The microphone, along with the gate, is the most important feature ofthe Tomatis Machine. The microphone completes the loop in the auditory-vocal re-education process; it is the glue for permanent change of the Tomatis Effect. In a typical microphone session, the client hears his own voice through the machine, which is modified through the gate, channels, delays, filters and balance, so as to accentuate the high frequencies. With this high frequency feedback the client is eventually able to incorporate these frequencies into his voice.
During the past 10 years many listening therapies have proliferated, and almost universally they claim that they are based on the theories of the French physician Alfred A. Tomatis.
At the Spectrum Center
in Bethesda,MD and New York City now at Tuxedo Park NY, we have been
employing the
Tomatis
Method as a Tomatis Provider for the past eighteen years. As time goes
by, we are
increasingly called upon to explain the differences between the various
methods. Which is most suitable for different
clients? They say that other methods take less time, cost less, can
be done at home, use new technologies and sound more stereophonic.
And yet all these products identify themselves as Tomatis based. This is not just a matter of abrand name (Kleenex) being used to identify any generic tissue. After a careful appraisal we must come to the inescapable conclusion that the other methods are not the same as the original, nor are they an improvement on the original Tomatis.
Now, I (Valerie Dejean) will attempt to explain why I have come to this conclusion. In order to understand and survey some of the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods and technologies available it is first necessary to become acquainted with what Tomatis's theories were and how they are executed through the technologies of listening therapies.
Tomatis, made his pioneering discovery that "the voice can only produce the harmonics that the ear is able to perceive". This identification of the role that the ear played in vocal production became the first law of what later came to be called the "Tomatis Effect".
Tomatis also discovered that if the missing frequencies could be restored to the ear, through a device he called the Electronic Ear.
With sufficient training of the ear and voice through the Electronic Ear the changes would become permanent. These discoveries had important implications for populations as diverse as singers and children having difficulty in acquiring language.
Tomatis came to believe that the ear was much more than an organ of hearing. It is, he maintained in charge of functions including; energizing and regulating the brains state of alertness and attention; coordinating posture and movement; and connecting our intentions and thoughts with our physical and verbal transactions upon our environment. Tomatis's life mission eventually became the understanding of how the ear was physiologically involved in acquiring and controlling of the voice and language. To this end he invented several technologies, which could be used to rehabilitate the ear related functions of alertness, attention, coordination and voice.
Turn Down the Bass
a good listener is able
totune into the high frequency soundsthat carry the
consonantsand consequently the meaning oflanguage
Equipment Examined:
Gate:
Initially,
Tomatis's research was to distinguish what differentiated a good
listener from a poor one. He discovered that a good listener is able to
tune into the high frequency sounds that carry the consonants and
consequently the meaning of language, while at the same time
inhibiting the low frequency sounds which interfere with this
perception.
Tomatis developed a gating mechanism,
which was intended to train the ear to make fine discriminations of
sound in this desired high frequency range. This electronic gate was
the
first feature of the EE and arguably along with the microphone
is one of the most important features in delivering the Tomatis Effect.
It is emulated to some degree in all listening
programs. The gate on the EE is activated by the intensity and
high frequency content of the music and voice. The LiFT by Paul Madaule
has the most similar gate.
On the Berard machine and derivatives the volume activates the gate
and the music is played often (too) loudly for
that reason. Some methods have chosen to flatten the gate so that it
doesn't intrude on the high fid
elity quality of the music. However this
defeats the delivery of the Tomatis Effect. In other words, if you
can't
hear the gate, a shift from lis
te
ning to a Base channel to a Treble
channel, then you are not getting the Tomatis Effect. The gate is
supposed to be irritating so as to get the listening mechanism to pay
attention!
As we shall see later the precise timing and wave form of the gate
is influenced by the interplay of the channels and delay. All these
features must work together to generate the Tomatis Effect. For
example, because of the delay function the gating in bone preceeds the
gating in air. This integration of the different features is only
available on the Tomatis EE. Nobody else has understood the importance
of this.
Channels:
Another feature that works closely
with the gate and is unique to the EE is called the channels.
According to Tomatis, the two middle ear muscles perform the physical
act of focusing the ear. Changing the channels setting on the EE
allows the
practitioner to adjust the tension between the two muscles in
the listener's ear, in accordance with the profile determined by a
listening test. This helps the listener to physically direct his
attention and actually increase the perception of the incoming sounds
that are most meaningful while at the same time dampening the other
competing sounds. The channels are adjusted to create the maximum
level of tension in the middle ear all the way to the most relaxed
level depending on the needs of the listener. Initially maximum tension
is essential for activation of the listening (paying attention)
function. Later once the ear is listening better we are able to adjust
the channel to shape the ear to listen to the frequencies of the
language that the person speaks. This is especially important during
the audio-vocal work.
Air
and Bone Conduction:
Sound travels to the inner
ear through two mechanisms, air conduction and bone conduction.
Sound
travels via air through the outer ear to the middle ear where it is
eventually changed to bone conduction and sent to the inner ear.
In
bone conduction sound travels through the skull, by passing the middle
ear, directly to the inner ear. Air conduction is delivered monaurally
to the right and left ear through standard over the ear headphones.
Sometimes the volume is weighted to the right to encourage right ear
dominance. This is why it is essential that both the right and left ear
receive the same monaural input.
Bone conduction is delivered through a
tiny vibrator that is place on the top of the head.
Bone conduction always travels faster
than air conduction. Tomatis developed the feature on the EE
called the Delays that allows the practitioner to manipulate the time
delay between air and bone conduction, so that when wearing the
earphones, bone conduction is heard first, but then allows an even
longer period to become acclimated to this sound (Bone) before having
to
analyze it (Air).
By manipulating the delay
function you allow the listener a longer period to prepare himself for
the incoming sound before having to grasp its meaning. This
Feature is very important for people with sensitivities and for people
with any kind of processing disorder. The difference between people who
have listening difficulties and those who don't, frequently is a
question of how quickly they can process information. By giving the ear
extra time, a warning that important information is coming, you are
able to train the ear to listen more quickly.
Bone conduction with delay
when wearing the
earphones,
bone conduction is heard first, this allows us a longer period to
become
acclimated to this sound (Bone) before having to analyze its meaning
thru Air.
These
features,(Channels, Delay, Bone
and Air Conduction) are integrated with the Gate and work in conjuction
with each other. Some of the Listening Therapies
include bone conduction on their more advanced models
but have yet to integrate them with the other features. No other
programs at this time include the delays featured on the EE.
Bone
D
evelopmental Model: the theory behind
the equipment and the practice.
The Tomatis Method is based on
a developmental model of how we all learned to listen- a process
that started in the womb. According to Tomatis, the fetus hears the
mother's voice and then begins the slow but steady process of learning
the mother's native language. The fetus' ear is particularly attenuated
to the high frequencies, which transmit well through the fetal
cartilage. In the 1950's Tomatis first claimed that the fetus was
listening to the sounds of its mother's voice. At the time the experts
riduculed Tomatis for this. Tomatis proved to be right. It is now
common knowledge tha the fetus learns to recognized the phonemes, the
building blocks of speech, from the 5th to the 9th month of
pregnancy. The baby is born "hardwired" or ready to regonize the
speech sounds and eventually attach meaning to what he or she hears,
until by 18 months the child begins to talk.
Progressive Filters:
A very important feature on the EE is the ability to progressively filter out sound frequencies below 9000 hertz.
This
developmental
model of of learning to listen is duplicated by the Tomatis Machine
when the therapist makes
a recording of the mother's voice and then plays it through the
Machine's system of gates, high pass filters and the like. Often, in
the
case of an autistic or learning disabled child, it is very useful
during the Tomatis therapy to
duplicate the in utero process by playing a recording of the mother's
voice. It is also useful in the case of an adopted child whomay be
experiencing difficulting learning a language that they were not
exposed to in the womb. We
call this a form of adoption attachment disorder, and it is
treated by p
laying filtered music and voice through the Tomatis Machine
so
as to simulate what might have happened in utero. The child then tunes
into the frequencies and phonemes of his new language.
The EE is able to re-create this early listening by progressively filtering out the lower frequencies on both musical and speech recordings. This gives the ear an extensive period of high frequency listening that trains it to accommodate to and focus on those important sounds that lay the foundation for langua ge and communication. Only the LiFT an d TLP attempt to emulate progressive filtration and they do it to a lesser and in the case of the TLP a much lesser ext ent. The Berard filters are specific to certain frequencies and address specific sound sensitivities and are not intended to recreate a developmental model of how we acquire listening.
Balance:
Tomatis discovered that the right ear has faster neuron pathways to the
left (language) hemisphere, which ideally, should have a controlling
role in language and motor expression. Experiment and observation will
readily show that when the right ear is not dominant, expression (and
even thinking!) becomes muddled and unfocused. The EE through a
mechanism called the Balance helps us to progressively strengthen the
right ear in its role of audio-vocal dominance. The Berard machines are
similar to the EE in this respect and LiFT attempts this though
not to the same extent. The other pre-recorded programs give some
emphasis to the Right ear but not progressively.
Microphone:
The microphone along with the gate is the most important feature of the
EE. The
microphone completes the loop in the auditory-vocal
re-education process; it is the glue for permanent change of the
Tomatis
Effect. In a typical microphone session, the client hears his own voice
through the EE, which is modified through the gate, channels,
delays, filters and balance, so as to accentuate the high frequencies.
With this high frequency feedback the client is able to incorporate
these frequencies into his voice, which in turn enables the EE
to gate better.This becomes the loop of better perception enabling
better vocal production, which in turn enables even better perception.
This is the core of Tomatis' working theory "that the voice can only produce the harmonics that the ear is able to hear" It i nvolves all the components of the Electronic Ear working in a fine tuned combination. This level of active microphone session is only emphasized in one of the other listening therapy methods, the LiFT.
In regards to
the other methods
which claim to be Tomatis based, the microphone is something of a joke.
True the client hears his own voice but it is not, gated, not filtered,
and not delayed. This is not surprising as it takes a high level
of electonic sophistication to produce this effect in real time.
However without this feature it is impossible to produce the Tomatis
Effect on a sustained basis. Without your voice becoming involved
in the feedback loop of ear, bone, and voice, the Tomatis effect won't
stick. It won't last! You need audio-vocal work through the integrated
system described above to get permanent change.
Training and Programming
In the Tomatis EE
each one is
reguated by a separate dial, which allows the Tomatis
practitioner to create a wide range of separate settings for individual
clients depending upon their ailment specific needs. In skilled hands,
the EE can become an instrument, like a piano, versus a machine
like a radio. In this analogy, the machine, like the radio, does all
the
work, and does the same work for everybody who listens to a particular
station. And, of course, everyone can use it and benefit from it, but
it
does not require any particular skill. On the other hand, the player
on an instrument such as the piano can create unique results, but
it takes years of practice. Someone trained and experienced on the EE
eventually may
become a virtuoso and achieve unique results in the manner of
a customized therapy.
The aim of programming is to provide re-education of the earby
re-enacting the development of listening from the fetal stage (high
frequencies) through birth and then through the development of
language.
Through programming we are able to modify the many functions of the
ear.
The EE is the instrument. The programmer is the virtuoso.
Tomatis contributed much to our understanding of the normal and
abnormal
development of the hearing and listening function in the human being.
Knowing how to design programs and how to adjust them is the critical
human "know how" of the Tomatis Method. This requires lengthy training
of the Tomatis Practitioner (3-6 weeks). This intensity is not
equaled in any of the other currently available methods. On the
side of this Web page you can find a list of active Tomatis Consultants
who have gone through this level of training. To insure that you are
getting the true benefits the Tomatis Method can offer, you should look
for these qualificatins.
To
pretend to be able to train a practitioner in three days is to
trivialize the work of Dr. Tomatis and to push the good name of the
Tomatis Method down the slippery slope leading to listening therapy
becoming just another new age toy. It actually works the original way! In my
17 years of clilnical experience, I have actually improved my
results by being a serious student of the Tomatis Method and learning
how to use all the features available on the EE. Progamming is
where the rubber meets the road in the Tomatis Method. But you
need access to the features in order to do this and such access is not
available on the other Tomatis-based. equipment.
This survey is an attempt to understand what it means to have a machine
or delivery system (CD, I-pod or internet streaming) that is based on
Tomatis's theories and if in fact they are achieving the Tomatis
Effect.
In examining all that goes into achieving the Tomatis Effect it is
obvious that they are not. I have hoped to stress the importance of
full gating, channels, delays,
full filtering, microphone work and mother's voice recording as
essential to achieving and keeping this Effect.
My concern is
that
these
other methods rely so heavily on Tomatis in their advertising it is
easy
to confuse them and be mislead into thinking that you are doing
the Tomatis Method, when in fact you are not. In examining all that
goes into achieving the Tomatis Effect it would seem that these Tomatis
Based Methods are not achieving it.
click here for a more technical article on this subject.
Valerie Dejean
Certified Tomatis
Consultants
(trained by Valerie Dejean in a 21 day
intensive course taught in Bethesda, MD
on behalf of Tomatis Group)
California
Samira Sahebi
640 W. 4th Street #202
Long Beach, CA 90802
Telephone: (562) 435-4480
Fax: (310) 245 - 0680
DateofTraining: October2004
Florida
Jonathan Cohen
Advanced Pediatric Systems
3066 Jog Road
Greenacres, FL 33467
Telephone: (561)357-5883
Fax: (561) 357-5884
JonathanCohen
Advanced Pediatric Systems
5576 West Sample Road
Margate,FL33073
Telephone: (954) 974-2977
DateofTraining:
October 2004 ?
Carolina Forero &n
bsp;
808 Brickell Key Drive
# 1804 Miami, FL 33131
Telephone:(786) 306-7957
Date of Training: October 2004NancyMarin
RomanZalac
South Dade Rehabilitation
Pragmatus Listening
&Learnin
gCenter
9752 SW 166th Court
Miami, FL 3319
DateofTraining: October 2003
Steven Sanford
FitforKids
1868 NE 164th Street
No. Miami, FL 33162
Telephone:(305)949-7665
Fax: (305) 949-7663
DateofTraining: April 2006< /b>
mailto:Fitforkids@bellsouth.net
www.fitforkids.net
Georgia
Dr. Milagros (Mili)Cordero
ITT's For Children
1150 Hammond Drive,
NE Suite B-2200
Atlanta, GA 303028
Telephone:(770) 393-9901
Fax:(770) 393-9904
mailto:%20Mili@ittsforchildren.com
Date of Training: October 2003
Illinois
KelleyOtt
513
ShilohStation
B
elleville,IL62221
Telephone: (618) 624-6616
Fax: (618) 222-2068
www.listeningandlearningcenter.com
DateofTraining:
April 2004
Massachusetts
Paul Soper
Discovery Institute
88 Pine Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Telephone: (617) 497-1214
Date of Training: October 2003
New Jersey
Mary Jackson
Therapeutic Measures
Listening Center
111 Quimby Street
Suite 8
Westfield, NJ 07090
Telephone: (908) 233-1290
Fax: (908) 233-1938
mail to: therapeuticmeasures@verizon.net
Date of Training: April 2005
Janell Peabody, Kate Cunningham, Laura Darby
The Davis Centers, Inc.
98 Rt. 46W Budd
Lake, NJ 07828
Telephone: (973) 347-7662
Fax: (973) 691-0611
m
ailto: janell@thedaviscenter.com
DateofTraining:
October 2003-JanellPeabody,KateCunninghamand
Laura
Darby-April 2005
Meghan Locke,Lorr?ine Opperman
The Davis Center
One Mannino Drive
Rockaway, NJ 07866
<
font size="+1">Tel:(973) 400-0010
Fax: (973) 691-0611
mailto: Mlocke@thedaviscenter.com
mailto: Lopperman@thedaviscenter.com
DateofTraining: April 2006
Cheryl Callahan
Baker Victory Services
Early Childhood Program
51 St.Johnâs Parkside
Buffalo, NY 14210
tcrowell@olu-bus.org
Telephone: (716) 828-9560
Fax: (716) 828-9460
Date of Training: April 2006
Angela Sallerson
OTRNY
299 Norton Street
Rochester, NY 14621
mailto:otrny@rochester.rr.com
http://www.otrny.com/
Telephone: (585) 342-2450
Fax: (585) 342-8973
DateofTraining:
April 2004
Virginia Serpico
Baker Victory Services<
/font>
Early Childhood Program
51 St.John's Parkside
Buffalo, NY 14210
tcr
owell@olu-bus.org
Telephone: (716) 828-9560
Fax: (716) 828-9460
Date of Training: April 2006
Kara Tavalocci
Spectrum Communication Center
307 East 53rd Street, 4th Fl.
New York, NY 10022
info@spectrumcommunicationcenter.com
mailto:www.spectrumcommunicationcenter.com
Tel: (212) 223-2928
Fax:( 212) 223-2990
Date of Training: April 2006
North Carolina
Tommy Davis
Mountain A?ea Occupational Therapy
15 Loop Road
Suite 2B-3B
Arden, NC 28704
Telephone: (828) 687-1700
Toll Free: 1 877 624 1700
Fax:(828)687-1175
Date of Training: <
i>April 2004
Pennsylvania
Maude Le Roux
A Total Approach
9 LaCrue Avenue
Concordville, PA 19331
mailto: atotalapproach@comcast.net
http://www.atotalapproach.com/
Telephone: (484) 840-1529
Date of Training: October 2003
Nancy Mallis
Therabilities
4210 Linglestown Road
Harrisburg, PA 17112
mailto:admin@ther
abilities.com
http://www.therabilities.com/
Telephone: (717)540-9218
DateofTraining:
April
2005
Jodie Seligson
Totaly Sense-Sational
37E Germantown Pike , Suite201
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Telephone: (610) 941-6101
Date of Training: October 2003
PuertoRico(San Juan)
Nellie Torres de Carella
Calle 54 SE # 1273
La Riviera San Juan,
Puerto Rico 00921
Telephone: (787) 774-1163
Date of Training: April 2004
Texas
Christine Toledo
The Dan Center for Autism
Wellness and Recovery
2010 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005
Telephone:(713) 5 AUTISM
mail to: info@thedancenterforautism.com
Date of Training: April 2006Resources: