The Effect of Therapeutic® Listening on Bilateral Coordination

Edgehill Mansion, Garden Room, Dominican University of California

This study concludes a 2-year long randomized control pretest post-test design study examining the effects Therapeutic Listening® Bilateral Quickshift intervention, on bilateral coordination in typically developing children between the ages of seven to eleven. Participants were recruited from after school programs at Coleman Elementary and St. Anselm School located in Marin County, California, as well as word of mouth from the Dominican University community. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Therapeutic Listening® intervention or white noise control intervention. All participants completed a pretest to establish a baseline of bilateral coordination abilities. Participants then listened to 15-minutes of the intervention, followed by the posttest. The testing measures include subtests of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2), Sensorimotor Performance Analysis (SPA), Quick Neurological Screening Tool (QNST-3), and the Infinity Walk. Significant improvements in BOT-2 bilateral scores, and quality of movement were observed within the Therapeutic Listening® group between pretest to posttest after a single listening session, however, improvements were not seen in the white noise group. No significant changes were seen in QNST-3, SPA, and Infinity Walk scores. Results show promise for Therapeutic Listening®, and adds to the body of evidence supporting its use for improving motor skills in children.