LINGUIST List 11.554

Mon Mar 13 2000

Qs: Auditory Stimulation, Eng Lang Variation

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Karel de Pauw, Tomatis Auditory Stimulation Therapy
2. John Hillis, Regional/social Eng. lang. variations

I wonder whether anyone on the Linguislist have any comments on the 
following :

I understand that some 40 years ago a French ENT specialist Tomatis, 
pioneered a therapy based on auditory stimulation. A friend of mine, a 
cellist, had treatment along these lines in South Africa, 20 years ago, 
while recovering from a concussional state. I never heard of it during 
my psychiatric training in the UK but recently came accross several 
websites describing the method of therapy and its indications. 
References on Tomatis that I found on the internet are eg 
http://www.tomatis.com/index.html and 
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/centre.tomatis/

I don't quite get the gist of the method but it's apparently based on 
auditory stimulation with various sounds that have been modified 
electronically. It's claimed to be of use in a variety of conditions, 
eg attention deficit, autism and dyslexia. I would like to find out 
more about the validity of Tomatis' theoretical claims and clinical 
results. I hesitate to be too judgmental but I have my doubts about it 
all - however there are apparently quite a number of centres in North 
America offering treatment with his method.


Collegial regards


Dr Karel W de Pauw

Consultant and Senior Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry
Roundhay Wing
St James's University Hospital
Leeds LS9 7TF
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel 00 44 113 2065519
Fax 00 44 113 2065803
Email kwdepauwtalk21.com

Can anyone suggest where I might be able to find material online about
regional and social variations in spoken and written English?

Thank you.

John Hillis
University of Bahrain
jhillisbatelco.com.bh