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Advocacy and Drum Circle Therapy Treatments of Sensory Processing Disorders by Stephen Dolle, Dolle Communications.

This new section on Sensory Processing Disorders or SPDs, also termed Sensory Integration Disorders or SIDs, which I use interchangeably here, spans nearly 20 years of personal experience, research, and now drum circle facilitation work with the brain and neurological disorders following my own 1992 brain injury and subsequent development of hydrocephalus. There are related disorders, such as hyperacusis. However, this condition is more due to sensitivity to sound, as opposed to central processing dysfunction of sound exposure. The complaints are often quite similar in both conditions.

My experiences in living with hydrocephalus and SPD, which none of my treating physicians fully understood, led me to undertake the following, among other endeavors:

1. Author a Petition on CNS Shunts to the Food & Drum Administration in 1996

2. Conceive and patent a software-based shunt monitoring system (DiaCeph Test, which could be an app for a mobile phone today)

3. Bring about the FDA's STAMP Conference on CNS Shunts in 1999 in Washington, D.C.

4. Write about the use of assistive or AI cognitive technologies

5. Undertake research and my own methods in music therapy, including, writing the song Evening Solstice, and leading my 2002 groundbreaking metronome study

6. Undertake research and advocacy in cognition and sensory integration

7. Undertake research in drumming and drum circles, and apply all my neurosciences research and experiences to drumming w/ groundbreaking results

Background of Sensory Processing Disorders (SPDs):

There has been a lot of confusion and disinformation in regards to SPDs, cognitive dysfunction, and associated neurological disorders, and it is only been in the last several years, due in large part to the prevalence of autism, that the medical community is coming to understand SPDs. In SPD disorders, there first is some underlying neurological disorder, brain injury, or neuropathology which causes the SPD, as SPD is not a disorder in of itself, rather, it is a symptom or group of symptoms stemming from hyper, hypo, or other dysfunction of one of the senses, due to a neurological disorder or injury. In my own care, it was my doctor's inability to understand my difficulties with cognition, or concentration/memory, balance, and intolerance to sound and light, that led me to look for answers. And it was perhaps the 2001 EMDR study on sensory integration and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) that directed me to sensory integration research. I undertook a study of sound processing, headache, balance, and cognition in 2002 with a metronome and balance pad, to explore the effects of different rhythmic patterns and multi-task processing on the brain. I initially undertook this at a  patient hydrocephalus conference meeting at CHOC, and then followed up by interviewing others affected by migraines and various neurological disorders. What I learned and proved was that most of the intolerance and difficulties with sound in persons with neurological pathology were due to the rhythmic patterns of the sound, and not so much as to the volume or tempo (rate or speed of the pattern) of the sound.

Some Affected Disorders Include:

Autism

ADHD

Post TBI

Post Concussion

Post Tumor

Post Stroke/CVA

PTSD

Hydrocephalus

Migraine Disorder

Dementia & Alzheimer's Dis.

Parkinson's Disease

Hyperacusis

I have discovered numerous health and integrative medicine applications of drumming, not only in sensory processing disorders, but also in

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Some Current Research & Published Studies:

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Our Treatment Methods with Drumming & Drum Circles:

6 brain apps of

Cognition/proprioception: my discovery was intuitive w/ hand/finger movements to sustain mental focus during driving, akin to Ricky Henderson base-stealing, broad IQ health benefits. Fingers, hands & body rhythms boost brain focus and mental output

Movement/coordination: my discovery was intuitive, my choreographed movements by taping on hips, legs, counters, and engaged surfaces, play to move, SCI workshop, today use of basketball (likely aid autism).

SI Therapy (In cases of SPDs): results were found in my 2002 SI study, was not drumming at the time, made therapeutic audiotape, later learned that drumming was aiding my SI tolerance, also benefits in learning (likely aid autism)

Socialization: team-building, corporate, family, youth, community

Language Development: learning of foreign language, non-verbal communications

BWE/Trance States: team-building, health & disease mgt., behavioral modification, integrative medicine, mental health

Stephen shared his extraordinary story and drumming discoveries in this keynote and Power Point, "Engage the Rhythms of your Brain," at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, on October 5th & 6th, 2011, as part of the university's STEAM3 music education series. Event: http://www.cosm.wright.edu/music/events/special/steam3.html

Our Advocacy Efforts in Affording New Rights & Protections for Individuals with Sensory Processing Disorders:

It's taken me many years to come to understand what I know today, that individuals suffering from Sensory Integration Disorders, from an array of different neurological disorders, should be afforded reasonable accommodations, disability protections, and accessibility to public places where reasonably possible. In fact, SPD is so widespread in the population, that its shear numbers likely outnumber the total of all other disabilities combined.