HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF AUDITORY INTEGRATION TRAINING (AIT)
The events that led to the development of Auditory Integration Training began in the practice of Dr Guy 
Bérard a French Ear – Nose – and Throat surgeon in Cambodia and then later in France. It should be emphasised from the start that AIT was developed first as an intervention for his own progressive hearing loss and the tinnitus that accompanied it.
It rapidly became known in Europe for its usefulness in overcoming dyslexia. It was also found that certain cases of emotional and mood disturbances responded well to AIT.
GEORGIE
So it was that Dr Bérard was visited by the American girl, Georgiana Stehli, 11 years old. Diagnosed by internationally – renowned experts variously as “autistic”, “psychotic” , “dyslexic” and “retarded”, she also was hyper-acute of hearing. She received her AIT with Dr Bérard, and started a slow steady emergence from both autism and dyslexia. These labels being no longer an appropriate as her giftedness in numerous areas can show. Her social skills developed competence, she is married with children, supports her home with her own job, and in addition travels as a speaker and counsels at an autism centre. 
What must not be forgotten is that the changes took hard work. For years after AIT Georgie’s mom, Annabel, with Peter, worked hard with Georgie to modify her problem behaviours. A “quick fix” it was not! Those who have read her story as an overnight miracle with no hard work are likely to be very disillusioned with their own experience of AIT.
Professional opinion was guarded as the Stehli’s tried to give others the benefit of their experience, but they worked steadily at letting others know about AIT. They met with Dr Bernard Rimland (Autism Research Institute), who was intrigued by their account. He obtained an audiokinetron from Dr Bérard and began to do research into its efficacy for autism.
Before this development in the USA, across the border in Montreal, Dr Gérard Binet had already been successfully offering AIT to clients for some time.
PUBLICITY
Information to the English-speaking general public was not available for many years perhaps due to the fact that Dr Bérard’s book was published in French ! When Georgie completed school and college with honours, and was well on her way to establish her own life, Annabel wrote her story, “The Sound of a Miracle”. In 1990 the CBS team went to Dr Bérard’s home to record a program.
Due to Annabel’s gift of communication, the book came to public attention quickly on its release in 1991, and sparked a demand for AIT in the United States. The Readers Digest featured it as Book of the Month in March 1991. In December 1991 the ABC Television program 20/20 featured the story and some case studies. Annabel was invited to speak frequently at conferences and meetings, she was interviewed by Larry King, Sally Jessy Raphael, the Australian “Beyond 2000” ran a feature, and many newspapers continue to report stories about AIT.
Some of this information became available to South Africa, due to “Carte Blanche” screening the 20/20 segment, and the Readers Digest article.
THE GEORGIANA INSTITUTE
The Georgiana Organisation was formed by the Stehli’s to spread information about AIT, and they arranged for Dr Bérard to come to the USA to train interested practitioners from various disciplines. Between 1991 and 1993 about 8 such training courses had been run, with about 20 people training per course.
At this time, some studies and a double-blind placebo study were conducted by various researchers, including Dr’s Rimland, Edelson, Panksepp , Highfill and Cimorelli, and Rudy, Morgan and Shepard, confirming the benefits of AIT.
FDA DIFFICULTY
Then the FDA clamped down on the Audiokinetron, putting a “class 3” rating on it (the usual procedure) that restricted further development of the practice of AIT in the USA, since nobody could take a Kinetron across state borders, nor bring one into the country until their tests are concluded. ( A class 3 rating puts it into the category of equipment that may be operated only by highly skilled practitioners, e.g. laser eye surgery.)
It is more than obvious after these many years of AIT practice that the Audiokinetron has no proven risk .
Recently the FDA declared that they have no control over devices employed for educational purposes only, so while the Audiokinetron, they seized remains under investigation, the Earducator (South Africa , USA) is not, neither are the DAA or FST systems. Such devices may be brought into the USA without restriction.
THE BGC DEVICE
An American device similar to the Audiokinetron, was built by an engineer, Bill Clarke, called the BGC device. It did not achieve Bérard approval, and is no longer being manufactured.
CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP
Dr Bérard retired in his villa near Annecy and ‘handed over the reins’ to Dr Stephen Edelson. He has since stepped down from this position to take up leadership of the Autism Research Institute, and control now rests with Sally Brockett in the USA .
The Auditory Integration Training – International Practitioner Forum (AIT-IPF) is the international representative of Berard-Trained practitioners and those doing AIT in a manner faithful to the original Bérard protocol.
THE EARDUCATOR
In South Africa, the cost factor had prevented others from training, so Rosalie Seymour, the first AIT practitioner and trainer in SA, felt that the development of a South African-built device was essential. She supervised and funded its development, and the Earducator was created. This device found Dr Bérard’s enthusiastic approval, and was well-received at the first International Association of Bérard Practitioners conference in Antwerp, 2000.
In South Africa, the emphasis of AIT has fallen on assisting children with educational difficulties, particularly the listening-skills problems underlying phonics problems, reading and spelling difficulties, as well as autism, concentration problems, etc.
THE DAA
The Georgiana Institute developed an alternative system of AIT delivery, namely the Digital Auditory Aerobics (DAA), also known as Earliest Adventures in Sound. The principles are similar to the Bérard approach, but the device uses pre-recorded discs with electronically modulated music, specially composed and performed and then modulated to be like Audiokinetron output. These discs then play through a further filtering process, through earphones, as one would for AIT.
FILTERED SOUND TRAINING
Rosalie Seymour continued to research more cost-effective ways of bringing AIT within the reach of the client. With the team from Dataworks, a bespoke programming company in Waterford, Ireland, a PC-based programme was developed which effectively delivers AIT – quality sound modulation with all the controls needed to ensure effective AIT. This allows AIT to be done effectively at home so that those who cannot access a local practitioner may still obtain the training with minimum disruption. FST brings costs within everyone’s reach.
TRAINERS
There are several international Bérard-certificated trainers for practitioners. A few are listed on the Earducator website. A more comprehensive list can be found on the website of the AIT – IPF, on www.ait-ipf.com.
AIT-IPF
An alternative, democratic international association of practitioners has been formed, titled AIT – International Practitioners Forum, which is responsive to the voice of practitioners from many different countries, and has as goal to advance AIT worldwide and keep abreast of new developments.
AIT INSTITUTE
This institute seeks to inform the public about all issues relating to AIT, while maintaining its distance from political affiliation.
