EASe CD #3 Because every individual is different, and some may require a longer EASe program, it is important to provide enough EASe CDs, with enough variation to create an extended program long enough to help even the most involved person. Vision now provides ten EASe CD's, totalling ten hours of encoded/modulated music which together can provide 100 hours of listening therapy.

EASe CD #3 is comprised of soft "New Age" type music that is overlaid with digitally recorded, open ocean, wild dolphin and whale sounds. This disc sounds different from EASe CD #1 and #2 but is interchangeable with them in a child's listening schedule. EASe CD #3 is more intense and we do not suggest starting a program with it though. It is better to introduce it after the child has listenend through EASe #1 and EASe #2.

So why dolphin and whale sounds? Over the years we had heard of autistic children swimming with dolphins and their parents and therapists seeing improvements in their occupational function. I wondered what the basis of these improvements might be. Could it be that there was an auditory processing issue here?

I wondered if the frequency and envelope of the whale song's could have a positive effect on an auditory hypersensitive child. I was encouraged by others to investigate this phenomenon. So in 1997, we created a test CD utilizing dolphin and whale songs with soft music.

We tested the disc with the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential-Japan. The children, a group of five through eight year olds diagnosed with autism, were excited to hear the disc but could immediately tell that there was distress in the dolphin songs and some even knew that the dolphins were captive!Needless to say I was astounded by their letters and took their concerns very seriously, although I had no concept how they knew what they knew.

We scoured the world ( the early internet to the rescue!) and found an oceanographer who had original digital recordings of open ocean, wild dolphin and whale song's in New Zeland. These animals were all recorded while playing and interacting with human divers. None of the animals were in distress and the kids confirmed that after listening. I can't tell the difference but I believe the kids.

Ease Disc (CD) 3:
This disc also contains 60 minutes of synthesized music that has been modulated. However, many tracks included acoustic instruments (piano and guitar). A further feature is the presence of dolphin and ocean sounds blended with the music. The natural instruments and the presence of nature sounds expands the spatial qualities of the CD.

EASe 3 is far less structured and rhythmically defined than the music of EASe 1 or 2. This can make it more challenging for the listener with sensory modulation difficulties who typically seeks more structure and predictability to attain higher level of organization and integrations.

Selection of EASe 3 is typically as much a personal preference as therapeutic differentiation and may be beneficial for children with modulation difficulties who also seek novelty and whose therapy program would be enhanced by exploring ranges of unpredictability and flexibility. Others have found this CD useful for beginning a Therapeutic Listening program with the child who seems shut down or disconnected. Additionally, dolphin sounds have been likened to the developing child's experience of the mother's voice in utero. This CD might then be beneficial for use with children who have had separation issues at or around the time of birth.
From "Listening With the Whole Body", Sheila M Frick OTR with Colleen Hacker, MS, OTR