Home The Spectrum Center, Bethesda, New York, Chicago. Bethesda, MD. 4715 Cordell Avenue, 4th Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814 New York, NY. 307 East 53 St., NY, NY 10022 E-Mail: info@spectrumcenter.com Phone: (301) 657-0988

 This is the most important function of the ear and the reason most families of children with autism come to see me. It is important to realize however that the listening function is dependent upon the other functions of the ear to be as stable as possible. The whole system is related and interdependent Tomatis distinguished between hearing, which he described as the passive reception of sound, and listening, which he described as the active ability, intention, and desire to focus on sounds. A child may be able to hear a pin drop from across the room, yet not be able to attend and listen to what is being said to him.

Most of the children I see have normal hearing but they are unable to aim or direct their ears to the frequencies of sounds that carry speech. Every sound comes with the same intensity so that the sound of the air conditioning is as important to their brain as is the sound of their mothers or teachers voice. They are unable to attach meaning or make sense of what they hear.

The goal of treatment is to wake up the ear and tune it in (like a radio) to the frequencies of language, while at the same time teach it to tune out the sounds that are interfering with the perception of language. With the ear properly tuned the autistic child is able to start learning language, just as a normal baby does, by exposure. Parents report that the child is non-verbal, he will start to babble more. He will start to make vocalizations the families have not heard previously. Parents will notice that the child responds to his/her name more readily. He may hear words that he can now recognize. If the child is already verbal the family will notice more and increasingly complex phrases. The child will repeat words more readily. He will start to use words spontaneously that he previously had only used rotely. He will demonstrate that he understands more of what is being said by following directions more readily. Communication becomes more purposeful as well as more interactive.

Relationships become more of a two-way street. They understand how things relate to each other. They start to understand prepositions, over, under, behind, besides, and in-front of  for the first time. They are learning more readily through imitation and start to follow verbal directions. Children will be observed to be less in their own world and more willing to join our world. They start to develop words that give them more control of their environment. This helps to ease the tremendous sense of frustration they have. In understanding more of what is being said to them, they can be reasoned with and tend to become more flexible and better adjusted in their handling of transitions.

For more Information please see The use of the Tomatis Method for children with Autism and PDD

Auditory Processing Disorders in children with Autism and PDD

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