Introduction to the Tomatis® Method: Supporting Your Child's Development
By Karen Lund, Auckland-Based Registered Teacher & Tomatis® Method Consultant Level 4
As a dedicated educator with years of experience in supporting children's development, I am excited to introduce you to the Tomatis® Method—a gentle, non-invasive, and effective way to enhance learning and development through sound therapy. After years of working with children who face various challenges, from speech and language difficulties to sensory sensitivities, I've seen the profound impact the Tomatis® Method can have on improving their lives.
What is the Tomatis® Method?
Developed by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, the Tomatis® Method uses sound to stimulate the brain's natural abilities, helping children (and adults) improve their listening, learning, and emotional regulation skills. This method is based on the principle of neuroplasticity—the brain's incredible ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
The Tomatis® Method works by delivering specially filtered music, including pieces by Mozart and Gregorian chants, through headphones. This music is designed to stimulate the ear and brain, helping to improve auditory processing, balance, coordination, and overall cognitive function.
Why Choose the Tomatis® Method?
- Non-Invasive & Gentle: The Tomatis® Method is a natural, drug-free approach suitable for all ages—from babies to the elderly.
- Tailored Programs: Listening programs are customized to meet the specific needs of each child, making them highly effective.
- Proven Benefits: Extensive research shows that the Tomatis® Method can support children with autism, sensory processing disorders, attention issues, and more.
How Can It Help Your Child?
Many children face challenges that affect their learning and development. Whether your child struggles with attention, anxiety, or speech and language issues, the Tomatis® Method may offer the support they need. By improving their auditory processing and listening skills, your child can experience better focus, improved communication, and a greater sense of emotional well-being.
Get Started with the Tomatis® Method
I offer personalized Tomatis® Method sessions in Murrays Bay, North Shore, Auckland. For families whose children attend Magic Garden Early Education Centre, sessions can be arranged during morning hours at the center. I also offer home visits within a 5-kilometer radius.
If you're concerned about your child's development or want to explore how the Tomatis® Method could benefit them, I invite you to contact me for a free initial consultation. Together, we can support your child's journey to more positive learning experiences.
Contact Information:
- Website: Listen and Learn NZ https://www.listenandlearn.co.nz
- Email: karen@listenandlearn.co.nz
- Mobile: +64210457762
Let’s work together to create brighter futures for our children.
Changes which I experienced during and after using the Tomatis® Method on myself.
As a Tomatis® Consultant, I wanted to use the Tomatis® Method on myself, to deepen my understanding of the effects this method can have. After completing my 1st Listening Intensive, a member of my family told me that she had not heard my voice sounding so vibrant in many years!
Having completed the 2nd Listening Intensive, I found myself sleeping much more soundly and waking in the morning feeling relaxed, well rested and energised for the day ahead.
During my 3rd Listening Intensive my posture improved and with that came a noticeable reduction in pain in the mid-shoulder and lower back regions.
These positive effects have persisted.
Changes experienced by clients during and after their Tomatis® Method
Listening Programmes
A three-year-old boy, T. English was his second language, and he had a history of prolonged middle ear infections and glue ear in both ears during his first 2 years. He had just turned three when he came to me. At that stage, his ear infection issues had all resolved and he was hearing well. However, his language development had clearly been adversely impacted by the prolonged period of compromised hearing during his first 2 years and with the additional challenge of having to learn two languages. He attended an English-speaking early childhood centre from early morning until 5:30pm Mondays through Fridays and had done so since age 13 months.
When I first met T, he babbled a great deal, but it was impossible to understand 99.9% of what he so passionately tried to communicate verbally. In his home language he could say clearly bye-bye, hello, come, and a word to call for his older sister, also the word for strawberries (which he loved to eat). In English he could say no, yay, oh no, wow, my, mama. He also said “moo” for cow and “baa” for sheep. That list of words was confirmed by his mother to be the total of his intelligible expressive language at the time.
It was not surprising that T was utterly frustrated, anxious and having regular meltdowns at the early childhood centre. At home he was more relaxed, but also became frustrated and anxious when he could not make himself understood.
Initially, T was very averse to having anything placed on his head, so wearing headphones for listening to the Tomatis® music programmes was not an option. His 1st Tomatis® Listening Intensive was completed using the bone conduction kit and it was amazing how quickly his unintelligible babble started to become a little more understandable as each day passed. During our listening sessions he would babble-chat happily as he played, and his mother and I were increasingly able to follow his verbally expressed ideas. His parents were thrilled and so was I!
T was relaxed enough to accept wearing headphones from his 2nd Listening Intensive onward. I made regular visits to observe T at his early childhood centre over the period from beginning to end of his Tomatis® programme. During that time, I saw, and teachers regularly confirmed how much happier, more relaxed, and communicative young T was becoming. He was a very sociable child, and finally he had the ability to communicate with his friends, and the adults around him, in a satisfying way. He no longer had regular meltdowns at the centre. He could make himself understood and was participating in activities and social interaction with children and teachers. The Head Teacher, H, at the centre, whom T had known as a daily presence in the centre throughout his 2 years of attendance there, sent me an email to share her joy and excitement when young T joined her in playfully creative activity. This interaction took place towards the end of T’s 1st Listening Intensive. The head teacher’s words to me follow in Italics:
29.10.2020
I just wanted to share with you that today T sat with me at sleep time for just a minute short of half an hour. First, he was doing some drawing with nice fat wax crayons, so I sat at the table for a while and watched. Then just to see what would happen I picked up a sheet of paper and asked T if I could draw as well. He spoke to me for a while in his own language then he handed me a crayon. I drew next to him for a while then I told him “T I like your drawing, it’s a lovely blue colour” and he looked straight at me smiled and said “Yes.” I almost fell off my chair as he has never engaged quite so fully with me before this.
After drawing for a while I could see he was losing interest, so I bought out a shape game and we used the plastic shapes to match 2 the same. At first T did not seem to know what I wanted from him, so I quickly found 2 the same put them on the table and said, ‘the same’ and gave myself a clap. I repeated this with 2 or 3 more pairs then I gave T one shape and asked him to find one the same. He did 5 of these one after the other and made a row of pairs on the table in front of him. He was smiling each time we clapped for a pair being found. I was about to pack up when T put one shape on his paper and handed me a crayon. I asked if he wanted me to draw it and as he just looked at me, I drew around the shape. T quickly reached over and removed the shape, placed another one below it and handed me back the crayon. We continued this way with me doing the drawing and T choosing and placing the shapes, T even let me get him to help me draw by putting his hand on top of mine, then him holding the crayon with me holding his hand. In this way we filled 3 A4 sheets of paper. In the end it was me who finished the session as I could see him getting fatigued and I wanted to end on a high.
His concentration was good throughout the whole time, and he led the play by changing up the game as he chose. I was amazed at the improvement. He even made a sound that sounded like he was trying to say t,t,t as I sounded the letters when we put his name on his paper.
Seven-and-a-half-year-old boy, O, who struggled with stuttering
O’s younger sibling attended the early childhood centre where I worked. His mother had heard that I did private work with children who have speech challenges, and she asked me if I could help her older son.
At the time, O was attending private English tutoring. His English tutor noticed some interesting positive developments in O, and asked the boy’s mother what she thought may have influenced these changes. The mother told the tutor that her child had recently started Tomatis® listening sessions with me.
O came to me for help with his stutter and along the way the Tomatis® Method supported not only improvement in his speech, but also in his ability to plan and organise himself and the way he approached his activities, tasks etc. The previously chaotic boy became calmly well organised. Those improvements impressed his English tutor and me. The positive development of fast and accurate auditory processing results in development of efficient listening skill, which in turn supports development of efficient executive functions that are so necessary as we go about our daily life.
A teenage girl, F, 13 years old, who was referred to me by her private English tutor. The tutor felt F had hit a wall and was no longer making any progress with her academic work. F’s English tutor spoke to F’s mother about Tomatis®, and the changes she had seen in one of her other English pupils, after that boy started Tomatis® with me. F’s mother, whose English was weak, asked the tutor to contact me and give me the mother’s contact details, so that we could arrange to meet in person.
English was not F’s home language, but she had a good grasp of the basics and could understand me and speak to me in a manner that I could understand. She was taking regular medication for epilepsy but had not had any seizure activity for several years. Because of her medical history, I took a cautious, slow and gentle approach in working with F. She had been placed in a special needs class at college and although her school reports all stated that she was diligent, worked hard, tried her best and had a positive attitude, F was not managing to pass her academic subjects.
When I first met her, F’s gross-motor control was not well developed. Her fine motor control even less so. Handwriting was a laborious, hard to decipher scribble. Spelling very weak. F could read but struggled to remember details of what she had read, even directly after reading a short passage. Comprehension exercises were a big challenge for her. Math and science were a struggle.
F’s progress, after starting her Tomatis® journey in May 2021 at age 13, was slow but steady. Her gross motor control began to improve during her 1st Listening Intensive and there was a marked improvement in her posture and general motor control by the end of the 2nd Listening Intensive. In April 2023, when I last saw F, her handwriting was beautifully neat, and easy to read, with appropriately sized and spaced letters and words, as well as punctuation. Her spelling was also vastly improved. She was much more confident, showing interest in a far wider variety of subjects, remembering details, expressing her ideas and asking me questions.
At the end of 2023, except for mathematics, she passed all her school subjects, to the delight of her parents, F herself, and me! That is a huge achievement for F considering all the challenges she has faced.
After reading these examples of Tomatis® Method success stories, you may be wondering whether your child could benefit from a Tomatis® Listening Programme. If so, call or email me to arrange for us to discuss your concerns, hopes and aspirations for your child, and if Tomatis® may be appropriate. There is no cost involved for our initial consultation.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Find me at: https://www.listenandlearn.co.nz
Email: karen@listenandlearn.co.nz
Mobile: +64210457762
Links to additional information and resources:
· Maude Le Roux is an Occupational Therapist, Tomatis® Level 4 Senior Consultant and International trainer. Together with a team of Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists as well as other specialist consultants, Maude works from her clinic, A Total Approach, in Philadelphia USA. She has many years of experience working with children of all ages and increasingly with adults as well.
Maude offers useful free resources and information available online.
Find Maude at:
You will find blog posts on the above website as well as the 2 downloadable booklets listed below:
1. “Does Your Child Have Sensory Processing Disorder?”
Learn the signs, better understand Sensory Processing Disorder, manage a misunderstood child and explore treatment options.
2. “The Link Between Sensory Modulation and Emotional Regulation in Understanding Child Behaviour”
Better understand the connection between Sensory Modulation and Emotional Regulation, get practical tips to manage the impact of sleep and eating habits on your child’s behaviour, and explore treatment options.
There is also a short video recording explaining the Tomatis® Method, which can be found under the METHODS tab in section with heading TOMATIS SOUND THERAPY. Please keep in mind that this video was recorded many years ago and, while the principles underpinning Tomatis® Sound Therapy remain the same, the types of equipment used today have different names, are much less cumbersome and allow for greater freedom of movement. The video includes clips of children involved in different activities while listening to Tomatis® music, as well as parents and therapists describing the changes they noticed in children when Tomatis® Sound Therapy was incorporated in their programme.
Above is the link to Maude’s online Academy, where you can find many courses for parents, teachers and therapists, some of which are free, and others which can be purchased.
Charlotte Davies lives in UK. She is a Level 4 Senior Tomatis® Consultant and International Trainer. Together with her team of therapists, Charlotte works from her Clinic, Fit-2-Learn. She has a wealth of experience in the education sector and does a lot of work using Tomatis® in schools.
In conjunction with a team from Leeds Beckett University, Charlotte has been involved in a research project in 2 schools in the northwest of England, studying a group of 12 children who were struggling at school. The report on the very interesting results of the initial phase of the project can be found under the Research tab on www.fit-2-learn.com
How to unlock underachieving children’s potential to move and learn. Reporting on the Fit2Learn Intervention
Charlotte’s fit-2-learn website is well worth looking at. She has made freely available numerous YouTube videos explaining and demonstrating the interventions she uses to support optimal learning and development in children.
Find Charlotte at: https://www.fit-2-learn.com
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