Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Intro

Carol:
We are thrilled that you'll be experiencing Dr. Porges' Safe and Sound Protocol. We have completed this protocol with friends all across the country, and we love it. We love it because of the outcomes. Dr. Porges' Safe and Sound Protocol is a protocol for social engagement. As humans, we are all intended to be social creatures, but for whatever reason, this hasn't been activated or it hasn't been activated very well. We're about to reset it and activate it. To complete, you will listen for one hour a day for five days in a row. You will try to maintain a quiet location when listening, no electronics, cell phones, televisions, computers or iPads, if possible. But most importantly, you want to make sure you do the volume test on your SSP before getting started. This is so important because you will not want to adjust the volume during the listening program.

Carol:
A good rule of thumb for the volume, you want to make sure that you set the volume at a comfortable level while listening to the volume test track on your MP3 player. This is very important because you're going to set it for that track and then slide the whole toggle button on the side of the MP3 player to hold that volume setting. Because when you begin to listen to the protocol, it will sound distorted on purpose. At times the music will get very quiet, which will cause the individual to pay more attention and lean into the listening, and then the music will get louder and then it will sometimes... The music in the forefront will be pushed to the back and the back to the front. You don't want to mess with the volume while this process is working. Let the program do the hard work, set the volume in the volume test track.

Carol:
Stay calm when you're listening and you're going to try not to increase your heart rate. This can be very difficult if you have a high energy child. The SSP is how we get the high energy friends off the ceiling, but you don't want to compromise not giving them access to the protocol if they're unable to sit still or they have to move, it's okay. We're going to do the best we can and let the SSP do its job.

Carol:
Before listening, set a timer for one hour. Otherwise, the music may continue on until the next day and you want to limit your listening to that one day for 60 minutes. What you may notice when experiencing the SSP, you may see increased blood flow to the face or your child may become warm, that's okay. Sometimes that happens. The input that the SSP is providing will increase circulation to the face and activate the muscles of the face and the oral motor muscles. You're going to need those for dynamic social expression, along with reading and decoding nonverbal social cues.

Carol:
You may notice that around day three your, child becomes more tired. This is normal. Day one and two are essentially there to help train the ear and the brain to tolerate this type of input. The most intense days are day three through five, so just know this and plan accordingly.

Carol:
Things that you may notice, inch stones with SSP, that you can see sometimes within the five days of the listening program, but then also friends report to us improvements that they associate with the SSP up to six months after completing it. Improvements can include improved eye contact or a desire to communicate without words through their eyes. Some friends become more snugly, some friends are able to communicate for longer periods of time and want to express themselves verbally. Whenever your child is giving you eye contact during the SSP, you want to reciprocate it and hold it as long as you can. You can imprint upon them the social features that you're looking for. This is a very important part of the process.

Carol:
One of my favorite inch stones to observe with a child completing the SSP is improvement and the understanding of their speech. As the muscles of the face and the mouth become more activated, and we stimulate the speech parts of the brain while calming the autonomic nervous system, they can begin to articulate. The mouth cannot produce what the ear cannot hear and we are training their inner ear to process human speech better, then they can speak better and they can annunciate because they can hear the beginning, the middle, and the end now of their words.

Carol:
We usually see better emotional control and expression, so give your child the opportunity to use their words when they're feeling frustrated. You'll be surprised what they'll be able to tell you now. We see improved play behaviors with other children. We see increased expressions of love to other people.

Carol:
When your box arrives, please take the equipment out of the box and plug it in. There's an address label to return the equipment in the box. Save that label and the box so you may return the equipment to us and we can send it to another family.

Carol:
One of the great joys of the SSP is that the child will begin to grow and flourish in front of your eyes. And when that happens, we invite the caregivers the opportunity to experience the SSP for themselves. These protocols are changing everything on not only how that one family member feels, it will change for the better, the way your entire family unit is able to function. The child is the catalyst that brought us all together, but you have one of the most powerful tools in the world in your home, you might as well share it. And together as a family, you will move on into a better next chapter.