IARCTC Blog

Thierry Gaujarengues, President of TOMATIS DEVELOPPEMENT SA
sent on this information from the Tomatis Centeer in Hermosillo, Mexico.

"Unfortunately we could not attend the Dublin Convention. Instead we have been working a lot on presentations, workshops, and public relations to find new ways to let people know about the benefits of the Tomatis Method.

We are about to start a social service for the victims of a horrible tragedy that happened in Hermosillo on June 5th. You may have heard about this in the news: there was a big fire in a daycare station where more than 30 little children died immediately.  Many more were brought to hospitals in Hermosillo, Guadalajara, in Mexico and cities in the USA.  Of these, 18 of them did not survive. Up to the present, in all 48 babies have died, 16 children are still in hospitals. The rest are at home. These people are not wealthy, they are middle or low class workers.

The parents of the dead children are demanding an investigation to find the responsible parties.  But nothing will help to bring the children back to life nor will make the parents happy.

Nevertheless there is something we can do at our Center to really help them at this point.  Here is what we are going to do:

We will give a Tomatis program for free to each parent  and to every child who was at the fire and survived. This means a total of 96 adults and about 60 children, all of who are suffering psychological trauma.  They are still very afraid and are having bad dreams and so on.

Therefore we are recruiting volunteers to take care of the children during the listening sessions –psychologists, educators, artists, students, and others-. We have asked TDSA for the renewal of two EE’s to take care of the people in small groups. We certainly are going to do our best, try to use all our resources, and make the connections we need to reach our goal. We are working together with the Mental Health Department of the State of  Sonora to reach these families and organize the groups and the sessions.

The media are broadcasting for us. They see us as representatives of the Tomatis world network, and give their recognition to this endeavor and their sympathy to us. We will make a video of this activity, send you a copy, and keep you informed of the situation and results.

Actually we had been thinking about offering a social service every year to a group of the population with special needs, but we did not have the time to do the planning nor the resources to begin with. Suddenly this tragedy gave us the opportunity to start. So we had to act immediately.

We would appreciate if you let the IARCTC know about this, and ask them to pray for a successful outcome. We know this comes to us from God, and he will provide for everything.

Thank you for any advice you can give us, as well as your moral support.
Best regards,

Yolanda Carrillo, Leticia Varela and Vanessa León"

The Music Instinct: Science and Song is the title of a fascinating program of great interest to Tomatis practitioners which aired on PBS TV in the United States on January 24h, 2009.

The film is a co-production of Mannes Productions and Thirteen in association with WNET.org. The Distributor is PBS; the film is available for purchase as a DVD.

The film explores how cutting-edge science reveals startling new connections between music, the human mind and body, and the natural world. While some of the theory is "old", the integration of neurobiology brings it all together in a most convincing and moving way.  The film makes a great case for the Tomatis Method and sound therapy by showing how music helps Parkinson’s disease patients walk and stroke patients speak, and demonstrates how it is proven to improve linguistic skills.

The following story is about a child with Dyspraxia.  Read the full article in PDF format to learn how he came to be more confident and assertive using the Tomatis Method.  Article courtesy of "A Total Approach" based in PA, USA

Tim

At the age of two and a half years, Tim was unable to say much and was unable to understand simple instructions that his peers could understand. Tim had many tantrums and showed his frustration by relying on non-verbal communication, such as high-pitched screaming. Tim’s expressive and receptive skills were delayed at least twelve to eighteen months. At three years, he was not putting more than two words together and did not
have consonants at the end of many words. Tim completed the first thirty hours (over fifteen days) of the Tomatis Method program.  Over the next two years he completed a total of 155 hours of his training.
 
Within the first ten days, his parents noticed some changes, and by the end of the fifteenth day, these changes were quite dramatic. He began to use much longer and more complex sentences. His vocabulary increased, and he seemed to be aware when he said a word incorrectly. He would attempt to say the word a couple of times until he was able to
pronounce it. Tim began to engage in more imaginative play, imitating scenes from children’s videos and reproducing a number of phrases using them in the correct context.

He had fewer tantrums and very little high-pitched screaming. He used words more when playing with his sister and other children. Overall he seemed less frustrated due to the fact that he was able to express himself more freely. He appeared to be a more assertive and confident little boy.

Interesting article from the Economist.  That genius is unusual goes without saying. But is it so unusual that it requires the brains of those that possess it to be unusual in others ways, too? A link between artistic genius on the one hand and schizophrenia and manic-depression on the other, is widely debated. However another link, between savant syndrome and autism, is well established. It is, for example, the subject of films such as “Rain Man”, illustrated above.

A study published this week by Patricia Howlin of King’s College, London, reinforces this point. It suggests that as many as 30% of autistic people have some sort of savant-like capability in areas such as calculation or music. Moreover, it is widely acknowledged that some of the symptoms associated with autism, including poor communication skills and an obsession with detail, are also exhibited by many creative types, particularly in the fields of science, engineering, music, drawing and painting. Indeed, there is now a cottage industry in re-interpreting the lives of geniuses in the context of suggestions that they might belong, or have belonged, on the “autistic spectrum”, as the range of syndromes that include autistic symptoms is now dubbed.

During a study of the impact of the Tomatis Method on a multicultural group of student musicians, a Black male participant experienced a unique crisis, associated with perceived entrapment and negative professional expectations in view of being Black. Although threatening to desert the study, he completed it, after verbally expressing his concerns. At 7-year follow up, sustained musical proficiency and escalating musical productivity were confirmed. The case study is preceded by a brief review of the research study, conducted in response to the paucity of studies of the impact of the Tomatis Method on musicians. Thus, the research context in which the case study unfolded is outlined to elucidate the process in which the student singer participated.