During the 1950’s, Dr Alfred Tomatis (1920-2001), a French ear-nose-and-throat doctor, began developing an innovative educational method using sound, to support the learning and development of more efficient listening skills in individuals experiencing challenges in this area. This pedagogical method, the Tomatis® Method, and the equipment used to deliver it, have been steadily evolving ever since.
It is possible for an individual to hear very well and yet struggle to listen.
Listening is disrupted when the individual has trouble with quickly and accurately analysing and understanding the sensory, sound message that his or her ear perceives.
Using the body’s natural auditory pathways to stimulate different centres in the brain, the Tomatis® pedagogical Method helps you listen better, not hear better.
The Tomatis® Method uses both air and bone conduction to deliver rapidly alternating filters on music provided in listening programmes, which are specifically selected and designed to meet the individual needs and goals of clients. Dependant upon their level of training, today’s Tomatis® Registered Practitioners and Consultants are able to offer programmes, which are individually tailored to suit specific needs, and can be delivered by a wide variety of highly specialised, yet easily portable equipment.
The music of Mozart is mainly used, as it covers all the frequencies found in human speech, while also having universal appeal across culture and age. Waltzes and marches are included in listening programmes as they add variety in terms of rhythm, timing and energising effects. When appropriate, Gregorian chant and the human spoken voice are also used to support the achievement of particular outcomes and programme requirements.
