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

.......Tomatis Topics

T omatis' father was an opera singer, was unrivaled during his 41-year career and was one of the best-paid artists in France. He sang at the Paris Opera. This influence Tomatis greatly and much of his early understanding of the ear and the voice came from his work with singers. Tomatis' relationship with his mother was very problematic and he describes his feelings of abandonment extensively in the "Conscious Ear"

Tomatis was also very ill as a child. In retrospect he felt much of it was psychosomatic but I would suspect that the prematurity and its affect on his lungs affected him profoundly. He was affected by asthma much of his life and eventually died of respiratory complications. Tomatis' illnesses made him want to become a doctor a decision he made when he was nine years old. He tells the story of being very ill and of one doctors willingness to ponder the question of his illness profoundly influenced Tomatis. The desire to be a doctor was not taken seriously by his family (mainly because he was never in school because he was ill) however his father listened. "My boy I have thought this over carefully and if you really want to become a doctor and a good doctor you must go to Paris." When Tomatis was eleven he was brought to live in Paris, not in boarding school, but rather to live and care for himself as he attended a day school. Tomatis did go to Paris and eventually became an Otolaryngologist, ENT. His real interest was research and eventually he gave up his practice of medicine to remain a professor of his own research.

ORIGINS OF THE TOMATIS METHOD

Dr. Alfred A, Tomatis France in the 1940 and 50's Canada in the 1970's United States in the 1980's

The Tomatis Method is a system of sound stimulation and audio-vocal training developed by the French E.N.T. Otolaryngologist, specialist, Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis; The method is aimed at improving the functions of the ear, especially as it is involved in listening, understanding and communication. Dr. Tomatis has been practicing the method in France since the 1940's. The theories of Dr. Tomatis are very compatible with those of Jean Ayres and Sensory Integration Theory, since both believe that sensory information from the special senses, especially the vestibular sense provide the foundation for more complex skills.

O ccupational Deafness

Dr Tomatis research started after the war when he was working with two distinct populations. The first were factory workers who had suffered hearing losses while working in aviation depots. He was part of a study on the effects of hearing loss due to noise pollution. Occupational Deafness While working with this population he observed the psychological factor of these workers being able to lower or raise their auditory thresholds by ten, twenty, even thirty, decibels depending on either their fear of loosing their jobs or getting a pension.

Pilots

He observed the subjectivity of the hearing test and even quoted American sources that observed the character of the administrator affects the results obtained. He observed that there was a psychological factor to hearing and he decided to distinguish between the two.

The difference between Hearing and Listening

Hearing is the passive reception of sounds, while Listening is the active ability, intention, and desire to focus on sounds When we talk about the Tomatis Method we are talking about the treatment of Listening Disorders. Difference between Seeing and Perceiving (Sight and Perception)

O pera Singers At the same time he started working with Opera Singers.

His father who was a famous Baritone Singer in Europe at that time, refereed to him. He would work with singers who for some reason were loosing their voices. According to the prevailing theory, vocal quality was under the strict control of the larynx, which had to be regarded like a musical instrument. A larynx could be compared to a violin whose strings became over-stretched. "Laryngeal dystonia" In other words the larynx was out of tune.