children Archives

Tomatis: “When Is Too Early, When Is Too Late?”

November 21, 2020

This is often the first question I’m asked as a Tomatis practitioner. The beautiful thing about our brains is that they’re open to change for much of our lives. The technical name for this is neuroplasticity. This means as long as you can learn, your brain can change. Tomatis is planned stimuli to create the change we’re looking for.

Mother and daughter listening to Tomatis Method

Babies & Toddlers:

Did you know that hearing through bone conduction begins in utero? The Tomatis Method incorporates bone conduction. With latest technology, we can now work with infants. Some infants are born irritable or dysregulated. They may have difficulty eating, eliminating or sleeping. I’ve used the Tomatis method in the NICU with premature, small, and sick babies. Later, babies may exhibit issues with:

eye contact,
babbling,
reaching
interest in their environment

The most common reason parents seek my services is that the child has issues with speech and language. Tomatis’ unique ability to connect the ear and brain, make it a logical choice at this time.

Attention difficulties are another common reason for seeking Tomatis. While high activity level is easy to recognize as you chase your child around, there are other kinds of attention issues where children just can’t focus even when sitting quietly.

Other young children have difficulty moving or crawling around their environment. All these things form the foundation for language, emotional connections, motor control, and learning.

Teens:

Being a teen is such a challenging time for anyone. Compounding this with the knowledge that you’re different than others can lead to bouts of sadness, opposition, anger or depression. It’s hard to form solid friendships when others don’t have the patience to hang around while you gather your thoughts and try to express them.

Adults:

Adults may have found they can’t maintain their attention. This can be in the conference room or with your spouse. As an aging adult, we notice a subtle shift in some of our faculties. There have been several books specifically highlighting the Tomatis Method to help you be the best you can be.

In this interview, Dr. Norman Doidge discusses the Tomatis method as useful in addressing difficulties that can hold back anyone. People are moving towards methods to better care for themselves. There are chapters in other books about using the Tomatis method during pregnancy for the betterment of the infant as well as the mother. We sometimes recommend that children and mothers train together for a special bonding experience. We have also found it of particular value to people who have had brain trauma and PTSD.

The Elderly:

Tomatis has a particular value for the aged. We don’t just hear through our ear, but we hear through our bones as well. For example, we’ve all had the experience of feeling drum beats through our bones.

Hearing is prone to deterioration with age, but our bone hearing remains more intact. Stimulating bone conduction helps your brain to rely more on that information, giving you the sensation that your hearing is better. We’ve all witnessed how music can “revive” people in their later years.

The Tomatis Method is not defined by an age group. For as long as you can learn, you can grow. Learning takes place in every stage of life. Your needs are addressed through individualized programs. Music lights up the brain, let it light up yours!

Social Pods

September 5, 2020

I Get It, We Have All Had Enough

socially distant family pods, men women and children in masks

We can no longer avoid talking about what this pandemic is doing to our:

- - children
  - families
  - selves

We are being tested to our core.

- - Frustration and impatience dangerously cloud our judgement.
  - We are loosening our masking and distancing habits.
  - Treading a very thin line between social needs and health.
  - Potentially endangering our families and communities.
  - Concern over children’s overall well-being and development.

I get it, we have all had enough.

I wish that were a good reason for relaxing our standards, but it’s clearly not.

This dangerous and highly contagious virus thrives on our frustration.

The vast majority of cases are traceable directly to our inability to maintain and be mindful of recommended precautions. With schools opening we’re seeing the increases that were expected.

kids in school with masks and wings for social distance

As a professional, with years of service to children and families, I’d like to discuss a possible avenue of management.

Create a pod

All families are in the same situation as you.

Discuss with your partner who you’d feel comfortable including.

Contact those people to identify who else is willing to limit their exposure to only two or three other families in the social pod. A pod should be small but big enough, that if a family opts out of an activity the other families won’t feel left-out or abandoned.

Be clear, the responsibility of a pod member is to be total and absolute to your commitment to limit exposure.

In this way, you and your children can have meaningful interaction with others while staying safe.

Children thrive in all areas of development when surrounded by people who care and other children.

The social pod can do anything and everything together: prepare and eat meals while the kids play, watch movies, parents can do things together while kids play in another room… the possibilities are endless.

In keeping a pod, everybody benefits. Life will be more normal, and the confinement will feel less oppressive for everybody.

You need to take care of yourself in order to survive this and make good choices for your family. This may include:

- - Personal time
  - Exercise
  - Phone and virtual social contact
  - Time outdoors
  - Recognize that we are living in unprecedented times and everyone is traumatized.

I hope you find the idea of creating a pod for your family helpful & empowering.

We at Listen For Change Tomatis New York are taking this pandemic very seriously in terms of our responsibility to our clients and local communities. Please talk to us about our specialized programming for this time. For more information about me or what we do here follow us on Facebook.

Creating Sensory Fun

August 12, 2020

With Your Child During Pandemic Times

Let’s start with some ideas for tactile play:

Water play- fill up your sink or any tub with water, and get out a variety of Tupperware, measuring cups, and any toys appropriate for bath or water play. For more fun, you can put in a drop or two of food coloring, and your child will be playing with their favorite color, you can even extend this to making various colors by mixing the drops. Pouring water between different sized containers is great fun by itself, and can also turn on the imagination to be creating things such as tea parties. Bubbles can be a nice addition. Keep it light for easy cleanup!

Play with sand, or make kinetic sand (without sand)- Kinetic sand is super simple to make or buy, and is easy to cleanup. Making the kinetic sand together is one activity, and playing with it is another. You can put a variety of things in the sand, such as cookie cutters, sand or playdough molds, plastic utensils, toy cars, buttons, figurines, or anything solid. Finding the items, you’ve hidden and placing them in a designated bin can be a secondary game.

Make slime- Here’s a great, simple “fluffy” slime recipe. Slime can keep your child’s attention for extended periods of time. If you mix shiny things or glitter into the slime, be mindful of choking hazards. Hint, be sure to keep it in an air tight container to ensure you can use it more than once.

Baking- If you’re baking for sensory reasons, you’re going to want to bake things your child can touch. Baking bread is particularly wonderful because of the folding and kneading process. Be sure to set aside enough time. A wide variety of recipes are available online of varying degrees of difficulty and healthiness. Try to pick a recipe that’s not too rapid and will require kneading. Make a point to enjoy the smells as they fill your home. I also love roll and bake cookies or cookies cut with cookie cutters for other tactile baking ideas.

Sensory isn’t only touch, there’s also motion and gravity activities.

Hang upside down off the edge of a couch

Jump on a bed/trampoline,

Roll up in a blanket or sandwiching between two pillows

Play in a beanbag chair,

Wheel-barrow walking,

Commando crawling,

Have fun playing with your child and know that you are choosing impactful activities! Look for our next blog on fun activities to encourage body strength and postural control.

If you need more explanation of why these are helpful to your child, or need more ideas specific to your child, feel free to leave a comment or email us. We’re happy to help.

Surviving the Pandemic with Your Needy Special Needs Child

August 3, 2020

Keeping your children productively occupied during the pandemic has become a chronic issue, and one that is creating anxiety for parents and caregivers. Our special needs children can be challenging under typical circumstances, but when removed from their daily routine their behavior and meeting their needs can become particularly demanding. This can become another full-time job in an environment where there are other demands on your time. In the coming weeks, we will share blogs targeting specific areas of need and activities. Emphasis of the blogs will include:

Sensory processing,
Postural control,
Motor planning,
Emotional development,
Memory

Another good idea is to incorporate the FORBRAIN device. The type of feedback it provides especially stimulates attention, language, and memory. For more info visit our FORBRAIN page here.

We’d love to hear your comments or requests in the comment section below, or share your thoughts with us on Facebook!

Adding Structure to Your Child’s Day

March 31, 2020

Feeling the chaos? Try a schedule!

A schedule can be comforting. It’s time to arrange a new one.
What can we put into a schedule?

– A theme for each day or week
– Academic challenges
– Creative projects
– Free play
– Nature walks
– Building tent villages
– Baking
– Zoom or FaceTime friends, family, or classmates

Before attempting to create your timed block schedule, keep the following aspects in the forefront of your mind:

1. Consider carefully the age and abilities of each child.
Your 2 year old will need different considerations from your 14 year old. For example, the 2 year old can stay on topic for perhaps 10 minutes, whereas the 14 year old can manage 45 minutes or more.

2. Make every effort to have fun throughout the process.
Learning while striving to stick to a schedule does not have to equal drudgery or negativity. The internet has many fabulous resources, some of which are currently free. Perhaps take your family on a virtual safari or to a puppet show. If needed, many options are both fun and educational.

3. Outline the fixed portions of your schedule and how much or little flexibility they can tolerate.
When is bedtime? When should you wake each child? Mealtimes? Bedtime routines? Will weekends be different from weekdays? Etc. Teenage brains are naturally more receptive to learning later in the day than preschoolers.

4. Adults must find ways to let off steam in an effort to keep themselves centered.
Exactly what accomplishes this is as diversified as we are. Some might take a run, others a nap. Find what centers you and don’t minimize the need for it. Remember if you are not there for yourself, you cannot be there for your children.

5. Finally, consider making me part of your schedule.
Consultations are free, so even if you have a few quick questions, I am happy to consult by phone or online.

Consider Forbrain®. Your child can use their own voice to push ahead their development. It can be used in a variety of ways- to sing, read, babble, be vocally silly or to just talk. Use for just six minutes a day can benefit development in attention, articulation, & so many other areas.

We are committed to community support at this time. Prices for our Tomatis in-home programs have been significantly reduced. If you have been considering Tomatis Training or a refresher, there will never be a better time.

Tag: children