The Baker Academy Results of the Tomatis Program First Grade Self-contained Setting June 2009
Cheryl A. Callahan, MS Ed Tomatis Consultant
Background At the onset of this program, 4 students with varying learning disabilities were chosen to complete a group Tomatis Listening Program. There were 2 students in the classroom that did not participate in this program. All students were ages six or seven years old and were in a first grade placement. The Tomatis students completed 4 listening loops for a total of 86 hours. Listening took place in a separate classroom with a Special Education Teacher and a classroom assistant during the months of October, December, January/February and May. While the students listened they were instructed in Mathematics, Spelling, and Science. They also participated in circle time, team skills and speech therapy. During the second and third loops, students participated in audio-vocal work, which required them to read sight words aloud from a book, chant vowel sounds, or repeat spoken words and phrases into a microphone. Protocol This group listening program consisted of 86 hours of electronically modified sound stimulation through specialized headphones that utilizes both air conduction and bone conduction. These hours were dispersed throughout the school year with the most intensive portion of the program occurring early in the year. The 86 hours were divided into three listening intensives/loops. These loops were as follows: Loop1 → October 14, 2008 – October 31, 2008 → 13 days of listening Loop2 → December 1, 2008 – December 12, 2008 → 10 days of listening Loop3 → January 26, 2009 – February 6, 2009 → 10 days of listening Loop4 → May 4, 2009 – May 15, 2009 → 10 days of listening Each day of listening, the children listened to one-and-a-half hours of filtered Mozart music followed by one half hour of Gregorian chants. The students did not listen on Friday, October 24th due to a pre-scheduled field trip. Testing Procedures Individual Assessments were completed prior to the onset of the program (October 2008) and upon completion of the program (May 2009). All testing was administered by the special education classroom teacher at Baker Academy and scored by Baker Victory Services utilizing computerized scoring programs. Students were assessed with the Teacher Rating Form of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition. The Vineland is completed by the teacher and provides an assessment of the individual in the domains of Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization and Motor Skills. The classroom teacher has provided additional testing information, WRAT, that is routinely done at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. This information has been included in this report. Results Summary The Tomatis Listening Program that was implemented at Baker Academy occurred during a sevenmonth period. The results of the testing confirm a substantial gain in the domains of Communication, Daily Living Skills and Socialization. On the average, students gained between 13 months and 34 months within these domains during a seven-month time period. This is statistically significant when you take into account that these students were disadvantaged and receiving intervention services prior to the onset of this program. These improvements are directly related to their improvements in auditory processing. As the muscles of the ear begin to work more efficiently, an individual becomes better able to listen and communicate. As listening and communication improve, learning becomes easier and academics improve. As learning has become easier for these students, their frustration level has notably decreased which has resulted in less behavioral problems in the classroom.
Average Student Percentile Rank on the Vineland II Adaptive Behavior Scales 30 25 20 pre-test
15
post-test
10 5 0 Communication
Daily Living Skills
Socialization
Motor Skills
Adaptive Behavior Composite
Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales – Teacher Rating Form Student’ s Increase in Percentage Points for Percentile Rank Student
1
2
3
4
Class Average Increase
Subtest: Communication
11
15
10
10
11.5
Daily Living
41
11
20
5
19.25
Socialization
22
16
5
9
13
Motor
36
-4
-4
16
11
Adaptive Behavior Composite
30
9
3
6
12
A v e r a g e S tu d e n t G a in in M o n th s o n th e V in e la n d II A d a p tiv e B e h a v io r S c a le s
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ot or M e Fi n
ss
M ot
or
sk ills
Pl ay
&
G ro
er s
Le i
C op i
su r
on al
e
ng
Ti
R el s
un i rp In te
m e
.
ty
ic em
C om m
Sc ho ol
Ac ad
al so n Pe r
te n ri t W
ss i Ex pr e
R ec ep
tiv
e
ve
P re -te s t P o s t-te s t
Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales – Teacher Rating Form Student’ s Gain / Loss in Months Student
1
2
3
4
Class Average Gain/Loss In Months
11 16 11
26 7 20
22 18 10
15 15 15
18.5 14 14
94 13 22
10 14 14
10 18 24
25 12 3
34.75 14.25 13.25
21 29 18
27 34 20
16 12 5
9 15 17
18.25 22.5 15
0 23
-9 5
-9 -3
17 12
-.25 9.25
Subdomain / Domain:
Communication Receptive Expressive Written
Daily Living Personal Academic School Community
Socialization Interpersonal Rels. Play & Leisure Time Coping skills
Motor Gross Motor Fine Motor
Student 1
Vineland-II (Teacher Rating Form) Subdomain / Domain
Pre-test V-Scale Score
Post-test V-Scale Score
Receptive Expressive Written Communication Personal Academic School Community Daily Living Skills Interpersonal Rels. Play & Leisure Time Coping skills Socialization Gross Fine Motor Skills Adapt. Behav. Comp.
11 12 13 Sum = 36 12 13 11 Sum = 36 10 10 10 Sum = 30 16 12 Sum = 28 Sum = 328
13 13 14 Sum = 40 17 15 14 Sum = 46 13 14 13 Sum = 40 16 16 Sum = 32 Sum = 387
Pre-test Standard Score
Post-test Standard Score
82
89
80
100
72
90
94 80
108 96
Pre-test % Rank
12
9
3
34 9
Post-test % Rank
Pre-test Age Eq.
Post-test Age Eq.
Gain in Months
3:11 4:2 5:8
4:10 5:6 6:7
11 16 11
4:5 5:7 3:10
12:3 6:8 5:8
94 13 22
<3:0 <3:0 <3:0
4:9 5:5 4:6
21 29 18
7 4:11
7 6:10
0 23
23
50
25
70 39
WRAT Sub-test
Fall Grade Level
Spring Grade Level
Word Reading
K.0
K.9
Sentence Comprehension Spelling
-
-
K.9
1.1
Math
1.0
1.9
Student 2
Vineland-II (Teacher Rating Form) Subdomain / Domain
Pre-test V-Scale Score
Post-test V-Scale Score
Receptive Expressive Written Communication Personal Academic School Community Daily Living Skills Interpersonal Rels. Play & Leisure Time Coping skills Socialization Gross Fine Motor Skills Adapt. Behav. Comp.
11 12 13 Sum = 36 12 13 13 Sum = 38 12 11 13 Sum = 36 13 12 Sum = 25 Sum = 333
13 12 16 Sum = 41 12 15 14 Sum = 41 14 14 14 Sum = 42 12 12 Sum = 24 Sum = 354
Pre-test Standard Score
Post-test Standard Score
82
91
84
90
83
92
84 81
81 87
Pre-test % Rank
12
14
13
14 10
Post-test % Rank
Pre-test Age Eq.
Post-test Age Eq.
Gain in months
3:4 4:2 5:7
5:6 4:9 7:3
26 7 20
4:9 5:7 5:0
5:7 6:9 6:2
10 14 14
3:8 3:0 4:1
5:11 5:10 5:9
27 34 20
5:2 5:1
4:5 5:6
-9 5
27
25
30
10 19
WRAT Sub-test
Fall Grade Level
Spring Grade Level
Word Reading
K.4
1.4
Sentence Comprehension Spelling
-
1.3
K.6
2.0
Math
K.0
1.7
Student 3
Vineland-II (Teacher Rating Form) Subdomain / Domain
Pre-test V-Scale Score
Post-test V-Scale Score
Receptive Expressive Written Communication Personal Academic School Community Daily Living Skills Interpersonal Rels. Play & Leisure Time Coping skills Socialization Gross Fine Motor Skills Adapt. Behav. Comp.
10 11 11 Sum = 32 12 11 11 Sum = 34 12 11 13 Sum = 36 11 11 Sum = 22 Sum = 308
13 12 12 Sum = 37 13 14 14 Sum = 41 13 12 13 Sum = 38 7 10 Sum = 17 Sum = 321
Pre-test Standard Score
Post-test Standard Score
74
84
76
90
83
86
75 74
61 78
Pre-test % Rank
4
5
13
5 4
Post-test % Rank
Pre-test Age Eq.
Posttest Age Eq.
Gain in months
3:0 3:1 5:3
4:10 4:7 6:1
22 18 10
4:9 4:11 3:10
5:7 6:5 5:11
10 18 24
3:10 3:0 4:1
5:2 4:0 4:6
16 12 5
3:9 4:5
<3:0 4:2
-9 -3
14
25
18
<1 7
WRAT Sub-test
Fall Grade Level
Spring Grade Level
Word Reading
< K.0
K.5
Sentence Comprehension Spelling
-
-
< K.0
K.0
Math
K.0
K.8
Student 4
Vineland-II (Teacher Rating Form) Subdomain / Domain
Pre-test V-Scale Score
Post-test V-Scale Score
Receptive Expressive Written Communication Personal Academic School Community Daily Living Skills Interpersonal Rels. Play & Leisure Time Coping skills Socialization Gross Fine Motor Skills Adapt. Behav. Comp.
9 10 11 Sum = 30 10 11 11 Sum = 32 12 10 11 Sum = 33 11 11 Sum = 22 Sum = 296
11 11 14 Sum = 36 13 12 11 Sum = 36 12 12 13 Sum = 37 13 13 Sum = 26 Sum = 247
Pre-test Standard Score
Post-test Standard Score
70
82
73
80
78
85
75 71
88 80
Pre-test % Rank
2
4
7
5 3
Post-test % Rank
Pre-test Age Eq.
Post-test Age Eq.
Gain in Months
<3:0 3:4 5:7
4:3 4:7 6:10
15 15 15
3:11 5:4 4:4
6:0 6:4 4:7
25 12 3
4:0 <3:0 3:6
4:9 4:3 4:11
9 15 17
3:9 4:11
5:2*** 5:11
17 12
12
9
16
21 9
WRAT Sub-test
Fall Grade Level
Spring Grade Level
Word Reading
< K.0
K.5
Sentence Comprehension Spelling
-
-
K.6
K.6
Math
K.6
1.0