Two-Year Evaluation of the Tomatis Listening Training Program with Learning Disabled Children

Abstract

Our previous 1-year evaluation (Kershner, Cummings, Clarke, Hadfield, & Kershner, 1986) of the school-based Tomatis Program (LTP) failed to support its purported remedial effectiveness. Children with learning disabilities (LD) had been assigned randomly to an LTP plus direct instruction group or to a placebo group receiving only direct instruction. The purpose of the present study was to address the argument that favorable treatment effects of such process-oriented, neuropsychological training programs may occur over a longer span of time. Retesting the original sample one year after cessation of treatment revealed only a single group effect; the placebo children were superior on the Seashore Rhythm test, a measure of auditory discrimination. These results more firmly substantiate our earlier negative conclusions. But, more importantly, the longitudinal achievement gains observed in both groups of children, irrespective of their original treatment assignment, strongly support the efficacy of less exotic currently available remedial procedures.