Product Details

• Actors: Elizabeth Balzano
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Spectrum Connections
• DVD Release Date: August 14, 2007
• Run Time: 29 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000Q7ZL0Q
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,250 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Music therapist Elizabeth Balzano and her bouncy friend Balloo lead a classroom of early developers through original songs and fun activities specially designed by veteran family entertainment producers under the guidance of autism consultants. Children learn to explore emotions while singing, dancing and having fun!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helped my toddler talk!, January 7, 2008

By	Nini's Mummy (Arkansas, USA) - See all my reviews

My 20 month daughter is hooked on this DVD. I got it in desperation to see if it would help her talk. She watches it everyday at least twice and now asks for "bounce". The songs are catchy and even my 4 year old will sit down and watch. Has definitely helped my daughter's speech delay. Even though it was developed for kids with autism it is great for all kids who need some extra help to talk.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Resource!, January 13, 2008

By	Kara I. D. "Kara" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Elizabeth Balzano is an educated, amazing music therapist! Her program is excellent. My son LOVES Ballou and has a wonderful time interacting with the Spectrum Connection/Bounce Series. Children learn excellent communication and safety skills! Whether your child struggles with developmental delays or has a typically developing brain - they will BENEFIT from this series. Parents - YOU will benefit from the wonderful "Tips: Advice" special features. Bravo!! Brava! to the whole team - including Brandissmo!! & Sprout! This is a MUST HAVE item - the WHOLE series!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful series for ASD kids!, August 31, 2008

By	MomOf3YoungMen&aLittleLady (Kansas City Area) - See all my reviews

All my kids are "on the spectrum"--the older two (now 18 & 11) are extremely verbal Asperger's kids, but the younger two (preschoolers) were diagnosed in June as "severely autistic," with extremely limited expressive language ability. They literally never asked for anything they needed; they would wait patiently for their needs to be magically met, or they would cry or scream until someone guessed what the problem was, or they would "hand lead"--they would try to physically make the adult do what they wanted but wouldn't sign or say something simple like "more," or "open, please."

Of course, we started a variety of approaches once the kids were diagnosed, and we have to give credit to most, if not all of them, for the progress we have seen in just a couple of months. However, these "Bounce!" videos really caused something to "click" with my kids and were exremely helpful in a few key areas.

First, Elizabeth has a "see ya later alligator" toy that signals when it's time to go, and she sings a goodbye song with it (and she has a "hello" song to the same melody.) My daughter (now approx 33 months) uses the song ("Hello, hello, hello!") to greet people now, and we use the alligator to get my son (who just turned 4) to part with his beloved Thomas trains when it's time for him to go to his preschool on the bus. (We place a toy bus and a toy alligator on the table near the front door; the trains wait there too til he gets home.) We received these videos just before his preschool started this year, and he had never been before; I know they made what would have been a major transition for him a LOT easier.

Second, Elizabeth has a song about asking for what you want: "I want a hug," "I want an apple," etc. My son started singing the song to himself after he had learned it (that's the majority of his speech--he doesn't talk so much as he quotes things he's heard.) So when we'd hear him say something like "I want a hug," or "I want some juice," we'd reward it with the hug, juice, etc. This delighted him so much that he started to actually use the phrases appropriately when he did want something, and he has generalized that to other things--so now he'll say, "open, please," or "more, please," which has been a really big breakthrough (and a huge improvement over screaming!)

Finally, they love to watch the other kids on the videos; my son knows all their names and will talk to them: "Alright, Tucker!" I think it's been good for the kids to see how the children in the videos behave for the teacher--looking up at her when she is talking, looking at what she is pointing at, etc. This seems to have improved their eye contact, attention, and general classroom behavior (sitting in circle time, etc.) I would highly recommend these to other ASD parents--and "regular" kids would probaby enjoy them, too!