The Tomatis method has been extensively tested!

 

In 1999, Tim Gilmor published in the International Journal of Listening one Meta-analysis based on five studies with a total of 231 children. A meta-analysis is a very meaningful statistical survey method and everything is used for medical research. It allows the researcher to combine data from different studies and thereby arrive at more accurate results than the original studies individually. The analysis revealed that the Tomatis method in the following areas offered significant improvements:

 

- Language skills

 

- Psychomotor skills

 

- Personal and social orientation

 

- Cognitive abilities

 

- Ability to listen

 

The meta-analysis is based on the following publications:

 

- Dr. Tim Gilmor studied 102 children at the Tomatis Institute in Toronto

 

- Dr. Byron Rourke from the University of Windsor, Ontario observed and accompanied For one year, 25 learning disabled children between the ages of nine and fourteen.

 

- Dr. Barbara Wilson from the University Hospital North Shore observed nine preschool children with impaired language ability over a period of 26 months,.

 

- Dr. John Kershner from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education observed the Progress made by 32 poor children between the ages of eight and twelve.

 

- Peter Mold, Chief Remedial Teacher at Brickwall House in East Sussex, recorded the progress of 46 boys Age between 10 to 15 years over a two-year period, in which dyslexia was pronounced.

 

The Tomatis Institute in Toronto, Canada also has the Results of hearing deficiency cures in more than 400 children and adults evaluated.

 

They all had long and sufficiently documented pathways to learning problems behind them and exhibited a pattern of diminished performance in psychological education Tests. After completion of the hearing treatment, the result of the parents was assessed. Ninety-five percent of all parents confirmed that the treatment had helped their children. The parents noticed improvements in the following areas:

 

- 89 percent improved communication skills

 

- 86 percent extended attention span

 

- 80 percent lower frustration threshold

 

- 85% increased understanding of reading

 

- 74 percent improved voice quality

 

- 73% increased memory

 

- 69 percent increased spelling ability

 

- 84 percent of clients showed more maturity

 

In a follow-up test, six months after the end of the programme, it turned out that at 83 percent of all children included in the trials had continued improvements or even increased. 14 percent of the children could only sustain some of the improvements. Only at three percent did none of the improvements last for long. The Canadian researcher H. A. Stutt determined that the Tomatis effect had further advantageous with:

 

- Significant increase in the intelligence quotient

 

- Improved reading skills

 

- Increased perception processes

 

- Growing academic skills

 

- Training a general sense of order

 

- Progressive communication

 

- Better ways to verbally express thoughts and feelings

 

In the 1980s several French schools, supported by the Ministry of Education, began using the Tomatis method. To date, these schools select applicants according to the severity of their educational problems. Although the use of the method in this environment - far away from clinics and treatment rooms did not seem ideal, the results were so good that year after year the students' parents persistently insisted on continuing the program. The parents experienced the positive and lasting changes in their children's lives and therefore fought to preserve this scientific achievement. In 1983, De Bruto conducted a carefully controlled study to learn more about the efficiency of the Tomatis method in use in people with severe developmental disabilities: 30 residents of the Witrand Care and Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa, all between four and 14 years old and previously considered by physicians to be severely development-inhibited ranked but with the ability to sit and walk, were allocated to three different groups, who then went through the following stimulation programs:

 

- Group 1: Auditory stimulation using the Tomatis effect and stimulation of sensory motor skills

 

- Group 2: Musical stimulation without Tomatis effect plus the same program to stimulate sensory motor skills

 

- Group 3: No treatment. The psychological observations took into account the Bailey’s scales of child development and the level of responsibility of patients.

 

The results showed that in both groups who had undergone treatment, the participants had experienced an increase in their mental age. This growth was in group 1 - the group stimulated using the Tomatis method - significantly higher than in group 2. No change was noted for the participants from group 3.

 

While before the stimulation programs no significant differences in terms of Responsibility in Groups 1 and 2 had been noted, after the Stimulation using the Tomatis method statistics showed a striking reduction of the I-related Accountability, along with a noticeable increase in object-related Responsibilities. Dr. Joan Neysmith-Roy from the Department of Psychology in Regina led an extensive study of six highly autistic boys. The study corroborates the clinical finding that autistic children, in particular, benefit from the Tomatis method. Three of the boys, 50 percent, demonstrated positive behavioural changes at the end the treatment. One of them was no longer considered autistic. Two of them showed weakened symptoms of autism. Three of the other boys remained in their severe autistic state. Of partial interest are the changes occurring in the pre-linguistic area of five of the six boys in the experiment. These changes involved adaptability to new situations, receptivity to what is heard, nonverbal communication, Emotional receptivity and the level of activity of the boys. The author comes to the conclusion that the Tomatis method can help in this pre-linguistic Management of behaviour and thus prepare a child to acquire the basic skills needed for learning and language development. “Joan Neysmith-Roy also wrote a dissertation on the influence of the Tomatis method on dyslexic people.

 

 

research results

Further study material and further publications can be found here: tomatisassociation.org