Around this time last year, this blog offered what we called A Simplified, Common Sense Definition of Dyslexia and Advanced Sound Training Intervention. In that post, we did our best lay out clearly how dyslexia is defined and understood in a clinical context, including its close relationship with auditory processing, thereby explaining in turn how techniques such as the advanced applications of the Tomatis Listening Training can be an effective non-medication based intervention.
Given that it’s been close to a year and studying auditory processing never goes out of style, and given also that the field has continued to see exciting new developments since that post was written, we thought we’d take this opportunity to dig a little deeper into auditory processing as an aspect of every child’s development, and how the most advanced applications of the Tomatis listening training can provide direct, noninvasive support.
A Complete Approach for a Complex Process
The key insights today come from recent research into what’s called the Temporal Sampling, or TS theory of auditory processing. Put simply, TS theory posits that speech is processed by the brain as a rapid series of “amplitude rises,” or sudden changes in volume. The rhythmic patterns created by these rapid shifts in volume are decoded at different rates – faster for information like where syllables begin and end, slower for figuring out where the spaces between words are – by separate, dedicated processes in the brain running in parallel. The more changes in volume can be perceived across given period of time, the more functional is the auditory processing of the one perceiving it.
Advanced Applications of Dr. Tomatis’ Listening Training for Dyslexia
In our previous post, we pointed out that dyslexia is best defined as “difficulty identifying and isolating the sounds that comprise their language;” it follows that if you tested children on their ability to pick out rapid rises in volume, you would expect that children presenting with dyslexia would be able to identify fewer of them than children developing normally. And this is exactly what the research found.
Now, suppose you tried to imagine how to address this underlying dysfunction in auditory processing. An ordinarily developing brain is able to train this skill on their own until it attains maturity, so if the child with dyslexia needs to catch up to their peers, some kind of training seems like an obvious fit. It would have to be some kind of training that exposes the child’s brain to a lot of these rapid amplitude rises, with a special focus on the specific frequencies and timescales of sounds that are relevant to distinguishing and decoding speech. Ideally, the sounds themselves would be pleasant ones, too. But where would you find something like that?
As it turns out, the above is one way to describe the operating principle of Dr. Alfred Tomatis’s Electronic Ear, at the heart of the Tomatis listening approach: a highly sensitive amplifier, trained on the rhythms and pitches of speech to provide these rapid rises in volume and support the development of auditory discrimination, maturing the overall listening function. By supporting the natural neurological processes in this way, the progress gained is self-sustaining, maintaining itself through everyday use. Based on this current knowledge, our sound processing devices – utilized at our centers for research and also for training purposes – have been further developed when compared with the classic Electronic Ear applied for the Tomatis Method. The equipment, which allows the training of additional perceptual parameters along with our three decades of expertise insures for shorter training sequences with equal or better results. Measurable progress is reflected in the sequence of standardized testing we conduct with every child and adult prior to and along the training. This ensures that the rate of change is captured in the various processing capabilities and should be also reflected in real-life.
If you’re interested in learning how Dr. Sacarin and the advanced applications of the Tomatis approach can help you or your child with dyslexia or other auditory processing issues, reach out to schedule a free phone consultation. You can read more about our approach for individuals with Dyslexia at Dyslexia Treatment – Liliana Sacarin – Seattle, Washington
