Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Documentation of Tomatis results

A Swedish center, Tomatis Nordiska AB, has extensively documented the results of its work with clients since 1998, using a self-rating questionnaire which was developed by other Tomatis centers. These results are published at http://tomatisassociation.org/Content/Documents/Document.ashx?DocId=60422

Of the children with one or more medical diagnoses, the majority had either very serious conditions, such as autism or Aspergers syndrome, or disorders such as ADHD. In spite of these diagnoses, the results indicated that the children demonstrated substantial progress as a result of the training.

One conclusion that the Swedish center drew, is that the training appears to have beneficial effects on concentration and attention difficulties, as well as on social adaptation and behavior, in both adults and children, even in severe cases.

In my son Chris's case, I am extremely encouraged by the subtle, but profound changes I see happening. Chris is a different person today than he was when he began the therapy in May. As an outsider looking in, it is hard to put a finger on it. Chris's voice has changed. He just sounds more "normal" somehow. He speaks in a normal voice about normal things with his brothers. Not that he had what I ever considered an abnormal voice, but something has changed. It's lower, for one thing. His body movements are more fluid. He seems sincere in a manner that I cannot explain. He is calm but more determined. He says his dreams are more vivid and continuous. All of the above must be when people say that someone is becoming more "grounded." He complains of being more tired than usual, which may be an indication that his medication needs lowering.

As long as we stay the course, I feel that Chris's difficulties over the past six years will soon be behind him. Tomorrow's blog will give Chris's impressions of what Tomatis has done for him. I've had a sneak preview. What Chris is articulating about the changes he has noticed, I can reduce to "living less in his mind and more in his senses."

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