In 2022 our older child was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder, which is a disorder when a person's hearing is just fine but their brain can't process the information the ears are sending in. Specifically our son struggles with inter-hemispheric connection, which we describe as the two sides of his brain speaking different languages sometimes. So if the left side is speaking Spanish and the right side is speaking Italian, sometimes they overlap and can understand each other, and sometimes they can't.
The process to his diagnosis was a really tough journey, and one I'll dive into another day, but after much deliberation and many suggestions and lots of research, we decided to try the Tomatis Method for his therapy.
Our son's audiologist suggested this method because it has been around for over 40 years and has lots of data to back up the work. Many newer options were discussed, but overall we found they were all modified versions of Tomatis without as much research. If we were going to commit to an intensive therapy, we wanted to do the real deal!
We were told the program was 90 hours in total spread out over 3 week sessions with 3 weeks of breaks after sessions 1 and 2. So, overall the commitment we made was for 15 weeks start to finish to prioritize this therapy, all other plans had to revolve around our listening days and times. It was no small feat!
For our first session, Dr Lindsay came to our home with the machine, and oh man it was WAY larger than I envisioned. It is a 5-disc CD player on bottom half, with the distortion machine on the top all encased in a large plastic box. I'm able to lift it and move it around, but it's very awkward. This machine came with 2 sets of the special headphones and their 30 foot cords. We also received a microphone, a binder with instructions and a CD sorting binder with over 30 CDs.
The first block of 30 hours went as easily as can be expected when you have to make all your plans around this commitment. We did the program on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Then we got a 2 day break before starting it all over again. During the week, we came home right after school and did the therapy as soon as possible. At first we used a show as a reward, but then he really liked the program and started asking to do it again.
During the 2 hours, he could do anything aside from screen time. We did a lot of puzzles, coloring, cooking, Magnetic Tiles, Legos, and snuggling and reading books. He loves to listen to stories, so sometimes we put on a podcast really loudly so he can hear it over the music in his headphones.
The 2nd session started a new activity, he needed to speak into a microphone for a given amount of time, typically 10-15 minutes at first and then 25 minutes. For me, aside from the scheduling, the microphone was the most challenging part. Encouraging him to talk as much as possible for that forced time was really tricky, and often ended up with us rhyming with potty words or making up stories about poop -6 year old boys are such fun!
During the microphone time, we used that as our reading homework time as he usually reads for 10-15 minutes from books that his teacher sends home. It was like pulling teeth most days, and I'm not proud of the frustrated moments the microphone time caused us, but eventually he did it with encouragement.
At the end of the 1st 3 week session, we celebrated with making ice cream sundaes at home, and the wanted the same for the 2nd session's completion. Tomorrow is the end of the 3rd session and our final day, so we're upgrading and going out for ice cream at a shop! We can't wait!
So, after all that work, what are the benefits . . . well we have another round of his official assessments coming up in 8 weeks, but until then we've been filling out a tracking form and we've been noticing progress in other areas at home.
Since he started the program over 4 months ago, he's started going to a Martial Arts class, he's asked to learn how to ride his bike, and he even joined an official swim team! I know these seem like "normal" kid things, but for our kid these were super anxiety inducing and he steered clear of these activities, especially team/group things. The fact that he willingly does these is new for us!
He's also started reading more consistently and even asking to learn how to read. He's on track for meeting kindergarten standards, and even does his 10 minutes of reading homework willingly! He's even remembering more sight words and sounds without prompts.
Also, new to us is his friendships! He's finally made some good friends who he asks to play with and wants to see every day. He's been going to school for over 4 years, and he's never shared interest in any of the kids before: he's always wanted to play solo and been fine with it. Building social connections is such a wonderful thing for us to see and encourage!
And, overall he seems much more regulated and at peace in himself.
Could the progress be related to maturity or other factors, yes, totally. But what we've seen in the past 15 weeks has been incredible and we're really impressed!
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