Hi comp.dsp, Back in 1990 or so, I saw a TV special that mentioned the following technique for "curing" autism: Play Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" through a processor that randomly modulated the filtering and volume of the signal. The children would listen to this processed signal through headphones and, apparently, after several treatments, would begin to "come out" of their autism. This may sound like a joke, but I'm perfectly serious. If anyone has heard of such a technique or has any information that could be useful in tracking this down, I'd be interested to know about it. -- Randy Yates Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Research Triangle Park, NC, USA randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124
Signal Processing for Autistic Children
Started by ●December 23, 2004
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
Hey, I think I found an article on it: http://music.utsa.edu/tdml/conf-VI/VI-Kirby/VI-Kirby.html If anyone has any more info, it may be of use. I have a friend with autistic twins. --Randy Randy Yates <randy.yates@sonyericsson.com> writes:> Hi comp.dsp, > > Back in 1990 or so, I saw a TV special that mentioned the following > technique for "curing" autism: Play Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the > Edmund Fitzgerald" through a processor that randomly modulated the > filtering and volume of the signal. > > The children would listen to this processed signal through headphones > and, apparently, after several treatments, would begin to "come out" > of their autism. > > This may sound like a joke, but I'm perfectly serious. If anyone has > heard of such a technique or has any information that could be useful > in tracking this down, I'd be interested to know about it. > -- > Randy Yates > Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications > Research Triangle Park, NC, USA > randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124-- Randy Yates Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Research Triangle Park, NC, USA randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
Randy Yates wrote:> Hi comp.dsp, > > Back in 1990 or so, I saw a TV special that mentioned the following > technique for "curing" autism: Play Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the > Edmund Fitzgerald" through a processor that randomly modulated the > filtering and volume of the signal. > > The children would listen to this processed signal through headphones > and, apparently, after several treatments, would begin to "come out" > of their autism. > > This may sound like a joke, but I'm perfectly serious. If anyone has > heard of such a technique or has any information that could be useful > in tracking this down, I'd be interested to know about it.Right after saying "AAAGH! OK, OK, I'll act normal if you'll just put on some Led Zeppelin!". Sorry, couldn't resist. I have relatives with Asberger's Syndrome, working with them is like looking through the keyhole into autism-land. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
Tim Wescott <tim@wescottnospamdesign.com> writes:> [...] > Right after saying "AAAGH! OK, OK, I'll act normal if you'll just put > on some Led Zeppelin!".Personally I'd prefer ELO... -- Randy Yates Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Research Triangle Park, NC, USA randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
Randy Yates wrote:> Hey, I think I found an article on it: > > http://music.utsa.edu/tdml/conf-VI/VI-Kirby/VI-Kirby.html > > If anyone has any more info, it may be of use. I have a > friend with autistic twins.I don't know about autism per se, but I have some experience with Asperger's syndrome. Those afflicted with it have been successfully treated by two opposing camps of fringe practitioners, one focusing on aural, the other on optical pathways in the brain. I have both seen and experienced the benefits to be had from visual training, and I find the reports of the aural work very credible. These are area where explanations are shaky, kooky, or merely unverified. The observations are more often than not sound. It's a pity that their credibility is diminished by sometimes flaky theories. (E.g. Deepak Chopra said on a TV show that it's unhealthy for adults to sleep on their bellies. He may be right, but his rationale that adults should not do it because babies do, and adults are not babies puts his prescription into question.) Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
Look up Auditory Integration Training. I would also suggest that you investigate it very carefully before spending a lot of money on it. Cheers, Kelley On 23 Dec 2004 14:10:33 -0500, Randy Yates <randy.yates@sonyericsson.com> wrote:>Hi comp.dsp, > >Back in 1990 or so, I saw a TV special that mentioned the following >technique for "curing" autism: Play Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the >Edmund Fitzgerald" through a processor that randomly modulated the >filtering and volume of the signal. > >The children would listen to this processed signal through headphones >and, apparently, after several treatments, would begin to "come out" >of their autism. > >This may sound like a joke, but I'm perfectly serious. If anyone has >heard of such a technique or has any information that could be useful >in tracking this down, I'd be interested to know about it.
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
Kelley Mascher <mascherk@comcast.net> writes:> Look up Auditory Integration Training. I would also suggest that you > investigate it very carefully before spending a lot of money on it.Ah! I saw the acronym "AIT" in the Kirby article several times but couldn't see where it was defined. Thanks Kelley. --Randy> > Cheers, > > Kelley > > On 23 Dec 2004 14:10:33 -0500, Randy Yates > <randy.yates@sonyericsson.com> wrote: > >>Hi comp.dsp, >> >>Back in 1990 or so, I saw a TV special that mentioned the following >>technique for "curing" autism: Play Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the >>Edmund Fitzgerald" through a processor that randomly modulated the >>filtering and volume of the signal. >> >>The children would listen to this processed signal through headphones >>and, apparently, after several treatments, would begin to "come out" >>of their autism. >> >>This may sound like a joke, but I'm perfectly serious. If anyone has >>heard of such a technique or has any information that could be useful >>in tracking this down, I'd be interested to know about it. >-- % Randy Yates % "So now it's getting late, %% Fuquay-Varina, NC % and those who hesitate %%% 919-577-9882 % got no one..." %%%% <yates@ieee.org> % 'Waterfall', *Face The Music*, ELO http://home.earthlink.net/~yatescr
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
"Jerry Avins" <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:330rcjF3pkps9U1@individual.net...> Randy Yates wrote: > >> Hey, I think I found an article on it: >> >> http://music.utsa.edu/tdml/conf-VI/VI-Kirby/VI-Kirby.html >> >> If anyone has any more info, it may be of use. I have a >> friend with autistic twins. > > I don't know about autism per se, but I have some experience with > Asperger's syndrome. Those afflicted with it have been successfully > treated by two opposing camps of fringe practitioners, one focusing on > aural, the other on optical pathways in the brain. I have both seen and > experienced the benefits to be had from visual training, and I find the > reports of the aural work very credible. These are area where > explanations are shaky, kooky, or merely unverified. The observations > are more often than not sound. It's a pity that their credibility is > diminished by sometimes flaky theories. (E.g. Deepak Chopra said on a TV > show that it's unhealthy for adults to sleep on their bellies. He may be > right, but his rationale that adults should not do it because babies do, > and adults are not babies puts his prescription into question.) > > Jerry > -- > Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. > �����������������������������������������������������������������������http://www.incrediblehorizons.com/programs-for-asd-autism-spectrum.htm seem , among other things to be doing something with "filtered and gaited sound" Best of Luck - Mike
Reply by ●December 23, 20042004-12-23
It was also claimed that Auditory Integration Training AIT also was helpful for tinnitus. I have no idea if this is true or not. I know that listening to tones in stereo while slowly varying the frequency slightly i.e. phase between the left and right produces some interesting effects. Are you developing some applications for AIT? I'm an electronics engineer with a good background in audio and I would like to work with someone on this. Mark
Reply by ●December 25, 20042004-12-25
I forwarded a link to this thread to my nephew as discussion seemed to resemble his daughter. Turns out she has Asperger's syndrome. His wife has prepared a website with relevant links. http://neurodiversity.com/asperger_articles.html and more general autism info http://neurodiversity.com/main.html
