RMT and Calming input!

RMT seems to typically start off with passive movements which the caregiver/friend helps the child with. The RMT program claims that rhythmic nature of the movements stimulate the Reticular Activating System (RAS) which plays a huge part in controlling the child's arousal level. I have found the passive movements to be very calming for the vast majority of the children I've tried them with. For example, I have very distractible kids who are bouncing off the walls and I engage them in about 2 minutes of the passive rhythmic moves during my session and they will show a noticeable decrease in their arousal level! Instead of zooming around the room they walk and seem to be planning things out and taking their time! I have a lot of children on the ASD spectrum who are not receptive to trying new things and are very opposed to changes. One boy in particular who's a former client of mine and 10 years old, absolutely LOVES the passive RMT movements. The first time his OT did the passive movements with him, he had the biggest smile on his face! He didn't want her to stop after 2 minutes and in his non verbal way told her to keep on going! His educational assistant at school notes that these movements help him tremendously at school. She completes them about once per day and notes that after they finish he is actually able to attend to his school work and things go very well for him! 

There are the rare times when the RMT movements do not seem to have a calming effect. I recently took a course presented by Dr. Blomberg named Autism and Diet. He spoke about the concerns in the body when individuals are allergic to casein and gluten. He indicated that what can happen is there can be a build up in the body of glutamate and this may cause lots of effects such as: 

• hyperactivity
• body spinning or rocking 
• hand flapping 
• mechanically lining things up or spinning toys 
• echolalia (mechanically repeating what others say)
• perseveration (repetition of a particular response, etc. 

According to Dr. Blomberg, glutamate is the most common transmitter substance of the synapses of the brain and it has stimulating, excitatory effects and causes cellular toxicity if too much accumulates. Normally glutamate is converted into GABA, which acts to inhibit the firing of the nerve cells. Several studies have shown an imbalance between glutamate and GABA in Autism due to deficient ability to convert glutamate to GABA.

Dr. Blomberg suggests that gradually eliminating casein and gluten from the diet can lead to improvements in these above noted symptoms. (Blomberg, Harald. Rhythmic Movement Training and Diet in Autism Course. January 2012.)