ORCA Diacoustics PC-Based Auditory Retraining System

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The innovation which PC-Based Auditory Integration Training offers is that it allows one to do it EXACTLY as dr. Bérard had designed it through the original hardware (Audiokinetron/ Earducator), but only this time in the comfort of one’s own home. Checks and balances have been programmed into the program so that one cannot do any harm to one’s hearing (for example, session by session calibration is done, so that the sound card of the PC/laptop never exceeds an output of 80 dB’s. Built into the program is a lovely database which includes a health questionnaire recording minute changes in the listener over a period of days, weeks, and months up to 1 year. A Listening Test is built in on the pattern of a screening audiogram, giving the home user an idea how his/her listening profile changes over time. It is a self-comparison test, just like the visual acuity test which is also built into the programs software. Listeners can therefore test both hearing and vision in a non-professional manner and if any significant concerns are picked up, she encourages the listener / parent to go to a healthcare professional for a professional screening. In addition to these special built-in features, the program also boasts a built-in “Neuro-pad” facility, where daily changes in ones autonomic nervous system function; emotional and social interaction, sensory-motor function and cognitive function can be recorded and plotted, showing where the most critical changes have been effected over a 10-day listening period. The user of the program will therefore know where the most change took place, brainstem level, mid-brain level or cortically.

The program retails for as much as a professional 10-day AIT-session, but with the tremendous benefit that neither the family, nor the practitioner has to travel long distances. As there are truly few certified AIT practitioners world-wide, many families have resorted to flying either nationally or internationally to obtain the help of a professional AIT Practitioner. Now those who wish to do AIT are able to in the comfort of their own homes, and will not have to experience the significant upheaval and costs involved in distant AIT presentations, with the added benefit of having a professional AIT practitioner on-line to assist with glitches, to advise regarding the intervention and assist with additional tests, such as otoscopic evaluations, audiogrammes, tympanometry, etc.

Where such services are not available to the PC-Based AIT Vendor, a network of available ENT’s and Audiologists in an area where the program will be used, is discussed and made available to the individual / family who wishes to do PC-Based AIT. Another benefit of this system is that once the software and hardware is purchased, the follow-up licenses are half the price of the original purchase, which means that follow-up sessions are charged at a fraction of the original service levied by a professional AIT Practitioner.

At the Synapse Africa Neuro-Nutritional Clinic they see this as the future of AIT internationally. Finances are scarce, families can hardly afford to take 2 weeks off from work to travel great distances to receive help. Nor can they be expected to pay this again and again to achieve and maintain results, when a professional, carefully programmed, and monitored service is available in the comfort of the client’s home/school at a fraction of the price of undergoing AIT in a professional setting.

Synapse Africa Neuro-Nutritional Clinic is excited about this launch and trust that the world of listening and learning challenged individuals will find great benefit in having this innovation at their fingertips!

FOR PRACTITIONERS

AIT practitioners need not see this development as a threat – there will always be severe cases who would benefit from professional intervention, which cannot merely be managed at home.  ORCA Diacoustics also sees practitioners play a part in the screening process which is the run-up to undergoing AIT.  They can still charge for their services where they consult with parents and point out the issues which contribute to auditory processing disorders.  With the new ORCA Diacoustics System, Practitioners can become Value Added Resellers of the programmes, monitoring the entire process from start to finish and charge a moderate fee for their involvement.

For those who are professional AIT Practitioners interested in acquiring this system for their practices, there is an upgraded version, which is PC-Based available and as mentioned above, Professional AIT Practitioners can now become PC-Based AIT resellers, enabling them to still be professionally involved with the family through distance consultations (e-mail, telephone, SKYPE or internet chat), directing testing procedures and ensuring compliance to the program, without the practitioner having to travel or bid families with sick or autistic children to travel. [Air travel before and after AIT is, in any case, not recommended as it places the vestibular system and cochlea under duress due to significant changes in barometric pressure].

PC-Based AIT is truly an answer!

The new system is sold by Synapse Africa Neuro-Nutritional Clinic and is called ORCA Diacoustics.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Diacoustics \Di`a*cous”tics\, n. [Cf. F. diacoustique.] That branch of natural philosophy which treats of the properties of sound as affected by passing through different mediums; — also called diaphonics.