Listening is the key to success

Here at the EARobic Centre™ we have used the Tomatis Method to treat 1000's of children who suffer from learning difficulties. We are no strangers to the range of problems that can occur when a child is exercising his or her potential to learn. The kind of problems we see range from dyspraxia and dyslexia to speech delay and Attention deficit disorders. We also provide facilities for children who are more intellectually and physically unable.

What makes us unique is our approach to the ear and its fundamental role in language, physical, psychological and social development.

Over the past 60 years Dr Alfred Tomatis developed a new approach to the treatment of learning problems. He was also the first to realise that the desire to listen is the "royal road" for language development and communication, and provides the basis for human growth.

By making a distinction between passive hearing and active listening Tomatis was able to trace back a much overlooked cause of learning difficulties, "poor listening makes poor learning". Just as one can look without seeing, one can also hear without listening. Listening requires the desire to focus on sounds. Tomatis identifies this lack of desire as one of the major causes of learning difficulties.

What do we do at the EARobic Centre™?

To listen well the ear must be able to analyse sounds correctly. The ear must be able to distinguish between the mixtures of high and low frequencies that exist in nature.
Often people with learning difficulties are unable to distinguish between sounds; they do not hear the difference between sounds like s and z, p and b, t and d etc.

One of the goals of the Tomatis listening program is to retrain the muscles in the ear (the hammer and stirrup) to work properly. By training the ears of a child with learning difficulties to focus on frequencies that were not previously perceived accurately we open the ear little by little and awaken the desire to communicate.

Often people with learning difficulties do not possess the ability to receive the energetic sounds in an optimal way, hindering and limiting their creativity, expression, imagination and communication. By awakening their potential to listen well we also provide them with a path of self-discovery.
Listening skills are sharpened through exercises done under the Electronic Ear. The child repeats words and sentences or reads aloud. The Electronic Ear enhances the higher harmonics in the voice before feeding it back to the ears.
These exercises in Self-Listening increase language mastery and improve the quality of the voice, as well as providing the child with a usually much needed dose of self-confidence.

Children And Their Families

The participation of the parents in the Tomatis Listening Program is strongly encouraged; mothers are requested to follow the same or similar program to their child. This helps to relax and energise them, it also gives them a better understanding of what their child experiences.
Parents and Teachers usually report great changes in communication and behaviour, also noting an increase in their child's motivation to learn. 90% of parents report that their child is much happier and joyful, they usually note an improvement in their child's social skills.

"After working with the Tomatis Method for over 25 years I have a deep trust in the method" says Françoise Nicoloff, Psychologist and Certified Tomatis Consultant. "Although I know what to expect, I continue to be amazed by the changes I see."

ADD and ADHD

The Tomatis Method is really about listening and paying attention, reconnecting with oneself and ones environment. It is a gentle, safe non-intrusive psychological development tool. It has proven a powerful instrument to help ADD children and adults in over 200 centres all around the world. How so?
The Tomatis Listening Program has the potential to stimulate the cortex of the brain sufficiently to improve reading and attentiveness, making children with ADD and ADHD less distractible and calmer.
Tomatis has developed a healing process that addresses both the need to strengthen the sensory integration systems and the need to resolve the emotional issues.

Take Alex for instance.

Alex was a ten year old who had all the signs of an ADD child. He was often fidgety, interruptive and unable to focus on tasks. Often he experienced intense frustrations because he was failing to keep up with his peers in reading and writing skills. His teachers described him as being "lost in his own world".
After trying a number of more mainstream methods of "controlling" Alex's ADD (such as prescription drugs) Alex's parents came to the EARobic Centre™ in Sydney as a last resort.
Alex and his parents first sat for an initial assessment, this included the standard Tomatis listening test.
When starting the Tomatis Listening Program we made it clear to Alex's parents not to expect miracles. A lifetime of poor listening habits cannot be expected to change in a couple of days. Instead we asked Alex and his parents to look for "windows of attention", periods when Alex seemed to be concentrating more than usual. We emphasised that they look for the subtle changes as well as the more profound ones.

By the end of Alex's second block of the Tomatis Listening Program his attention seemed much better. He was experimenting with drawing and was more able to express his feelings. Teachers were reporting that Alex was not being "silly" anymore and that he was operating closer to his age level.
The breakthrough came a few weeks later when Alex's mother found him doing his homework on his own at seven o'clock in the morning.

It is only through the Tomatis Listening Program that the ear can be moulded into a powerful tool of transformation.