One of the promises within the Hippocratic Oath is “first, do no harm” (or “primum non nocere,” the Latin translation from the original Greek.) Oct 14, 2015 Harvard Health Blog – Harvard Health Publications, Harvard University.
AIT helps and does no harm. As a practitioner of the Berard method of Auditory Integration Training since 1993 neither my colleagues nor I have witnessed any long-term negative affects as a result of a child or adult doing the AIT program. It is considered to be a completely safe, non-invasive form of program that helps train the brain and the senses.
As with any effective procedure, there may be temporary periods of regression prior to positive growth while the brain is working to develop the new neural pathways for the auditory system. You may witness these periods as irritability, fatigue, hyper-activity or intolerance, but these can usually be helped by offering support, understanding and allowing for quiet time, rest and encouragement. Understand that, even though on the outside it seems as if the child is only listening to music, the brain is actually hard at work learning how to process this information that is different from what it is accustomed to receiving. It is like having a good workout at the gym. This can be emotionally and physically exhaustive, especially to a child who is already experiencing the hardships of a disability such as autism, auditory processing disorder, depression, or some other malady.
Working closely with the AIT practitioner is very important if a parent is ever concerned that their child is being over-worked by the program. The practitioner can help the parent determine if a new behavior is a result of the AIT program, or if something else may be happening such as the onset of a cold. In all cases, communication with the AIT practitioner and office staff is very important.