Interactive metronome therapy is a treatment tool designed by Jim Cassily that has found many amazing uses for students in the classroom. Jim worked in the music industry as a sound mixer where the original metronome was made from parts from the hardware store and used to help musicians learn to stay on the beat as they rehearsed with musicians like Janis Joplin and Pete Seegar.
When the original metronome was used in a music class at a school for struggling children, Jim discovered that it could also help with focus, attention, and the student’s ability to complete work. He began to experiment with the different ways that IM treatment could be effective when he noticed that it helped a friend’s child with cerebral palsy even learn to walk better.
Hardy Brain Training’s History with Interactive Metronome
In 2000, as Jim was getting ready to introduce the Interactive Metronome to the marketplace, I became one of his first trainees and was the second Master Level Trainer he certified.
While Hardy Brain Training focuses specifically on students now, over the years we have used Interactive Metronome to successfully help athletes improve their performance, musicians improve their timing, kids overcome movement challenges, seniors improve their thinking speed, and executives handle the stress of their jobs more effectively.
Since 2000, when it was first introduced, the Interactive Metronome has undergone immeasurable improvement in the actual hardware as well as the software program that runs it. New versions have been created to allow for training at home under the supervision of an IM licensed provider.
Hardy Brain Training has a lot of experience from over twenty years of working with the IM system. Sherrie Hardy has a Master’s in Interactive Metronome and was certified by the inventor, Jim Cassily.
Brain Timing & The Interactive Metronome
The IM system is capable of offering improvement for a variety of different challenges because it taps into one of the brain’s built-in timing systems.
The brain uses hidden timing systems to help you throughout the day and night. You are at your best when the timing in your brain is working smoothly. Luckily, your brain timing can be improved to increase the amount of time you are capable of being at your ‘best’.
Sometimes the brain’s timing systems get dysregulated. One of the common timing systems that dysregulates is the circadian timing system. When you fly across time zones or reset your clocks in fall and spring you may have noticed that you are sluggish for a day or two afterward. The sluggishness comes from the dysregulation in your circadian timing system. After a couple of days, you are back to normal as your brain gets back into the rhythm again.
Each individual has a unique processing speed that is reflected in their daily activities. The Interactive Metronome is designed to improve the system that is involved with processing speed and impacts our attention, focus, and learning speed.
IM training can quickly improve the ability to pay attention and learn by improving our timing systems down to the millisecond. That can have wide-ranging effects on your day-to-day life but for students who are struggling in school, the benefits can be life-changing.
How Does Interactive Metronome Therapy Work?
IM therapy can be done in a clinician’s office or at home with the IM Home Training System. When designed by a well-trained IM provider, the training plan for both systems offers the same opportunity for improvement.
Hardy Brain Training makes it as easy as possible for parents and their children to navigate the Interactive Metronome Home Edition. The IM Home system can be more convenient and just as effective as the in-office system, so convenience and cost are the two main factors that will help you decide which system is most beneficial for your child.
The main purpose of this training is to teach the brain how to process information faster. Over the course of the program, a strong processing framework is developed which in turn makes processing information independently in class much easier.
The IM training can be used for varying lengths of time depending on the goal you want to achieve. Many of our clients reach an above-average timing range and then make the decision about how to continue from there. Some have reached their goals at that point and decide not to continue while some have seen such spectacular benefits that they want to keep going to the next level.
The brain adjusts to the new timing level and integrates it into your daily life in much the same way you experience getting over jetlag. With an improved timing speed, learning becomes faster and easier so overcoming the deficits that have occurred over the years in the classroom becomes easier.
Work With Hardy Braining Training’s IM Therapy
Hardy Brain Training’s Interactive Metronome Program is individually designed for each student. Our program is effective because we include regular training with graduated challenges that are custom designed for each child.
Everyone has their own specific timing challenges to overcome and that requires an individualized approach.
We specifically help students who are struggling to:
- pay attention in class
- stay focused long enough to finish assignments
- start and complete work at the same speed as classmates
- remember directions
- get grades that reflect their effort
- complete schoolwork independently
- keep up with grade-level work without extra help
- learn hard things without frustration
- be confident learners who feel successful
Contact us today for a consultation to see if Hardy Brain Training’s Interactive Metronome Program is a good fit for you and your child.