The ear is like a batteryThe primary function of the ear is to convert sound waves to electrical waves that charge the neo-cortex of the brain.
Sound is a nutrient; we can charge or discharge the nervous system by the sound we take in through both pathways, air and bone conduction.
Dr. Tomatis draws a critical distinction between listening and hearingThe two are related but distinct processes. Hearing is the passive reception of sound while listening is the active and conscious participation.
This corresponds to the difference between seeing and looking. Listening and looking are active, focusing processes.
Listening ability affects not only spoken and written language development, but also awareness, creativity and the ability to focus. Listening ability also influences communication, thereby shaping social development, confidence and self-image.
The active process of listening can be re-trained and enhanced by an auditory stimulation program.
Dr. Tomatis discovered that the ear is already functioning four and a half months before birth and listening is the first sense we develop.
Intermixed with the organic sounds of the mother's heartbeat, circulation, gastro-intestinal rumblings and breath, the unborn child distinctly hears her voice.
The ear is intricately connected to the nervous system and the entire body through three tracts that Dr. Tomatis called integrators.
The vestibular integrator is responsible for posture, body image and movements; the visual integrator is responsible for ear/eye connection and the cochlear integrator is in charge of brain stimulation.
The Tomatis® Method works on a wide variety of problems because of the rich interconnections between the ear and the brain stem, the cerebellum and the higher cortical centres.
Thus, problems and deficits that have a neurological basis can be helped by a specific application of sound stimulation with certain characteristics.
The Tomatis® Method is a drug-free, non-invasive program of sound stimulationThis is accomplished through the use of Gregorian Chant and the filtered music of Mozart. Additionally, Dr. Tomatis invented a device known as the Electronic Ear which is central to this program.
The process of listening through the Electronic Ear helps rehabilitate the human ear to the ideal listening state.
The function of the Electronic Ear is to re-educate & tonify the muscles of the middle ear essential to accurate perception of sound, to awaken the intellect and the desire to listen with the whole body,and to develop a dominant ear, usually the right ear.
There is a wide array of learning difficulties, and many children (between 4 and 6%) suffer from them.
Attention is the capacity to select and maintain awareness of an exterior event or a thought.
While it is easy to understand the importance of exercise for the upkeep of the body, we do not always realise that exercise is also important for our brain.
A deeply engrained listening distortion can even lead to the loss of desire to listen, which in turn will diminish the desire to communicate, either because the person suffering from this distortion lacks confidence, or simply gives up trying to communicate. This can result in difficulties with effective commuication.
Psychomotor difficulties involve a delay in the acquisition, coordination, and execution of gestures that are not learned culturally or through an explicit education, but are instead acquired 'naturally' over time (for example, walking, running, jumping, tapping out a rhythm with the foot or with the fingers).
These are severe difficulties manifesting early in childhood development, and are characterised by delays in and alterations of the development of the capacities for social interaction, cognition, and communication.
Although the importance of movement for the upkeep of the body has been recognised, we don’t always realise that it is just as important for the well-being of the brain.
One of the historical areas of application for the Tomatis Method involves improvement of musicality and of the speaking or singing voice.
It is well-established that when the mother is expecting, she transmits to her child the entire panoply of affective and emotional states that she experiences, both negative and positive.
During development, a child must learn to select the sound elements that are compatible with his or her linguistic environment, and at the same time ignore those elements that are absent from the phonetic structures perceived in the usual surroundings.
