The
Spectrum Center uses the Tomatis Method of “auditory
training” or “listening
training” in conjunction with sensory integration techniques
to treat a
spectrum of disorders, including the following:
• Attention Deficit Disorders
• Auditory Processing Disorders
• Autism
• Developmental Disorders
• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia (Motor Planning
Disorders)
• Learning Disabilities
• Pervasive Developmental
Disorder
• Sensory Integration Disorders
• Speech and Language Disorders
We
look at the individuals we treat from the perspective of a
developmental
model that incorporates the theories of Dr. Alfred Tomatis and Dr. A.
Jean
Ayres (the developer of sensory integration theory). This view
presupposes
that many of the behaviors observed are not the causes of the disorder,
but rather are symptoms based upon an underlying
“biologically based” condition.
The focus of the treatment is aimed at the sensory systems involved in
the individual’s ability to self-regulate and respond
adaptively to the
external world. There are many studies indicating that sensory
deprivation
can result in delayed or atypical development. It is theorized that the
central nervous systems of individuals with the disorders listed above
do not properly perceive, process and organize sensory information from
their bodies and their environment. Therefore, they are not able to
respond
adaptively or perform optimally.
Listening training is based on the work of Dr.
Alfred
A. Tomatis, a French Physician and Otolaryngologist, who discovered
that
“a person can only reproduce vocally what he is capable of
hearing.” The
Tomatis Method of Listening Training reeducates the ear to hear missing
or faulty frequencies. Tomatis recognizes a critical difference between
hearing and listening, and the method addresses the specific problems
of
listening, not hearing. Hearing is the passive reception of sound;
listening
is the active ability, intention, and desire to focus on sounds. Many
individuals
with listening disorders are unable to attend to, focus on, or
efficiently
process what is being said.
After his discoveries about the relationship
between
the ear and the voice, Tomatis went on to research the role (which he
called
“listening”) that the ear plays in the development
of speech and language.
Tomatis emphasized that the functions of the human ear far exceed those
traditionally assigned to it æ “it serves as the
centralizing, controlling
organ of neurological function.” He believed that the Corti
cells of the
inner ear play a primary role in the evolution of the human nervous
system.
He asserted that this extensive network of connections is still present
in humans today and “allows the ‘ear’ to
contribute to everything involved
in cortical activity.”
Dr. A Jean Ayres, an Occupational Therapist and
specialist
in learning and education, came to her understanding of the importance
of the “ear” in human development in a different
manner. Her early research
was on visual perception and the role it plays in learning and reading.
She found that visual perception is dependent on the integration of
sensory
information from even more primary senses, particularly sensory
information
from the vestibular system located in the inner ear. Sensory
Integration
Theory is based on the premise that the primary building blocks of the
central nervous system are the senses, particularly the special senses
æ vestibular, tactile, and proprioception. All other skills
are complex
processes based on a strong foundation of sensory integration.
The theories that both Tomatis and Ayres developed to
explain what they were discovering through their research bear uncanny
similarities. Both Sensory Integration Therapy and The Tomatis Method
of
Listening Training employ stimulation to the inner earæthe
vestibular
cochlear systemæas their “portal” into
the nervous system. Both realized
that the inner ear plays a much greater role developmentally than
merely
as a mechanism for balance (vestibule) and hearing (cochlear). They
discovered
that the ear plays a major role in the development of postural
functions,
bilateral coordination, inter-hemispheric communication, motor
planning,
visual perception, and language. Ayres primarily used
“movement” as her
method for stimulating the inner ear’s vestibular system,
while Tomatis
used sound (music) to stimulate the cochlea. Ayres noticed early in her
work that while she saw the changes she expected in postural and
spatial
functions, she also saw improvement in auditory processing and
language.
Tomatis similarly noted that while he saw changes in auditory
processing
and language, he also saw changes in postural and spatial functions. To
explain their findings both examined the influences the inner ear has
on
the development of the human nervous system and the various functions
the
ear controls.
The initial impetus for the Spectrum Center Method
came
from its director Valerie Dejean, a pediatric Occupational Therapist
who
was trained in Sensory Integration theory and therapy. She observed in
several of her clients, who had received the Tomatis Listening
Training,
dramatic improvements in posture and balance following their sessions.
At that time, though well known in Europe (200 centers world wide), the
Tomatis Method was relatively unknown in the United States. Although
Dr.
Tomatis was well published in his own language of French, very little
of
his writings had been translated into English. Feeling strongly that
the
Tomatis Method was a way to enhance sensory integration, Ms. Dejean
trained
with Dr. Tomatis in Paris, and opened the Spectrum Center on June 15th,
1992.
The objective of the Spectrum Center Method is the
therapeutic
application of sensory stimulation programs, with the Tomatis Method as
the corner stone, for the improvement of physical, cognitive, and
social-emotional
performance. At the Spectrum Center we use a specialized form of
Tomatis
Listening Training, which we imbed in a developmental model of
treatment
and enhance with sensory integration techniques. Our developmental
model
includes an in-depth understanding of the following functions: posture,
balance, motor planning, praxis, bilateral coordination,
inter-hemispheric
communication, visual and auditory processing. Over the ten years that
the Spectrum Center has been in operation, we have studied how these
functions
are involved in the disorders listed above. From this clinical
observation
we have developed our own protocols for evaluation and implementation
of
our listening programs. This we refer to as the Spectrum Center Method.
As a matter of inquiry, we are often asked what we
do
differently at the Spectrum Center, from other centers that utilize the
Tomatis Method. World wide the Tomatis Method is used with a variety of
populations ranging from developmental disabilities to foreign language
acquisition and the performing arts. At the Spectrum Center we focus on
the specific sensory integration and processing difficulties that we
perceive
as the root of many developmental, learning and attention disabilities.
Our initial evaluation is different from other Centers as we focus
in-depth
on these fundamentals. How we design our listening programs, what tapes
will be listened to, and how the “electronic ears”
are set, are different.
The activities a client engages in while listening are also very
different.
We incorporate movement activities to provide vestibular support for
the
auditory stimulation as the client is listening. We have a variety of
suspended
equipment (swings) and balance activities to provide additional inner
ear
stimulation. We also include activities to stimulate postural
functions,
motor planning, praxis, bilateral-motor coordination, and
inter-hemispheric
communication. We include tactile activities because stimulation to the
skin has a primary impact on inner ear processes. We include visual
processing,
fine motor, sequencing, oral-motor, and language activities. In
addition
to Tomatis audio-vocal work, we include additional auditory processing
activities. All of these are designed to the specific needs of the
client.
Although there may be similarities in the progression of our programs,
each program is individualized according to the specific needs of the
client.
