new book coming by Valerie Dejean
Tomatis, Autism and Sensory Integration

.......Tomatis Topics

A BOUT THE TOMATIS METHOD The Tomatis method is a program of sound stimulation, audio-vocal work and counseling to train and develop listening and listening-related skills. These include:

  • Listening-Attending, taking in information.
  • Learning-Reading, spelling language based info.
  • Language abilities (receptive and expressive)
  • Organizational Abilities-based on motor planning.
  • Communication Skills (two-way)
  • Social Behavior

    The Tomatis Method is a training method that involves the re-education of the way we listen. The Method is a system of sound stimulation and audio-vocal training designed to improve the functioning of the ear as it is involved in listening, understanding and communication. Sometimes the term Auditory Training is used to describe the Tomatis Method but I think that is misleading and that Listening is a more accurate term. Listening training is well known in Europe but is just becoming better understood in the United States.

    • A PPLICATIONS of the Tomatis Method

    The use of sound stimulation or Listening Training can be employed in the treatment of physical, attention, learning and communication disorders.

  • Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Multi-system developmental disorder, autism, pervasive developmental disorder)
  • Auditory Processing Disorders
  • Attention Deficit Disorder (hyperactive and non-hyperactive)
  • Learning Disabilities (dyslexia and other verbal and non-verbal learning disabilities)
  • Sensory Integration Disorders
  • Organizational Disorders, (motor planning disorders, disorder of executive functions)
  • Developmental Disorders (Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Genetic Conditions )

    • A bout Dr. Alfred Tomatis

    French physician and Otolaryngologist, Tomatis' life's works was devoted to the understanding of the ear and the many dimensions of human listening. In doing this he re-examined the anatomy and neuro-physiology of the ear and in doing this he challenged conventional medical beliefs and proposed revolutionary theories about auditory physiology and the therapeutic use of sound.

    He realized that the functions of the human were poorly understood and that the ear had functions that far exceeded those traditionally assigned to it. He felt the ear was the most complex, the most archaic, as well as the newest and most conscious of the body's sensory systems. He felt that the ear played a primary role in human evolution, human development, and in personal evolution and development. He studied the benefits of improved listening from a physiological, psychological, cognitive, and ultimately spiritual perspective. His understanding of the ear's neuro-physiology led to the development of theories regarding the interconnectedness of the body, mind and spirit in what he called the listening function.

    Tomatis coined the term "Audio-Psycho-Phonology" to described the multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted applications of his method. He chose this term to emphasize the relationship between the ear, voice and the psychological factors involved in listening.

    Alfred A. Tomatis was born at 6 and 1/2 months (2 and 1/2 months premature, probably 26weeks) and left for dead. In his autobiography "The Conscious Ear" Tomatis describes his birth and the impact it had on his life. The mid-wife abandoned him to attend his mother. He claims in his auto biography that the midwife picked him up by the right hear leaving a mark that he keep his entire life and discarded him in a basket. It was his grandmother who had given birth to 24 children herself who revived him and in saving his life became a profound influence upon him.

    Tomatis was born a half hour before midnight, but the exact date of his birth was uncertain possibly being the 29th, 30th, or 31st of 1919. The civil service was told that he was born on January 1st for matters of the census.

    Tomatis' mother was 16 years old when he was born and apparently the arrival was not expected or welcomed. Great efforts to conceal the pregnancy including corsets of unbending whale bone. Tomatis felt that this early experience shaped his life. For the first 40 years of his life he needed to live tightly swathed in cloths and shoes that were too tight. At night he slept with eight blankets on top of him.

    Tomatis felt that his life's work and theoretical speculation was based on his experience as a premature infant, shut out of nirvana (the womb) to soon. Tomatis was born in Nice, France, which is on the Riviera and close to the Italian boarder. The language that he grew up with was a dialect, Nicois. When he learned French it was much latter and gave him great difficulty, almost learning it as a second language. Nicois has much more in common with Italian and in fact his mother was Italian.

    His father was 20 years old when Tomatis was born. He was a great influence on Tomatis in that he had a tremendous work effect which profoundly impressed Tomatis. Later Tomatis would follow a rhythm of sleeping from 10 to midnight, arising and working until 4 AM when he would sleep until arising for the workday at 6 AM.