Be well now.

Sarah Cornejo is the mother of Teresa, a 14-year-old girl who received sound therapy for a host of reasons, including sensory defensiveness. She has suffered with sensory integration since birth.

Here are Cornejo’s responses to questions about Teresa’s therapy:

Can you explain your daughter’s issues before sound therapy?

Cornejo – My daughter had severe issues. She suffers with ADHD and was a controller of her environment. She would only read [books] on the left-hand side of the page. She couldn’t sleep through the night. She didn’t like to feel clothes on her skin. At 2 years old, she would go to Sunday school and would take all of her clothes off down to her diaper. When she got home, she would take it all off.

She also had bilateral issues. I used to have an easel sitting in the kitchen and would encourage her to draw. When she would draw a circle, she would draw half of it and then have to switch hands to draw the rest.

Noise was also a big problem. She wouldn’t use public restrooms because the toilets flushed too loud. She could wait to “go” like nobody’s business. One day at preschool, she disappeared. The police were called. With 16 kids in the class it would get loud. When I got there I found her in an [empty] classroom, (that was previously locked) inside of a cabinet, with the door keys in her hand.

Later, she wouldn’t wear shoes and only clothes with hidden seams. I finally found seamless socks that she would wear but her shoes could not be tied tight. She wouldn’t wear blue jeans.

What was it like to start sound therapy?

Cornejo – We started the sound therapy when Teresa was 4 years old, first to get rid of sensory defensiveness issues.

We started it, then she immediately got worse. I told Suzanne, (our sound therapist) I thought we had her on the wrong CD, because Teresa was getting worse – everything began to bother her. Suzanne said that it meant it was working. The music was breaking down all the barriers.

How long did Teresa stay on sound therapy? What did you notice?

Cornejo – We did the therapy for about five years. After the first week, Teresa slept through the night for the first time. Listening also improved muscle tone in her body. Kids with poor muscle tone will slump over like a rubber band. The goal was to get her to cross the mid-line and train both sides of the brain to communicate.

Would you recommend sound therapy to other families?

I am a teacher and I have recommended it to others. I can’t tell you how many children suffer from sensory integration issues.  I have been able to help a few kids by telling their parents about sound therapy.

Kids who sit on their feet at their desks or sit with one foot underneath and one on the floor do this to stabilize themselves spatially. For instance, if all the boys are playing basketball and one boy is sitting in the swing – he’s doing that to get vestibular feedback.

The schools really do not want to talk about it because the medical community hasn’t endorsed it. My pediatrician was all about it because she saw the difference it made. It’s tough, because only a few occupational therapists have that level of licensing.

Have you noticed regression of symptoms in Teresa?

Cornejo – Yes, a little. We are putting her back on therapeutic listening in the summer. Now she has more social skills to deal with the noise that bothers her, but it still bothers her. It was her greatest sensitivity. She hasn’t had sound therapy for several years. She’s now 14 years old. We are going to begin in the summer to get the noise factor calmed down.

How is Teresa doing otherwise?

Cornejo – She has always had difficulty with friendships but its better now. At school, if someone is drumming on the desk it really bothers her. Smells bother her too – she recently threw up after a kid sprayed Axe deodorant spray in her locker.

It was so severe before but she’s come so far. Without the sound therapy, she wouldn’t be able to read or write. She would be in special education classes, and with such a high IQ. Sound therapy rewires the brain. That’s what sound therapy does. It connects the disconnect.

Her mid-line issues are gone. She’ll be doing track and field in the spring, and before, she couldn’t walk and talk the same time. The sound therapy was huge. It changed her life.