Tomatis® Method
The Tomatis® Method is a system of sound stimulation and audio-vocal training developed by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French ear, nose and throat specialist.
The goal of the Tomatis® Method is to improve the functioning of the ear, especially as it is involved in listening, understanding and communication. In addition it also facilitates increased:
- postural functions, including increased muscle tone, balance, fine motor skills, etc.
- auditory processing
- expressive and receptive language
- organizational abilities
- attention and focusing
- communication and social skills
- regulatory behaviors, i.e. eating, sleep wake cycles, bowel-bladder cycles
- vestibular processing
Tomatis® involves “re-education” of the way we listen. These postulates facilitate developing and enhancing the above skills such as:
- Listening-Attending: taking in information
- Learning-Reading: spelling language based information
- Language abilities (receptive and expressive)
- Organizational Abilities based on motor planning
- Communication Skills (2-way)
- Social Behavior
Dr. Tomatis theorized that many of the behavioral and communicative characteristics observed in children with developmental and learning difficulties and those on the autism spectrum are not actually the root causes of the disorder but are only symptoms based on underlying biologically based regulatory disorders.
The inner ear (the vestibular-cochlear system) is one of the earliest sensory symptoms to develop in utero and completes its development well before most other sensory organs. Because of its primary position in the developmental process, it develops and maintains connections with the rest of the emerging nervous system.
Sound stimulation offers an opportunity to influence many areas of function, including gross motor, fine motor, visual processing, auditory process, attention, and speech and language.
Applications
The use of Tomatis® can be employed in the treatment of physical, attention, learning, and communication disorders including:
- Autistic Spectrum Disorders
- Auditory Processing Disorders
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
- Learning Disabilities
- Sensory Integration Disorders
- Organizational Disorders
- Developmental Disorders
- Attachment Disorders
- Communication Disorders including Selective Mutism
- Mood disorders, anxiety, depression
The Tomatis® program can begin when an individual is
at least 17 months old and well into adulthood. The child/adult listens on specially designed headphones (with bone &air conduction) to the music of Mozart and Gregorian
Chant; eventually the mother's voice is used to helpfacilitate increased engagement and language because this is the primary voice the fetus
heard in utero.
The Tomatis® program is administered in 31 two-hour sessions of listening consisting of filtered and unfiltered music and speech. Sessions are conducted six days a week in the following three phases:
- 15-day intensive followed by a 4-6 week break
- 8-day intensive followed by a 4-6 week break
- 8-day intensive followed by a 4-6 week break
Eli's Tomatis Experience:
When Eli was 11 months old he fell down a flight of stairs and began having seizures. The consensus was that it was not epilepsy but a form of breath holding syndrome as it only happened when he fell or got hurt. He also was constantly sick, with at least 6 ear infections in a few months and the doctors kept wanting to put him on antibiotics. Thanks to an amazing homeopath and a restricted/special diet he is virtually seizure free, but he seemed to me to be a little delayed in certain skills (not enough for anyone but me to really notice, but he was not at the same level my twins were at the same age). I began Tomatis [later than I wanted] mainly because I want to help 'fix' the delays I am seeing and help him have better awareness of his surroundings so he won't have any more seizures.
LOOP 1 (Jan. 4 to 22, 2010); Age: 23 months
Jan. 4: Eli began Tomatis today with Heather's son Logan (who's 3). I was not with him for the first 20 minutes because I was fearful that he would not keep the headphones on. He did keep them on for the whole time so I was thrilled! See even experienced Tomatis consultants worry that their own kids won't wear the headphones!
Eli was very calm during the first hour and then began moving around. An hour after taking off the headphones he began independently jumping on a trampoline (a skill we have been working on since Sept.!) He did fall asleep immediately leaving the office and slept well through the night.
Jan. 5, 6, 7: Eli is seeming a little more active with more of a heightened arousal level. He also seems to be a little more assertive or stubborn - a new behavior. Not sure if it is the 2's or Tomatis (we keep 'blaming' Tomatis!) He seems to be gaining a new word every day - words we have been working on for months, like 'more', 'milk', and 'avocado!'
Ever since Eli's fall down the stairs I have always felt that he did not have sufficient spatial awareness - I think he fell down the stairs because he did not understand the need to stop like most infants do. On Thurs (after day 3) we went to our usual gymnastics class where Eli usually runs free all over the gymnasium. On this particular day he was much more cautious. He held my hand to step down from the mat to the floor, he was careful climbing up the stairs to the trampoline, and he walked slowly across the balance beam.
Jan. 8: Today Eli demonstrated new visual motor skills. Again, we have been working on Eli actually putting puzzles together as opposed to just taking out the puzzle pieces and today was the first time he sat down and put a 12 piece shape sorting puzzle together independently after one demonstration!. He also began crawling down the stairs on his belly and listening to me give him the direction to do so (again something I have been working on since he began crawling up and down stairs 8 months ago!)
One of the 'negative' things creeping up is that Eli is having a lot more tantrums and is crying more easily. He seems to know what he wants but is having more difficulty letting us know what it is he wants. So Norah and I also made a list of all the words Eli knew prior to Tomatis and the new words he has gained in the last 5 days. Unbelievable! If I wasn't documenting it myself I am not sure I would believe it. He has gained at least 15 words in the last 5 days - that's about 3 new words a day. I know that at this age there is a surge of language and children should be able to be gaining a new word a day but this is rapidly occurring and he is also practicing the words over and over (such as "Ready, set, go!)
WEEK 2: Days 6-10
OK I think I may hate Tomatis! I am kind of just kidding but really my mother may kill me and I can't believe that I am putting myself through this!!! I remember going through this with Liam and Norah when they did Tomatis but I don't think I had as much going on in my life as I do now! Eli is being a bear!!! He is tantrumming a lot and waking so early! Thank goodness that he sleeps in a crib and is happy when he wakes up so I can go back to sleep. His whole sleep cycle is out of whack. He falls asleep on the 7 minute drive home and then we have to wake him to put him in his crib and he'll sleep till 5 and then wake up really cranky. It seems that he also gets upset a lot more easily - when he would want something before and I would 'deny' him he would get over it but now he gets so upset and cries and cries! I feel terrible but I have to set limits you know!? So we are having a lot more power struggles - which of course is normal.
Jan. 15: Of course my kid is the one who won't wear the headphones! Logan gives us no problem and Eli will keep them on and then suddenly hurl them off his head! So today it took literally 5 of us to keep him occupied and keeping the headphones on. I also found out what his delay really is. Finally Susan (our resident SLP) told me what Eli's speech delay is. She is calling it a mild speech delay but considering that Eli has 60 words and the norm for his age is about 150+ I am saying that his delay is more than just mild. Heather, Colleen, and Ashley say that he keeps changing and that his affect is unbelievable - he is so animated and lively. He also is 'talking' more - he's not really saying words but he is having full conversations. He is also interacting with Logan more and more each day, trying to play with him and sit and talk to him.
Today Eli did something new - I have never been worried about Eli's fine motor skills but he is definitely getting better and better in this area. At the beginning of Tomatis Eli was learning vertical and horizontal lines and today after a couple of demonstrations he began doing circles!!! He spent the better part of a half hour making circles with markers. He also said 3 new words tonight: BED, HAT and HEAD! Well - I hope tomorrow is a better day.
Keep Checking for updates as Eli goes through the next couple of weeks!
Tomatis Pregnancy Program
Hearing is the first sense to be
fully developed in the fetus. By the 18th week of
pregnancy the human ear is fully developed and
functional. According to Tomatis the nine months in the womb is a crucial time not only for physical development but also for psychological development. The perception of the mother's voice is the very first bond of communication with the world and can help influence one's experience with the rest of the world.
Dr. Tomatis developed a
special program for pregnant
women to help enhance
prenatal communication between
mother and child.
- Pregnant woman using the Tomatis Method benefit from:
- Extensive body relaxation
- A reduction of fear of childbirth
- Better and deeper sleep
- More energy
- A reduction in the length of labor
Children of mothers who have completed the Tomatis pregnancy program:
- Are more relaxed, even-tempered and well-adjusted
- Have better sleeping patterns & tend to sleep through the night earlier
- Are more social
- Are more communicative, and speak earlier and better
- Have increased strength, muscle tone, and enhanced motor skills
- Have increased attention span
- Show less fear and cry less than other children of the same age
The SOLISTEN TC has arrived!
New Tomatis Product - The Solisten TC
The Solisten TC is a small portable device, similar to the size of an i-pod, which was engineered by Tomatis Développement with "TOMATIS® Effect Music".
The SOLISTEN TC is a new way to offer an alternative to people who are looking for solutions to improve their life - communication, listening, attention, focus and decrease stress
It will be an ideal solution for people who cannot undergo a full TOMATIS® program in a clinic setting. For instance the SOLISTEN TC would be beneficial for those who:
- Live far away, either because of the distance or by lack of accessibility
- Have time restrictions (work, school, etc.) and cannot easily come or bring their children to the center/clinic
- Are physically incapable of coming to the center
- Already have done a full program in the center and are interested in doing an ongoing program at home without all the constraints of coming back to the center (the SOLISTEN TC can be used as a booster).
