e goal, and not be distracted by competing interests. A good example would be when there is a game or a toy that the child may want, and a structured process of steps are put in place in order to ‘earn points’ to get closer to earning the reward, such as doing chores efficiently, or doing well in school allows the child to delay gratification and continue to persist toward the final achievement of the goal.
Time Management is ability to plan and control how you spend the hours in your day to effectively accomplish your goals, such as being able to gauge how long an assignment will take to finish or how much longer one needs to be able to get from one place to the next. The opposite of course to efficient time management is procrastination, and for some whose sensory processing systems limit their understanding of time, rigidity in multiple step task accomplishment.
Modified Auditory Integration supports development of Goal-Directed Persistence and Time Management by continuing the Dopamine release happening with the Joint Vibration protocol. It meets the joint receptors sense of reward by allowing the auditory system to ‘listen’ not only to the music but also to the body, and ultimately provide that platform to improve and build on sitting throughout the whole diet protocol; time management on the other hand is measured by the ability of the neurotransmission to relay the benefits from Serotonin, GABA and Dopamine thus signalling indirectly the beginning, middle and end of the protocol via the use of the Modified AIT.
5. Counting and Hierarchy – Planning/Prioritization, Task Initiation
Counting and Hierarchy involves a specific rote and tonal count in a calm voice from 1-15 for every single extremity and every single modality and technique used. The Hierarchy obviously provides predictability and structure to the diet, to a point that the child can self-direct the diet and ultimately tailor the diet according to his/her needs at given points in time, ultimately breaking them down into what has been coined as Sensory Snacks.
Planning and Prioritization is when one organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements. In this case, the counting and the order of the diets assist with determining the generalized prioritization of the diet as well as anticipation of what is next, and last without increasing Acetylcholine release.
Task Initiation is knowing how to get started on a task and sustaining the attention and effort levels needed to complete the task, which in this case again is supported by the predictability of the materials, the diet protocol from one time to the next, the language, the tone of voice up to the signaling of when it is the end.
For more detailed information on training of the Execu-Sensory Diet, or for more related literature that supports this particular methodology, please email us or check out our published abstracts related to this topic. Hopefully this will provide you with some clarity on how the sensorimotor systems play an integral part in wholistic cortical development, especially in regards to supporting the development of Executive Functioning Skills.