Alfred A. Tomatis facts for kids

Alfred A. Tomatis (born January 1, 1920 – died December 25, 2001) was a doctor from France. He was an otolaryngologist, which means he specialized in ears, nose, and throat. He also invented things. Dr. Tomatis studied how hearing and listening work. His ideas are known as the Tomatis Method or Audio-Psycho-Phonology (APP).

The Tomatis Method is a type of training that helps people with their hearing. It is sometimes suggested for people with autism. However, there isn't strong scientific proof that it works for this. Because of this, some people call the Tomatis Method a pseudoscience, which means it's not fully supported by scientific evidence.

Alfred Tomatis: A Pioneer in Hearing and Learning

Who Was Alfred Tomatis?

Alfred Tomatis grew up in France in a family that loved music. His father was an opera singer. Young Alfred often traveled with his father and watched him perform. Even though he was around music, Alfred decided not to become a performer. Instead, he chose to study medicine. He eventually became a doctor who specialized in ear, nose, and throat problems.

How Tomatis Developed His Ideas

After he started his medical practice, his father began sending him opera singers who had voice problems. Dr. Tomatis found that regular treatments didn't help much. He also noticed there wasn't much research on the voice itself. He started to think that many voice problems were actually hearing problems.

His main idea was: "The voice does not produce what the ear does not hear." This means that if you can't hear certain sounds, you might struggle to make them with your voice. He discovered that opera singers sometimes damaged their own middle ear muscles. When their hearing was damaged, they tried to sing notes they could no longer hear.

The Electronic Ear

To help his patients, Dr. Tomatis created a special device called the Electronic Ear. This device used electronic parts and sound filters. It helped to make the highest sounds, which were often missing, easier to hear. The goal was to make the middle ear muscles stronger. This would help the listener become more sensitive to those missing sounds.

Dr. Tomatis began using his methods to treat many other issues. These included problems with reading, dyslexia, and even some thinking difficulties. He believed that many of these problems came from a failure to communicate. He thought this was linked to how people listen and how their ears work.

The Ear and the Brain

Scientists found that the ear starts to form very early in a baby's development. It is fully developed by the fourth month of pregnancy. Dr. Tomatis believed that sounds heard by the baby's ear in the womb help the brain develop. He thought that some communication problems might start during pregnancy. This could happen if the baby didn't respond well to the mother's voice.

Tomatis also believed that the whole body is involved in making speech and language. He even said that reading, even silent reading, uses the ear. He suggested that everyone, including adults, should read aloud for 30 minutes every day. He claimed this helps the brain and is a great way to learn.

One of his most discussed methods involved helping children with autism. He tried to help them recognize and respond to their mother's voice. He said the Electronic Ear could copy the sound of the mother's voice as heard in the uterus. Then, it would slowly help the child get used to their mother's real voice. He reported that this method sometimes had amazing results. He said children would cry with happiness when they heard their mother's voice for the first time.

Dr. Tomatis believed that many learning problems, dyslexia, and other difficulties came from broken relationships. He thought they were also caused by poor communication. He found that helping people with these issues often needed help from parents and even grandparents.

In his life story, Dr. Tomatis wrote about his disagreements with other doctors. He worked in France and later in Canada. Eventually, he left the regular medical community. He felt his work went beyond what traditional doctors understood. He named his new field audio-psycho-phonology.

What is the Tomatis Method?

The Tomatis Method is a type of auditory integration training. This means it's a way to help train how the ear and brain process sounds. However, it has been called a pseudoscience.

Because there isn't strong scientific proof and it claimed to treat many different problems, French authorities have seen the Tomatis sound therapy as an alternative medicine. They believe it should not be promoted as a standard medical treatment.

In general, there is no strong evidence that auditory integration training, like the Tomatis therapy, truly helps people with autism.

Dr. Tomatis later said he wished he had given more scientific proof for his work. He felt it was hard to measure the benefits of his methods.

The Tomatis Effect and Its Uses

Tomatis changed his techniques to help with many different problems. These included issues with how people process sounds, dyslexia, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorders. It was also claimed to help with autism and difficulties with movement skills.

It is also claimed that the method helped adults feel less sad, learn new languages faster, and communicate better. Some musicians, singers, and actors also said it helped them improve their musical skills.

The Tomatis Method uses recordings of music by Mozart and Gregorian Chant. It also uses recordings of the patient's mother's voice. Tomatis's use of Mozart is different from the Mozart Effect. The Mozart Effect is a popular idea that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. While Tomatis used the phrase, his method is not directly related to that idea.

Dr. Tomatis wrote 14 books and over 2,000 articles. Some of his books, like Ear and Language and The Conscious Ear, have been translated into English.

Awards and Honors

Alfred Tomatis received several awards and honors, including:

• Knights of Public Health (1951)
• Gold Medal for Scientific Research Brussels (1958)
• Grand Medal of Vermeil from the City of Paris (1962)
• Price Isaure Clemence (1967)
• Gold Medal of the Society "Arts, Sciences and Letters" (1968)
• Commander's Cultural and Artistic Merit (1970)
• Medal of Honor Society for Promoting Arts and Letters (1992).

See Also

• Auditory integration training
• Pseudoscience