Case Studies 6 Children From 5 Years To 7 Years Using The Tomatis® Method To Develop Learning And Academic Skills

Tomatis® session goals:

To ensure the children are better prepared for the demands of school despite none of them indicating any sign of development delays.  To ensure that their developmental foundational skills are more stable in order to prevent school challenges at a later stage.

Observations:

The children that participated in the Tomatis® program were overall less emotional, more motivated, more mature and less dependent on the teachers than before the Tomatis® intervention.

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Gilmor Meta-Analysis (Learning & Communication)

Gilmor’s meta-analysis is based on a study of 225 children with learning and communication difficulties. This analysis shows that the Tomatis® listening sessions have a significant impact in the following areas: language, cognitive and psychomotor development, social and personal behavior.

Area                                    # of  participants           %  improvement

Linguistics                                                 225                                           41
Psychomotor                                           153                                           32
Personal & social behavior               225                                           31
Cognitive                                                   152                                           30
Hearing                                                          77                                             4

Study 1 & 2 Brickwall House Institute (Dyslexia)

In East Sussex, England, Brickwall studied 47 dyslexic children suffering from a delay in reading of 4/5 years. Twenty-four (24) of these children underwent Tomatis® listening sessions. The remaining 23 children were assigned to the control group. The results show a significant difference in favor of the Tomatis® group, in reading ability and expression.

Area                                                    Tomatis group %  improvement

Receptive Vocabulary                                                                           19
WRAT Reading                                                                                          51
WRAT Spelling (Raw scores)                                                             53
Verbal Fluency (raw scores)                                                               52
Neal Reading (accuracy)                                                                      21
Neale Reading (comprehension)                                                     19

Study of the Nordiska Tomatis® Centre

The Tomatis® centre of Sweden evaluated the impact of Tomatis® listening sessions on 56 people. Significant progress was recorded in terms of attention and energy as well as on motor performance and adaptability.

Area                                                                                 %  improvement

Attention                                                                                                      20
Motor ability                                                                                               12
Expression                                                                                                   10
Energy                                                                                                            11
Behavior and adaptability                                                                    12

Spaggiari report (Psychological Disorders)
Dr Spaggiara, psychiatrist, evaluated the impact of Tomatis listening program on 409 people with psychological disorders. The highest success rate was scored in treating Anxiety Disorders, where the success rate approached the level of success in treating learning difficulties (78%).
                                                                                          Number                Success %
Anxieties with Panic                                                       45                          72
Psychosomatic Anxieties                                             71                          73
Bipolar/ Manic/ Depressions/ Cyclotomia         97                          58

The Tomatis® Method has proven its effectiveness scientifically. The research continues to grow as the areas of application of the method are extended.

A Review of Research done on Tomatis Auditory Stimulation by Jan Gerritsen, PhD 2009

Review Abstract
A total of 35 studies were published on the impact of the Tomatis Method of auditory stimulation. The largest number of publications deals with treating learning disabilities, showing that a variety of learning disabilities are effectively treated by the Tomatis Method. Several small scale research projects on autism have been reported, showing that about 60% of the autistic children benefit from the Tomatis intervention. Several studies show that the Tomatis intervention accelerates the learning of foreign languages. One of these shows that the Tomatis intervention reduces the time to obtain a correct pronunciation by half. Two small scale study documents the positive impact of Tomatis Training on the voice. Other studies show that Tomatis Training facilitates child birth and reduces the time of labor. Other studies show positive effects on stuttering, retardation and on a range ofpsychological disorders.

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Early Effects of the Tomatis Listening Method in Children with Attention Deficit
Liliana Sacarin, Antioch University - Seattle,  2013

Dissertation  Abstract
This study investigated the early effects of the Tomatis Method, hypothesizing improvement in processing speed, phonological awareness, reading efficiency, attention, behavior and brain physiology by the end of Phase 1 of the Tomatis Method. This study documented the effects of the first phase of the Tomatis Method on children with ADD ages 7-13. Of the 25 participants, 15 received solely the Tomatis treatment while 10 served as controls and were stabilized on ADD medication three months prior to and throughout the study. Therefore, this research study compared Tomatis versus non-Tomatis intervention, not ADD medication treatment with Tomatis intervention.The Tomatis group received 15 consecutive 2hour sessions; participants received no additional vestibular or visual-motor exercises throughoutthe research. Results revealed statistically significant improvements for the Tomatis when compared to the non-Tomatis group: the experimental group showed significant improvement in processing speed, phonological awareness, phonemic decoding efficiency when reading, behavior, and auditory attention. A statistically significant increase in slow brain activity at central and parietal midline recording sites in the Tomatis group was observed when comparing pre- and post treatment the ta/beta ratios within each group. Taken in isolation, these are paradoxical findings as they do not concur with the gains documented. The peak alpha v frequency values and thez-scored theta/beta ratios of the pre- and post- qEEGs for each participant in the Tomatis group were further explored. The paradoxical increase in the ta/betharatios obtained from individual raw values were not observed to the same extent when using z-scores. The z-scores suggested that the theta/betaratio, although higher for the Tomatis group after training, remains within the average range for all participants. The individual analysis showed that the changes observed still fell within normal values, which may serve to explain the behavioral gains. To conclude, the significant improvements noted in cognition, attention and behavior, strongly suggest that the Tomatis Method has positive effects in children with ADD. These early changes in brain physiology require further research.

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Scientific Research

The positive results  our clients have achieved  has built our good reputation, however the Tomatis method has also proven its effectiveness scientifically. The research continues to grow as the areas of application of the method are extended. The acoustic sensory message plays a key role in one's overall development and as a result connects to a broad range of disorders. The scientific partners with whom we work include several public bodies (ministries, research institutes, hospitals) as well as universities, specialised associations and foundations. Their involvement ensures the objectivity and reliability of the results from the studies listed below.

Ross-Swain Study (Auditory Processing)

Ross-Swain (The Swain Center) reviewed the pre / post treatment testing results of 41 clients that had Auditory Processing Problems which can affect listening comprehension. After sessions of Tomatis® listening program, the results show a strong increase of ability to use memory to better listening and communicate.

Area                                                                                  Pre%      Post % 

Auditory Processing Overall                                                 8.4          58.3
Auditory Discrimination                                                        14.2         68.1
Auditory Memory, digits                                                          9.7          46.0
Auditory Memory, digits reversed                                   19.1         37.4
Auditory Memory, words                                                     12.2          48.5
Auditory Memory, sentences                                             16.4         53.4
Auditory Processing                                                                23.2         56.6
Following Directions                                                               31.3          66.5

Du Plessis Study (Anxiety)

Du Plessis (University of Potchefstroom, South Africa) studied 10 anxious university students who received the Tomatis® listening program, 9 who received psychotherapy program and 10 assigned to the control group.The Tomatis® group showed significant reductions in anxiety, while the results were mixed for the psychotherapy group and no change in anxiety was found in the control group. Another Du Plessis' study showed that the Tomatis group had maintained its reduced level of anxiety after 14 months and that the level of self-actualisation had increased significantly. No change was detected in the control group.

                                                           Tomatis          Psychotherapy          Control
N (number)                                        10                             9                               10
CAS (Child Anxiety Scale)      9.6/7.6             11.0/11.3                8.4/7.7
STAIC Trait                                 42.8/32.9          41.2/37.1             37.2/37.6
STAIC State                               32.8/27.6           30.7/28.1            31.3/30.0

(State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children)

D'Orthy Study (Anxiety)

D'Orthy (Hospital Foch, near Paris), compared anxiety in a control group of 683 expectant mothers who received only the traditional birth preparation techniques and 53 expectant mothers who received a shortened version of The Tomatis® listening program.
The results showed a decrease in anxiety among the Tomatis mother, whereas in the control group anxiety increase slightly.

                                                        Control group 683           Tomatis group 53

                                                                   Pre/   Post                          Pre/    Post

Hamilton test                                     4.4/    4.7                             5.7/    4.0

(self administration test measuring anxiety)