website news page

July 2008

Annabel writes that her upcoming book Silver Linings (stories about faith, under contract with Beaufort Books New York), has had 11 of 16 chapters accepted by the publisher. It remains scheduled for publication in spring 2009.

February 2008
Annabel writes . . .

Georgie and I went to Manila to give a seminar on Saturday, Feb 2nd. Almost 600 people were in attendance, and Georgie made a triumphant return to the circuit after a seven-year hiatus. Now that her daughter Hannah is six, Georgie feels free to do some traveling again. Cases of books, her OVERCOMING AUTISM and my Sound of a Miracle, Dancing in the Rain and Sound of Falling Snow sold out almost immediately. We were autographing them for an hour, following a very long Q&A. It was a great experience and Auditory Training is off to a marvelous start in Manila.

The Manila Conference is summarized in the WithNews article,
A mother’s love for her autistic daughter.
WithNews is an internet news website covering topics
concerning the disabled and poor.

January 2008

Read a personal letter from Annabel about this past year at the Georgiana Institute.

Annabel writes . . .
I heard today from my editor at Beaufort Books, New York, that Sound of a Miracle has been bought for translation by an Italian publisher. This will make five translations - Italian, Korean, Chinese, German and Dutch. I'm told a Spanish edition may also be forthcoming. It seems that the new book, Silver Linings (stories about faith), that I'm currently writing, is creating buzz for Sound of a Miracle even though Sound of a Miracle is a very old lady in publishing having been in print and in the library for almost twenty years.

March 2007
Thursday evening, March lst, 2007, at 6:30 PM
Litchfield, Connecticut


Please join us for a Seminar on Auditory Integration Training (AIT)
Free and open to the public.
Hosted by Litchfield Network Parent Debbie Smith (860-626-8184) and featuring Annabel Stehli, author of Sound of a Miracle, and a panel of parents of children with special needs:

Kathy Kryspin, New Milford, CT
Marcie Loomis, Northfield
Mary Ellen McCabe, Litchfield
Gary Norton,,Trumbull
Debbie Smith, Litchfield

The Litchfield Grange, 453 Bantam Road (rt. 202, just south of the town of Litchfield and next to the Ford Dealership)

Annabel Stehli is the author of the classic Sound of a Miracle, a Child’s Triumph over Autism, and the editor of Dancing in the Rain and Sound of Falling Snow, stories of exceptional progress by parents of children with special needs. She travels the world to promote AIT and is credited with bringing this promising non-drug intervention to world attention over the last fifteen years. She was instrumental in having Digital Auditory Aerobics Auditory Integration Training evaluated by FDA in 1998. She has hosted several large "Celebration of Breakthroughs" conferences in Connecticut showcasing a variety of cutting-edge therapies for children with special needs, and she has appeared in the media (most notably 20/20 and Larry King) and given well over a thousand speeches and interviews around the world and throughout the United States.

The FDA permits the following statement: Auditory Integration Training remediates impairments in auditory discrimination (sound sensitivity and auditory distortion) associated with autism, learning disabilities, and related disorders - ADD, ADHD, and Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD).

Ms. Stehli has championed AIT since the recovery of her daughter from autism, ADHD and dyslexia in 1977, and is Director of the Georgiana Institute, Inc., in Roxbury, CT, a non-profit organization. At the Connecticut Center for Auditory Training, also in Roxbury, she conducts Digital Auditory Aerobics (DAA) AIT sessions for children and adults. The therapy consists of randomly modulated and filtered music played through headphones for half an hour, twice a day, for ten days. Depending on the results of an on-site listening test and evaluation, specific filters may be set for decreasing sensitivity on certain frequencies. Typically reported in children are improvements in socialization skills, expressive language, sleeping, and academic performance and a reduction in the need for medication. Correspondingly, adults report decreased tension levels and depression and increased focus and concentration. Listening tests and evaluations at the Georgiana Institute are free. In addition to DAA sessions, equipment sales to qualified professionals, and training, are available.

Developed in France by Ear, Nose and Throat specialist Guy Berard, M.D., Auditory Integration Training is validated by research and widely available.

CEU’s (Continuing Educational Units) are awarded for Ms. Stehli’s lectures.


December 2006


Click on box above to read obituary

June 14, 2006

On June lst, I returned from three weeks in the Far East where I gave a talk in Singapore for DAA (Digital Auditory Aerobics) Practitioner June Webb and stayed with the hospitable Webbs for four days of good food, bridge games far into the night, and sightseeing (most notably the Night Safari and the Nature Preserve/rain forest). June offers DAA in her spacious, breezy office with a lovely view of the city.

I left Singapore to go on to Shanghai, hosted by Jane Shaw, a Network Parent, to give another talk in one of those fabulous buildings you can see in Mission Impossible III. The next two days were spent giving evaluations (I brought my Maico Audiometer with me for listening tests). I stayed with NP Fiona Thomas, dazzling hostess and Class A haggler, who took me on several meaningful excursions to the Shanghai Knockoff Market.

From Shanghai I flew to Cebu, in the Philippines. The Network Parents who invited me put me up in a charming hotel where they were trained to become Auditory Training Practitioners under the aegis of an Occupational Therapist. Their five sons with autism, ages eight to ten, received ten days of DAA, sitting still for the headphones with a few temporary problems solved by "holding therapy" and similar strategies.



The photograph above is of Network Parent/DAA Practitioner Suzanne Kaw, R.N., (left), her son, Hendrick (center) and me. I was honored to be served the magnificent yard-long roast pig at a family dinner at the Kaws, a memory to be treasured. It was a truly fabulous trip, all superlatives apply, and I welcome future opportunities to work here and abroad, setting new practitioners up in practice with DAA equipment and training, and/or giving talks, evaluations, listening tests, and ten-day sessions of DAA Auditory Integration Training.


April 2006

      Read Dr. Mercola's newsletter article
"Autism Rates Fall With the Removal of Mercury".


March 2006
A new Annabel Stehli interview

      Annabel is the subject of the Litchfield County Times Monthly interview "The Power of a Mother's Love".


Annabel writes:

August 6, 2005

Laurie Ross Brennan, SLP, Albuquerque, reports that her research on DAA vs. the BGC is yielding ever more interesting and encouraging results.

[And] Rebecca Welker, SLP, Tucson, has told me that the AZ Dept. of Developmental Disabilities is covering DAA therapy. Colleen Pockette, SLP, potential DAA practitioner in Prescott, AZ, reports similarly, as does Laurie Ross Brennan, SLP, Albuquerque. The DDD's are recognizing that DAA is cost-effective. Fewer therapies and medications may be needed post DAA.

When one of our most active DAA practitioners threatened ASHA with a class action suit in the light of ASHA's negative stance on sound therapies (they have since decided to do some decent research), she was told that members of ASHA who were using Berard-based methods of AIT were not in danger of having their memberships revoked. Although this heartening, we are looking forward to the results of their research initiative.

Summer 2005 CALLING ASHA MEMBERS -
SOUND THERAPY RESEARCH GROUP FORMING


      Dear Colleague,

      The use of sound as a therapeutic intervention is being used by speech-language pathologists and audiologists at increasing rates. Clearly, with these increasing numbers it is apparent to all that the effects of sound on the nervous system are resulting in behavioral changes associated with listening, communication and learning. The effects and changes that are observed and reported should be studied, researched and published.

       A group of speech-language pathologists and audiologists in California are in the process of forming a Special Interest Division (SID) with the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA). The purpose of this group would be to develop structured methodologies and procedures for measuring changes in listening, communicating and learning when using sound as a therapeutic intervention. This group will consist of clinicians using the Tomatis Method, Samonas Sound Therapy, Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT), The Listening Program, Dynamic Listening Systems, FastForward, Music for Modulation and Interactive Metronome (IM).

       This letter is a call to action. In order to form a new SID ASHA requires a proposal be submitted and signed by no fewer than one hundred members of the association. So, we are asking all speech-language pathologists and audiologists who are active in ASHA and are using sound as a therapeutic intervention to join in our effort to develop this necessary and essential group for study and research purposes. It is vitally important that we begin to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. The way to do this is to conduct research that is rigorous and meaningful to clinicians and have those studies published in peer reviewed journals. It is our hope that the Sound Therapy SID will provide the basis for sound therapy and evidence based practice that provides a framework to allow individual clinicians to share their results with others.

       If you would like to be a part of this group or know of other ASHA members who may be interested please contact Dr. Deb Swain (dswain@theswaincenter.com), Mindy Newhouse (mbnew@aol.com) or Carol Atkins (CarolAtkinsMA@cox.net) with your name, professional affiliation, contact information and sound therapy intervention that you are using.

      We are hoping to have an initial meeting of the Sound Therapy SID at the ASHA convention in November. At that time the organizing group will present members with preliminary proposal and outline for the group.

      Please join us in this exciting and much needed effort.


Sincerely,

Sound Therapy organizing committee




      The Georgiana Institute regrets having to cancel the conference at the Sheraton Bradley Field, Hartford's airport, on Friday, September 30th. Our keynote speaker, Laurie Ross Brennan, SLP, Albuquerque, will not be ready to present her research on Digital Auditory Aerobics until a date not yet established. However, given the experience, conscientiousness, meticulousness and credibility of Laurie Brennan, we can safely state, based on her preliminary findings, that DAA is comparable to the BGC equipment. Since Dr. Steve Edelson researched the efficacy of the BGC and the AudioKinetron in 1992 and found them to be comparable, we can deduce that the effects of DAA are comparable to those of the AudioKinetron.


   ~   Annabel Stehli


October 2004

ANNOUNCING THE PUBLICATION OF:


   
click here to see back cover


SOUND OF FALLING SNOW, Stories of Recovery from Autism and Related Conditions, edited by Annabel Stehli, Foreword by Jeff Bradstreet, M.D.(Midpoint Trade Books, NY)


A New Edition of: SOUND OF A MIRACLE, a Child’s Triumph over Autism; by Annabel Stehli, in print since 1991, updated introduction by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., Director, The Autism Research Institute, San Diego (Midpoint Trade Books, NY) (The original hardcover of "Sound of a Miracle" is available in public libraries throughout the U.S.)


A New Edition of DANCING IN THE RAIN, Stories of Exceptional Progress by Parents of Children with Special Needs, edited by Annabel Stehli, in print since 1995 (Midpoint Trade Books, NY)


More information on these books can be found on the books page.

TO ORDER:
Please specify number of copies of each title, shipping address, and method of payment: Personal check, credit card, Amex, Master Charge or Visa. You may email your credit card information to georgianainstitute@snet.net, or phone it in to The Georgiana Institute at 860-355-1545. Please be sure to include the name in which the card is listed and the expiration date. Books are $15.00 plus $3.00 S&H for orders under $31.00, $6.00 for orders over $30.00. FOR ORDERS OF FIVE OR MORE COPIES: $10.00 per copy plus $6.00 S&H per order.


Books may be signed and/or inscribed upon request. Proceeds from the sale of books contribute to the operating expenses of The Georgiana Institute, www.georgianainstitute.org, a non-profit organization offering support and information on auditory training to the special needs community since 1991.


We appreciate your order and will give it our prompt attention.


Annabel Stehli,
The Georgiana Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 10
Roxbury, CT 06783


Spring 2004


Further information on the DAA Equipment Kit.

What is Digital Auditory Aerobics?

What are the requirements to be a certified Digital Auditory Aerobics Practitioner?


The cost of the DAA system, available for purchase through the Georgiana Institute, is $4,775.00 plus $50.00 shipping and handling. American Express, Visa and Master Charge and personal checks are accepted forms of payment. Please email Annabel Stehli at georgianainstitute@snet.net for details or call her at 860-355-1545.

DAA equipment, including the twenty CD's, is owned free and clear by the purchaser with no encumbrances. Although it is not required, training on the DAA equipment is available.

Requirements for purchase are a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Audiology, Social Work, Special Education or a field related to special needs, or a Bachelor's degree and five years’ experience working with the special needs population.

DAA, classified as an educational device for the remediation of impairments in auditory discrimination by the FDA, is the first AIT equipment to be officially "exempted from scrutiny" by the FDA.

The Digital Auditory Aerobics program kit contains the following components:

1.) Twenty (20) thirty-minute compact discs, each containing music licensed from FirstCom Music Corp., Dallas, TX. The music has a wide frequency spectrum and, during the recording process, it is randomly modulated so as to be an exact replication of the output produced by the AudioKinetron.

2.) One (1) EQattenuator, a proprietary device substantially similar to an electronic equalizer with stereophonic attenuation capabilities. The EQattenuator contains frequency select cut-offs (filters) for eight hearing-level frequencies that allow for a particular frequency to be decreased in intensity by approximately 50 percent. The maximum average volume level achieved by the device is 85 dB. Also the device can be set to reduce volume by about 30 percent in either ear.

3.) One (1) beyerdynamic Model 250 professional headset. Additional headsets are $250. each.

4.) One (1) manual of operation, explanation of AIT/DAA and the application of the ten-day therapy.

The manufacturer of this new AIT system has been informed by the FDA in writing that "the product is not a device subject to FDA regulation."

The DAA system is available at a cost of US$4,775.00 plus shipping. Major credit cards - American Express, Visa and Master Charge are accepted.


DIGITAL AUDITORY AEROBICS

Digital Auditory Aerobics  is a sound and music therapy designed to remediate impairments in auditory discrimination. Implemented by Occupational Therapists, Special Education teachers, Speech-Language Pathologists, Audiologists, and other professionals in the field of special needs, DAA's auditory integration training system modifies sound-related perceptual distortions, "unbalanced" and amplified hearing, and sound sensitivity. Randomly filtered and modulated, pre-recorded music is played through high-quality stereo headphones. Although the training is sometimes given without setting specific filters, DAA provides a proprietary device substantially similar to an electronic stereo equalizer for filtering frequencies experienced as painful or uncomfortable. The DAA protocol consists of twenty half-hour listening sessions and can be repeated yearly. Changes in behavior and performance vary but often result in exceptional progress for individuals with the behavior, social challenges, developmental delays and/or learning disabilities associated with disorders such as autism, PDD, ADD, ADHD and Dyslexia. Improvements in hearing loss and depression have also been reported although research has not been conducted on DAA as a means of remediating these conditions and no claims whatsoever may be made.


DIGITAL AUDITORY AEROBICS (DAA) PRACTITIONER REQUIREMENTS

In order to become a Certified Digital Auditory Aerobics Practitioner and/or to purchase the DAA device, we prefer that the practitioner meet the following requirements:

Hold a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy, Special Education, Social Work, Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, or a related field.

OR, Hold a current license in Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Psychology or a Behavioral Science

OR, a doctoral degree in the field of medicine

OR, an undergraduate degree with actual "on-the-job" experience with special-needs individuals and the candidate has worked with individuals with developmental issues for 5 years or more.

(Credentialing Requirements vary outside the U.S.)



2001

Drs. Bernard Rimland and Stephen M. Edelson have published a new report entitled "The Efficacy of Auditory Integration Training, Summaries and Critiques of 28 Reports (January, 1993 - May, 2001)."

Their conclusion is: "Our review of the available literature on AIT has produced 23 studies with positive results and only 3 claiming no benefits from AIT. While none of the research done thus far on AIT is of Nobel Prize quality, the positive studies are far more credible than those with negative results. As we point out in our comments, the 3 studies that claim no benefits are deeply flawed, with conclusions that are not supported by the research procedures or the research data. AIT does, in fact, appear to be a worthwhile, frequently beneficial intervention which confers improvement in a number of symptoms, in a significant proportion of disorders on the autism spectrum."


To view the entire report, please go to  The Autism Research Institute
or the Society for Auditory Intervention Techniques.

Help support our endeavor; please send your tax deductible donations to:

The Georgiana Institute, Inc.
A Nonprofit Organization
Annabel Stehli, President
P.O. Box 10
Roxbury, CT 06783 USA
Telephone: (860) 355-1545
Email: georgianainstitute@snet.net


The Georgiana Institute is a tax-exempt corporation
under section 501 (C (3) of the Internal Revenue code.
Federal EIN & tax-exempt no. 06-1500430.