As I have said for the other slideshows, if you want to multiply the effect this slideshow can have on your brain chemistry then do some smelling at the same time you watch it. It can be anything that you think smells really nice. For me, sometimes, it is the palm of my hand, especially when I have done some cooking earlier in the day and my hands smell of onion or garlic. MMMMMMHH!

I will refer you to some studies made on rats about smelling and adding another pleasurable sensory stimulus to multiply the effect on dopamine release in particular.

• Coopersmith R, Weihmuller FB, Kirstein CL, Marshall JF, Leon M. “Extracellular Dopamine Increases in the Neonatal Olfactory Bulb During Odor Preference Training.” Brain Research 564, no. 1 (1991): 149-53.
• Coopersmith, R, Leon, M. “Enhanced Neural Response to Familiar Olfactory Cues.” Science 225, no. 4664 (1984): 849-51.
• M, Leon. “Plasticity of Olfactory Output Circuits Related to Early Olfactory Learning.” Trends in Neurosciences 10, no. 10 (1987): 434-38.

Please tell me if you would like to see more of this type of slideshow, or if you prefer the fine art ones.

• The number of tantrums this week? How violent were they on a scale of 1 to 5? Was there physical violence to self? To others?
• How many hours of sleep on Monday night?
• How many calories did she take in last week?
• How many times did he used the wrong word for something since I last saw you?
  etc…

We know that we need to keep track of such things. Guess what, there is an app for that!

Watch the tutorial video. It says everything you need to know about the app. It’s really well done.

It’s pricey for a mobile app at $30, but I have not seen any other mobile app come close.

Buy

Buy

Buy

There is “track and share pro“, an app for the iPhone, but you cannot add different observers, which is a crucial piece of information when you report your observations. It is important to know that Dad observed and tracked last week, not Mom. Different people see different things. Also with “track and share pro“ you cannot add different “clients” and if you have more than one child with challenges, you will need a way to keep observation data separate for each one.

Since I posted this exchange I had with another mom, I have had a phone conversation with her.

It turns out I was recording the call, because it was a Mastermind phone conference. She and I belong to this group of like-minded entrepreneurs trying to make a difference and I like to replay the calls, the good ideas, the good vibes.

I am posting here the audio recording of what she said, two weeks after trying out the sensory techniques I suggested when she first asked for help with her daughter who would wake up crying for a long time after every nap.

–

[12/21/11 8:43:28 AM] Irina Belska:

Hi Kim, how are you? My daughter after day sleep often wake up with big cry, I wondering what can be the reason and what I can do about it? It is took about 20 min to calm her down.

[12/21/11 8:44:14 AM] Kim Pomares:

Yes, I have seen this before

[12/21/11 8:45:05 AM] Irina Belska:

and what it can be and what to do?

after night sleep all is ok

[12/21/11 8:45:56 AM] Kim Pomares:

Ill ask my mother.

[12/21/11 8:46:14 AM] Irina Belska:

thanks Kim!

[12/21/11 8:47:15 AM] Kim Pomares:

Here is what she says.

I’ll copy and paste and then explain

strawberry and ice, gentle claw every hour for 3 days

then same every two hours with smell every hour

I would also set the multi texture path for 2 weeks somewhere, and music at bedtime

Translation:

Strawberry and Ice is a protocol to use when she wakes up from a nap. Present a strawberry fragrance and apply ice to a sensitive spot on her body

You can make it into a game

One parent sent us a video where the child placed his hands on a bag of frozen peas, then lifted up his arms real high, then the parent would present a jar of strawberry jam (for the smell), then the child would place his hands back on the cold bag

and so on a couple of times

So long as she gets to smell strawberry and feel ice cold in some way

Strawberry fragrance is the only one we know of that prompts activity in the brain stem. All the other smells that have been studied with MRI’s only show activity in the cortex

And ice is there to help stop all activities in the brain for a fraction of a second

Cold is a powerful danger signal to the brain and so the brain will stop everything it is doing to focus on processing that signal

It’s an effective way of “distracting” her brain from whatever is causing the crying

Makes sense?

[12/21/11 8:53:00 AM] Irina Belska:

very interesting! make sense

[12/21/11 8:53:20 AM] Kim Pomares:

Then there are the protocols that you ahve to do with her throughout the day.

Let me explain those

gentle claw every hour for 3 days

It means a very nice back rub about every hour throughout the day

Does she like gentle touch?

Or does she find it irritating?

[12/21/11 8:56:12 AM] Irina Belska:

seems like it, my husband just try it

[12/21/11 8:56:37 AM] Kim Pomares:

The way to know if it worked is if she relaxes

Did she relax?

The gentle rub will not work very well to stop the crying, but it works well to help her recover after she cried.

To stop the crying, it has to be the “strawberry and ice” protocol.

[12/21/11 8:58:05 AM] Irina Belska:

she was laid down and laught

[12/21/11 8:58:28 AM] Kim Pomares:

Did she lie down after you did the gentle rub?

[12/21/11 8:58:52 AM] Irina Belska:

while doing rub

[12/21/11 8:59:15 AM] Kim Pomares:

Hmmmm… It looks as though she did not really like it

[12/21/11 8:59:35 AM] Irina Belska:

aha!

[12/21/11 8:59:51 AM] Kim Pomares:

What you describe sounds like the kind of reaction we get from children who find gentle touch less than very pleasurable.

You may need to be creative about the gentle touch exercise

It may work better on her forehead

Around her face

But be careful not to be intrusive

[12/21/11 9:00:42 AM] Irina Belska:

the goal is to relax?

[12/21/11 9:00:50 AM] Kim Pomares:

Exactly

Many kids yawn after it

[12/21/11 9:01:17 AM] Irina Belska:

then she relax when I do it

I was doing today it to her intuitevly and she was very relaxed

[12/21/11 9:01:51 AM] Kim Pomares:

There you go!

Alright so do this throughout the day, hourly, for three days

And every time she wakes up, whether or not she cries, do the strawberry and ice

[12/21/11 9:03:00 AM] Irina Belska:

try to remember!

also after night?

or only daytime?

[12/21/11 9:03:36 AM] Kim Pomares:

If she wakes up crying after a nap, it will help her calm down. If she wakes up and does not cry, it will help preventatively.

Everything I tell you, only do them when she is awake

[12/21/11 9:04:24 AM] Irina Belska:

when she completely awake?

or start to awake?

[12/21/11 9:04:37 AM] Kim Pomares:

Completely awake

[12/21/11 9:04:39 AM] Irina Belska:

ok

[12/21/11 9:05:17 AM] Kim Pomares:

Then, after three days, you alternate Gentle Claw with Gentle Claw + Smell

Still every hour, throughout the day.

For Gentle Claw and Smell, it can be any smell she really likes?

What smell does she really like?

Cookies? Flower? Lemon? Vanilla? Peppermint? Lavender? Carrot?

[12/21/11 9:06:59 AM] Irina Belska:

hmmm…really don’t know what smells she likes

[12/21/11 9:07:09 AM] Kim Pomares:

Have fun exploring with her

You could take her to a health store, the kind that would sell essential oils.

Natural oils are better. The fewer chemicals we are exposed to the better.

These stores usually have lots of samples

She has to really like it, so if she doesn’t like the natural ones, then it’s OK to explore the shampoo aisle at the store

Some of these shampoos smell very nice!

Or soaps

Or jams

sauces

anything, so long as she really likes it

When you smell something you really like, you help your brain regulate its levels of dopamine

When you experience pleasurable, gentle touch, you help your brain regulate its levels of Serotonin

There are many ways to do these things, but smell and touch are the most direct and effective

And they have been studied properly in research labs

Got it?

[12/21/11 9:11:46 AM] Irina Belska:

so first 3 days strawberry and ice

then smells what she like

no ice anymore?

[12/21/11 9:12:34 AM] Kim Pomares:

For the first three days, strawberry and ice whenever she wakes up from a nap, crying or not.

Then after that use the strawberry and ice only when she cries.

For the first three days, throughout the day, gentle claw every hour

Then after that, alternate every hour between Gentle Claw and Gentle Claw + Smell

For 10 – 12 days, for a total of 14 – 15 days

She will be a lot better after that, but not completely recovered. She will need more, but we would need to know more about your daughter to be able to give you other protocols

But she will be a lot better

Now there are two more things

Make up a long path somewhere in your house with multiple textures

Don’t give her instructions about it, just prepare it and leave it there for her to explore, walk on it.

One of them should be astro turf

And make it as contrasted as possible, both in terms of textures and thickness

You still there?

[12/21/11 9:17:48 AM] Irina Belska:

yea

[12/21/11 9:17:54 AM] Kim Pomares:

[12/21/11 9:18:00 AM] Irina Belska:

what is astro turf?

[12/21/11 9:18:27 AM] Kim Pomares:

Fake grass, usually as welcom mats outside your front door

And the last one is:

Music at bedtime

Any piece so long as: 1) She likes it, 2) It is mostly calm, 3) No words, 4) More than one instrument playing at the same time

Ideally with headphones, but it is rare when a child will enjoy listening to music with headphones

[12/21/11 9:21:08 AM] Irina Belska:

meditative music?

[12/21/11 9:21:28 AM] Kim Pomares:

Meditative music is not the best for this

It’s OK, not ideal

[12/21/11 9:22:03 AM] Irina Belska:

ok, do you have some band names as example?

[12/21/11 9:22:11 AM] Kim Pomares:

Chopin’s 1st Piano concerto, 2nd movement is ideal…

[12/21/11 9:22:40 AM] Irina Belska:

good! than we try this

[12/21/11 9:22:43 AM] Kim Pomares:

Romantic Movie scores work well too

She has to really like it

again, she will relax

[12/21/11 9:23:30 AM] Irina Belska:

do I need to do strawberry also when she wake up after night sleep or only after daytime?

[12/21/11 9:23:45 AM] Kim Pomares:

Only after daytime nap

[12/21/11 9:23:51 AM] Irina Belska:

ok

also question, she often bang her head against my or husband very strongly, that it is really painful

[12/21/11 9:24:51 AM] Kim Pomares:

That’s not good

That’s real distress.

These protocols I gave you will help with that

With better regulated Serotonin and Dopamine she will experience less distress, but it may need more “repair”

[12/21/11 9:27:24 AM] Irina Belska:

so first I will do this first protocol and than we see

[12/21/11 9:27:33 AM] Kim Pomares:

Yes

[12/21/11 9:28:54 AM] Irina Belska:

ok, thanks a lot, now I have what to do for 2 weeks

[12/21/11 9:29:23 AM] Kim Pomares:

Glad I could help

[12/21/11 9:29:51 AM] Irina Belska:

(F)  (F)  (F)

Before Multisensory Therapy was a therapy for neurological disorders it was a method of enriching the environment to help typical children develop a healthy and strong brain.

Claudie moved house. She moved next door to us (Yeah!!). While packing she came across a couple of old reports, including this one.

STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE GORDON POMARES METHOD OF MULTISENSORY STIMULATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD IN THE DAYCARE

GENERALISATION

The multisentory program effectively started in December 1998, when all babies included in the program arrived in their daycare and passed their adaptating process.

The babies included in the program received regular multisensory stimulation on an average of three times a week, sometimes five times a week, monitoring workers and children absences.

The schedule given for the program has been relatively well followed, modifications and changes being exceptional due to the missing of the fruit or vegetable that day.

The follow-up on the daycares was assured at least two times a month, control daycares being visited only once a month.

During the course of the year, some children from the VIOLET daycare moved up from classrooms because of their age (since they started daycare late, their time in the baby section was shortened), but they continued with the sensory program in their new section.

The group of children from the ARBRE SEC daycare was removed from the study because of the daycare’s status changes and the impossibility to pursue the study in the new status.

BILAN

A first report was concluded in January 1997, a second one in June and July 1998, May 1999 and May 2000.

GENERAL OBSERVATION

The first modification observed with the babies included in the multisensory program was behavioural at meal time and sleeping time.

In those two usually agitated and noisy periods, we gradually observed a change more and more important in the behaviour of the children : calm, silence, autonomy in regard to the adult.

In the control daycares, the non sleeping children are agitated or cry.

The second year of the multisensory stimulation program started in October 1998. Tow children left the daycare, three new ones started in the middle section – ten to fifteen months at the beginning of the year – the beginner children were included in the program.

The schedule is similar to the past year’s, exposures to the same frequency. A member from team 2 was missing, replaced by another member of the same team, but having less experience. Team 2 also switched directors two times during the second year.

Team 1 switched directors once. The new director is really involved and motivated. During a visit on the second trimestre, she expresses the thought to expose the children of the big section – two years old and older – to the program hoping to resolve some major echues in that section :

• lack of appetite from the children, refusal of new food intake
• incapacity from the group of fifteen to calm down or fall asleep at sleeping time.

Private Comfy Nook for Children who need to take a break from the croud

Sleeping time is a crucial moment in the day of a child in a collective daycare. It’s a necessary resting time that most daycares (75% of the consulted daycares) have a hard time dealing with. Children sleeping on a mattress on the floor refuse to stay still, some run in the room, all of them are agitated and noisy.

We naturally encouraged this initiative. Two months later, this director gave us an individual observation report on each child from the big section as well as a verbal report on the general situation of the group following the next four points:

1. all the children from the big section finish their plate (except one, a foreigner child who arrived before the report and who did not speak french).
2. 40% of the children ask for a second serving, which thing never happened since the opening of the daycare, according to the verbal report from the cook, who was there since the biginning in 1987.
3. all the children are calm during sleeping time, except one (a child with important family problems).
4. 50% of the children sleep during sleeping time.

The general comparative observation of the children exposed to the program and the children from the control group is positive in favour of the children who beneficiated from the multisensory stimulation program at three levels :

1. social : the children are less aggressive, more social, less noisy in their general activity.
2. the children’s feeding is more dynamic, they eat better in quantity and variety.
3. cognitive : the children are performing better in answer to simple consignes, validate in their social behaviour the rules of the group (put the things they use back where they belong, get their toy during the calming down time before a meal without asking for it…)

The daycares in the program were visited two times a month, the control daycares once a month.

One of the control daycare got a new director who asked to be offered a number of materials to be able to continue with the program : in the facts, continue to receive us without changing anything with its functioning.

BILANS

A first report was written in January, the second one in May and July 1998. Those reports were enriched with individual observations with the “Violet” daycare. The drawing of the man was accomplished in June in the two groups. The sample joint as annex is the most marking of the structuration of the children.

GENERAL OBSERVATION

The most important point of this year to us is the study of the feeding behavioural modifications and in periode de repos of the “big” group of the “Violet” daycare. We noticed that the critical period does not exceed one month, and we can consider, with 95% of positive results, that it is possible to put together a project of amelioration of the feeding behaviour in the typical young child in a period of one to two month.

We are writing an independent report on this inter study observation.

The first observed modification with the babies included in the multisensory stimulation program is a behavioural modification at meal time and at sleeping time.

In those two periods usually agitated and noisy, we gradually observed a change more and more important in the behaviour of the children :

• calm,
• silence,
• autonomy in regard to the adult.

The last film made during sleeping time at the “Arbre Sec” daycare shows a group of eight children with only one asleep, the other babies found a comfortable position and patiently wait the end of the sleeping time. With the pilot daycares, the non sleeping children are agitated or cry.

GENERAL ANALYSIS

FINE MOTOR

Noticeable difference in the asymetric utilisation of the two hands, in the handling and manipulation of small objects, ability to stack up more than three blocks with the group on the program.

GLOBAL MOTRICITY

Noticeable different motor competencies with the group in the program with balance, and going up stairs.

AUTONOMIC BEHAVIOUR

The children in the program show 85% less aggressive gestures and aggressive behaviour towards the control children.
No apprehension with the adult stranger.

ABILITIES DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE PROGRAM

All children included in the program show the developing of focusing abilities :

• music listening
• olfactive proposition
• visual activity proposition (art or pictures)

FEEDING BEHAVIOUR

The babies included in the program accept to taste new food, in general (two exceptions with mango).

At the end of the third year, the pilot children have a homogene feeding behaviour, regularly take second servings of the offered meal, generally finish their plate.

1.

Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain’s Potential
Richard Restak (Paperback – Oct 22, 2002)

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2.

Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance
M.D., Richard Restak (Hardcover – Apr 30, 2009)

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3.

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)
Norman Doidge (Paperback – Dec 18, 2007)

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4.

The Naked Brain: How the Emerging Neurosociety is Changing How We Live, Work, and Love
Richard Restak M.D. (Hardcover – Sep 26, 2006)

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5.

The Brain Has a Mind of Its Own: Insights from a Practicing Neurologist
Richard Restak M.D. (Paperback – Apr 13, 1993)

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6.

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
John J. Ratey (Hardcover – Jan 10, 2008)

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7.

A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain
John J. Ratey (Paperback – Jan 8, 2002)

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8.

Brain Repair
Donald G. Stein, Sim?n Brailowsky, Bruno Will (Paperback – Aug 7, 1997)

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9.

Poe’s Heart and the Mountain Climber: Exploring the Effect of Anxiety on Our Brains and Our Culture
Richard Restak M.D. (Paperback – Nov 22, 2005)

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10.

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Daniel J. Levitin (Paperback – Aug 28, 2007)

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Parenting and Other Helpful Books

1.

Positive Discipline
Jane Nelsen Ed.D. (Paperback – May 30, 2006)

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2.

Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
Jessica Seinfeld (Hardcover-spiral – Oct 14, 2008)

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3.

Tout se joue avant six ans
Fitzhugh Dodson (Paperback – Sep 12, 1999)

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4.

How to Father $6.99
Dr. Fitzhugh Dodson (Paperback)

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5.

Healing and Preventing Autism: A Complete Guide
Jenny McCarthy, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel (Hardcover – Mar 31, 2009)

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6.

Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism
Jenny McCarthy (Paperback – Aug 26, 2008)

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7.

Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure
Paul A. Offit (Hardcover – Sep 11, 2008)

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When you watch this, take a minute to go find something that smells really nice.

It can be anything you like:

• Soap,
• Shampoo,
• Freshly made bread (my personal favourite today… Rachel just made some bread… Yum!!),
• Herbs from your spice collection,
• Strawberry jam,
• A flower in the neighbour’s yard,
• A new book,

  or even…

• an essential oil.

You can use anything so long as you love it.

Now that you have the smell ready, if you want to do even better, get a back scratcher or ask someone to give you a nice back tickle.

Now, you can start the slideshow.

If you want a longer one. I am making one right now. You will see the link to it in the “related posts” section below this.

So, if you are trying to present art to your child or to your father, or to whomever you are doing Multisensory Therapy with at the moment, you can try using this slideshow instead of a static picture.

It’s not quite as convenient, since you have to be playing it on a computer, but it could make a real difference in how much longer you can keep him/her immersed in this pleasurable visual sensory experience.

Remember that pleasurable visual stimulation, watching art will boost dopamine and Serotonin levels in the brain. More dopamine means more focus, longer attention span among other things. More Serotonin means less anxiety, fewer tantrums.

I added some background music to the slideshow. So, you get a double whammy: art and music. Pleasurable auditory stimulation also helps with dopamine and Serotonin.

Click on the full screen icon for a better, more immersive experience.

Tell me if you like it, I can upload several more. I have  a “blue” theme, a “busy” theme, an “emotion” theme, a “landscape” theme. Suggestions?

It’s also a good way to introduce you to our quirky engineer.

Bob’s Joke

So, today, I thought I would share a success story, to cheer everybody up, and add some hope.

In June 2008, I contacted the mother of one of our graduates to ask her if she would be OK if I used their family’s example as a testimonial for Multisensory Therapy. I was surprised that she accepted so eagerly. Their family is the typical example of how Love and a stress-free cocooned environment, combined with gentle enrichment can help any brain blossom.

WIthout further ado, here is the link to the video. Enjoy a bright ray of sunshine!