Tomatis® therapy can make profound changes in the lives of children with sensory and behavioral challenges. The following testimonial, written by the mother of a young child who had Tomatis® therapy, describes how her son’s life was improved by the therapy. The most profound effect: her child has discovered that the world is a safe, loving place, and is able to respond to it accordingly.
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and imagine being a child; one which cannot process the sensory world around you. Everything feels like you are dying, from the tag on the back of your shirt, the feeling of warm food in your mouth burning every single bite, to the van ride to and from school feeling as if you will die sitting in a car seat with the straps piercing into your body. Imagine how this would affect your ability to be loved, your ability to communicate, your ability to securely attach to your adoptive parents and your ability to emotionally and physically survive in this fast paced world. Go one step further and your responses to the world around you that include screaming and tantrums, hours on top of hours day and night. You are a child that is identified as having multiple mental health diagnoses at the age of 2, carry around a 21 page mental health plan to guide agencies and providers with your treatments, deemed a major behavior problem by his caregivers from a baby to current, one that the parents ask for unending respite and help for. You push kids, adults, and get into physical scuffles with your peers. You are a child that feels unworthy of love because the world around you is negative. You are a child that if something doesn’t change, will become a statistic, possibly a sociopath, or even just like his biological father, in jail for life.
Open your eyes now and take another deep breath. Take a look around and smile. The world looks doable, peaceful, and relaxing. Run to your adoptive mother first thing in the morning screaming, in a happy shrill voiced, “Mommy I love you.” You wake up in the morning, rested and singing; simply happy to be alive. You go to preschool and can listen to the teacher’s redirection without melting down. You come home from school happy to report you didn’t hit anyone and you enjoyed the day at school. As night arrives and the family comes together, you can find reasons to release the deep down healing belly laugh that is so contagious. At night, you can go to sleep peacefully and soundly. Your parents are relieved, that the pain of weeks before simply vanished into the night. They relax more when the family is together which in return, makes their moods and energy more. The relief allows energy for your parents to spend time together and improve their own emotional wellbeing.
The description above is that of my 4 year adoptive son Derek. The first paragraph described his world prior to Tomatis® at Carolina Pediatric Therapy with Maya. The second paragraph is the changes we have seen in him. Previously, he has completed two rounds of Tomatis®; the initial round during the summer and a second round after school started. We saw subtle changes, but NOTHING to the magnitude of changes we have seen this round. When we started, Maya told us it may take several rounds to see the biggest impact and she was dead on. We see a child that is lovable, bonding, smiling, giggling, asking for hugs, asking for love, and generally as normal as a happy 4 year old can be. Prior to this, we were at the point of looking at different avenues including a child that needs out of home placement for this family to survive. His respite provider sent a message that 90% of the time, he is grumpy and communication struggles. Now, it seems to have flipped. Derek’s teachers at preschool report a loving, caring, and healing child.
Maya has taken it upon herself to educate us, help us incorporate sensory strategies into our daily lives and to teach/reinforce with Derek during the sessions. Maya has been and will continue to be an asset for us in the healing process and we want to share with everyone, the impact Tomatis® and Maya have had on our 4 year old. Tomatis® has changed our lives forever! We know that this could be short lived, but we have found a modality that our son responds to, accepts, enjoys, and thrives in. Thank you for providing this service.
If you have questions or concerns, contact our team at Carolina Pediatric Therapy, we’re here to make sure your little one reaches their full potential! Appointments screenings are available for scheduling at 828-670-8056.
Breakthrough with Tomatis® - Testimonial
~Thomas & Gaile Osborne
Carolina Pediatric Therapy © February 2014
