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EASe Technology
EASe (Electronic Auditory Stimulation effect) Listening Therapy CDs, video games and apps are designed to stimulate, challenge and promote sensory processing in children on the autism spectrum and others experiencing difficulty with sensory processing and organization.
EASe Listening Therapy was inspired by principles of sensory integration and neurological organization, as taught by Jean Ayers and Glenn Doman. EASe music is encoded according to the principles of Auditory Integration Training from Guy Berard. Sheila Frick's work to connect auditory and vestibular integration inspires the visual/vestibular link, now present in the EASe Games series.
The EASe programs use music to deliver short, intense bursts of sensory experiences designed to stimulate but not over-stimulate a child who is experiencing difficulty with sensory processing and organization. This virtual sensory diet creates a palette of experiences to help a child cope with typical environmental conditions.
EASe audio CDs, the original disc-based auditory stimulation program, were developed in 1995 and have been used by tens of thousands of parents, therapists, teachers, non profit organizations and school systems all over the world.
EASe video games are unique, multi-modal therapeutic tools disguised as video games. They stimulate and challenge the virtual-vestibular, visual and auditory triad of sensory pathways. The games are designed to reinforce and promote an appropriate response to sound and to reinforce balance. The first EASe video games include Off-Road, Airshow, UFO, Snowmobile and Rover.
The EASe Listening Therapy app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch was developed by Audioforge Labs and Vision Play, LLC, for children with autism and others with SPD, who often respond to noise with exaggerated reactions, distraction, and behavioral or learning issues.
Vision Audio's latest video game, EASe Funhouse Treasure Hunt, also reinforces organization and attention. The game incorporates auditory processing by encouraging the child to listen and follow verbal directions. EASe Funhouse encourages visual processing through on-screen directions that guide the child to scan the environment and collect letters, words, faces and objects.
All of the game products are interactive, not testing environments. The child is always in control of his or her movement through the world and is never tested on what he or she does or does not know. Teaching is presented as a simple gift of knowledge to the child.
EASe products stimulate and challenge a child's sensory pathways without exceeding his or her ability to cope. Our goal is to balance the sensory experiences through the games and audio CDs. Too much stimulation and a child resorts to fight-or-flight defense responses. Too little stimulation and we won't get through the barrier of existing sensory defense mechanisms. As the child experiences short, intense challenges to his or her sensory abilities, the brain learns to cope in small steps. The more we tumble, the more the balance centers of our brain organize and the better our brain is at tumbling.
Stimulation exists in two primary forms: auditory and visual. Auditory stimulation is created by encoding a music bed within the parameters of Berard Auditory Integration Training. Material encoded in this way is characterized by passages of muted music, low pass filtered at 1000 Hz and then randomly punctuated with short bursts of intense high frequency boost equalization. The swing of the high frequencies from muted to boosted states exceeds 80 decibels. The effect on a neuro-typical individual can be agitation and discomfort, but many auditory hypersensitive children recognize the sound as calming.
Each game contains about 60 minutes of encoded music. Each song lasts between two and six minutes. Every song is carefully encoded with filtering adjustments made for its particular high frequency content. In this way, each song is optimized instead of being a generic list played through an automatic AIT device. EASe games randomly shuffle the play list, maintaining a fresh auditory environment.
Visual stimulation comes in the form of video driving games. The player controls a buggy, airplane, UFO or toy tractor, navigating around in a three dimensional space, falling and careening from one place to another. The horizon is in constant motion, causing spatial disorientation and, in some cases, a sensation of dizziness.
This virtual vestibular environment is enhanced by visual challenges in the form of distractions flying at the screen, challenging saccadic eye movement and visual concentration. In some games, these challenges are caused by a starburst when the player collects a target, while in others, they are the result of bushes flying past the camera. In every game, the general scene is relatively busy, challenging the player's ability to concentrate on his or her goal, tagging as many targets as possible within a given time limit.
In EASe Funhouse, we added a treasure hunt. This fun feature places a wide variety of collectable treasures in the world and guides the player to them with a soothing voice and visual directions in the heads up display (HUD) at the top of the screen.
The player sees either a single object or a list of multiple objects in the HUD, one of which (for example, a picture of six red dots) is larger than the others. The voice-over says, "Go to the six red dots." The player then drives around in search of the image of six red dots. If the player tags a different treasure, such as an image of a happy man, the voice-over says, "That is a happy man. Find the six red dots." In this way the player is never tested on a subject and information is regularly reinforced. This mechanism also creates a mental image map for the player to recall from when later asked to find the "happy man."
Treasures include word cards, dot cards (quantity), images of human faces (sad, happy, laughing, frightened, etc.), colors, geometric shapes, fruit and more. The player is encouraged to follow directions, concentrate, explore and remember.
EASe Funhouse Treasure Hunt has six unique rooms, each with a different personality and challenges. The player controls a tiny toy tractor, a bit like a child pushing the tractor around the floor of a gymnasium. Most objects are oversized, giving the sensation of being very small in a huge space. One room is filled with elevators and three levels to explore. Another room has mesh panels that allow the player to look through and down onto a complex environment. Some rooms have ball games stimulating and challenging a child's concentration. All of the rooms in EASe Funhouse Treasure Hunt are fun to explore, and encourage the child to willingly participate in his or her own therapy.
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