“The Vestibule, an oval cavity at the entrance of the cochlea and connected to the semi-circular canals,  controls balance, posture, coordination, muscle tone and function, and our ability to develop an image of how our body is positioned in space.  Sometimes called “the ear of the body,” the vestibule also helps relay sensory information to the brain.”

          “Often in a case of learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder, the vestibule is one of the sources of the problem.  Literally, the ear is unable to process, organize, and manage the thousands of pieces of sound information coming in from the environment.  We have often noted that children with learning disabilities may have a vestibular problem, as demonstrated in a tendency to be clumsy, to fall or bump into things, to appear to others as uncoordinated.”

          “Paul Madaule, director of the Tomatis Listening Center in Toronto, Canada, and author of When Listening Comes Alive (1994), explains:  “The goal is to enhance the brain’s  capacity to learn rather than to teach specific skills.  When the listening function is enhanced or restored, the brain demonstrates a more effective learning ability when presented with environmental stimulation.”

          If you have ever wondered why athletes do well in school or are successful in life….here maybe part of the answer.  Their vestibule (in the inner ear) functions well to serve them in coordination and where their bodies are in space and it also helps them to focus, process, and organize incoming information.  They are able to do this with as much ease as they do in their athletic prowess and without becoming overly tired from the mental effort they are making.

          Ear training, auditory intervention, Tomatis or whatever you would like to call it helps in all of these efforts we make.  I concur with what Paul Madaule has said, “The goal is to enhance the brain’s capacity to learn rather than to teach specific skills.”  This is our priority at Boost Learning Center…we also have the ability and desire to teach specific skills (for example all the vowel sounds for reading decoding and comprehension) along with auditory intervention to get a stronger upward spiral effect in school success.

          We welcome phone calls and comments to our blogs.

“Listening is a special skill and it’s the key to learning, speaking, even self-identity, said Dr. Tomatis.”

” the key to good singing, speaking , thinking, learning and ultimately, mind-body functional health, is good hearing..  In 1954, when he invented an ear retaining device called the Electronic Ear, Dr. Tomatis began shifting his emphasis from operatic virtuosi to children with learning disabilities and autism.”

“Dr. Tomatis discovered that sound is brain nourishment and that the ears are designed to energize the brain.”

“Brain energy is directly linked with functional intelligence.”

“The energizing effect of high frequency sounds is explained by the fact that there are more sensory cells in the high frequency sounds is explained by the fact that there are more sensory cells in the high frequency sound zone of the cochlea than in the lower frequencies.  Dr. Tomatis noted that when the brain is well-charged with electric potential from high frequency sounds, it enables us to better focus, concentrate, organize, memorize, learn and work for long periods of time, seemingly without effort.”

If you would like a copy of this article please call me and I will mail it to you.  I don’t have the whole article digitally.

The Machine we use at Boost Learning Center is the Dynamic Listening System.  It is different from the Electronic Ear as the music is digital and is closer to a natural sound than the reel to reel tapes used with the Electronic Ear.  Newer machines have been call “iLs”  (Integrated Listening Systems)  Your responses to my blogs are welcome as are your phone calls…my phone number is at the top and bottom of each page on this website.

If more get listed I will add them. Some I haven’t read and plan to get them at the library. Send me your favorites.