Dr Tomatis used his method of sonic stimulation to help children and adults with Down syndrome in his Paris centre for over 30 years. The centres that use the method are of great help to these children, and the results obtained are considered very satisfactory in more than 70% of cases.
Many Tomatis centres use the method to support and to enhance the development of children with Down syndrome. Often atonic, adynamic, these little beings have not the strength to stand up so as to make of their body an instrument of language. And the whole series of problems that descend from this comes to perturb a development that could be harmonious, within the limits naturally imposed by the syndrome.
The stimulation brought by the Electronic Ear is an element bearing hope in the matter of trisomy. In our centres we often see the gaze, the face, the features of the child transform themselves, to the point of wondering whether it is still the same being. How many times have we seen children, bedridden or in wheelchairs, stand up after a few series of sessions of dynamisation with sounds. It is not a matter of a miracle. Many children with Down syndrome have a poor muscle tone, which translates into a posture characterised by a curved back and shoulders bent forward. This poor muscle tone also gives an inexpressive facial mimicry and a tendency to keep the mouth open with the tongue protruding. In this situation the production of speech, in particular articulation, is negatively affected. Tomatis demonstrated that high-frequency sounds send a greater neural inflow to the brain and therefore furnish more energy. In speech, the higher frequencies are those that give timbre to the voice. The poorly articulated voice of many children with Down syndrome lacks timbre and is therefore poor in high-frequency sounds. This kind of voice has the effect of furnishing very little energy to the brain and, at the same time, of requiring a considerable quantity of energy to be produced. The consequent exhaustion of energy negatively affects linguistic expression, but also the process of thought and the functions of the body, such as posture, balance, motricity and co-ordination. A poor posture in turn negatively affects respiration, so important in phonation and in vigilance.
The Tomatis method, by exercising the ear through the play of the gating of the Electronic Ear, favours a better perception of the high frequencies, thus raising the child's level of vigilance, who will begin to be more reactive to stimuli. The exercise, acting also upon the vestibule, aids the improvement of muscular control, of posture and of motricity in general. One of the most commonly observed effects is a rapid improvement of the capacity to close the mouth, to keep the tongue inside and to stop drooling. Thanks to these modifications, the articulation of speech becomes clearer and more comprehensible. This is given by the neuromuscular link between the muscles of the middle ear — the muscles of the hammer and of the stirrup — and the muscles of the jaw and of the face.
The audio-vocal cybernetic circuit, helped to react better to the entry of sounds, will have a positive effect upon the development of language in general and upon the capacity to relate to the world.