
in the late evening when they went to bed. Without this medication, the sleep-wake-apnea
episodes continued throughout the night, and the whole family experienced sleep deprivation.
A relaxed-focus METAMUSIC tape was used initially during quiet, on-the-lap activities such as
listening to a story. This enabled the therapist to feel any changes in muscle tone and
movement coordination that were related to Hemi-Sync. During these sessions, his postural
tone reduced, and he could interact with a storybook as his hand was guided to different
pictures. He accepted the therapist’s hand under his chin to facilitate a more forward position
of the tongue. He was interested in the contrast between his noisy and quiet breathing
patterns, and began to maintain the quiet pattern independently for longer periods.
Oral feeding sessions were held with the child supported on his mother’s lap. Physical
assistance was given to keep the tongue out of the pharyngeal airway. Sucking and
swallowing movements became more regular and rhythmical, and were well coordinated with
breathing. There was no coughing or choking. A modified barium swallow study several
months later showed an efficient swallow with no aspiration. A relaxed-focus METAMUSIC
tape was used at each meal, and intermittently throughout the day. The child learned to use a
more forward head position and keep the base of the tongue out of the airway. At the end of
the five-day intensive treatment program, he used a quiet breathing pattern more than 75% of
the time, and was spontaneously swallowing his saliva. Drooling was minimal.
Evening therapy sessions were held at bedtime. A METAMUSIC sleep tape was introduced to
help him relax and fall asleep with less physical and emotional stress. The therapist used the
positive suggestions that he could sleep peacefully and breathe quietly. Intervention to inhibit
his tonic reflex patterns and keep the tongue in a more forward position was used at the first
sign of the spasm. Over a four-day period he was able to fall asleep within a thirty-minute
period. He had one or two small spasms during the initial sleep period, but was free from
apnea episodes. An adult remained with him for physical and emotional support during this
period, repeating the positive suggestions for easy sleep, and helping him maintain a forward
tongue position. Three weeks after the program began, his parents weaned him from the sleep
medication, and he slept through the night.
Summary
References
Budzynski, T. 1981. Brain lateralization and rescripting. Somatics, Spring, 3-9.
Bullard, B. 1997. Personal communication.
Bullard, B. 1995. The Road to Remembrance. Hemi-Sync Journal, 13 (1).
Guilfoyle, G. and D. Carbone. 1997. The facilitation of attention utilizing therapeutic sounds.
Hemi-Sync Journal, 15 (2).
Morris, S. E. 1990. Hemi-Sync and the facilitation of sensory integration. Hemi-Sync Journal, 8
(4).
Morris, S. E. 1985a. Music and Hemi-Sync in the treatment of children with developmental
disabilities. Breakthrough, December.
Morris, S. E. 1985b. Developmental implications for the management of feeding problems in
neurologically impaired infants. Seminars in Speech and Language, 6 (4): 293-315.
Sornson, R. 1996. Personal communication.
Varney, K. 1988. Metamusic with Hemi-Sync as an adjunct to intervention with
developmentally delayed young children. Master’s thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc.
© 1998 The Monroe Institute