Improved listening skills can offer life-changing effects
The Alpha Effect™ is an active listening and brain boosting program. This 20-40 session program is based on the Tomatis Method. We use filtered classical music, which is delivered through a specially designed headset, relaying the sound through both air and bone conduction.
While listening with The Alpha Effect, our trained practitioners provide personalized tutoring and instruction. Our exclusive and diverse art curricula is fun and therapeutic. We add vocal and sensory exercises, neurobics activities and relaxation techniques which engage and enhance the multi-faceted benefits of the listening program. Alpha Effect Listening schedule.
Listening programs help restore systems necessary for learning by fine tuning our listening skills
See How it Works
The Alpha Effect is based on over fifty years of research by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, who discovered that our ears not only receive and channel sound, but also provide essential organic communication that impacts our brain and central nervous system. Dr. Tomatis was a pioneer, whose work distinguished listening from the physical ability to hear, and connected learning and communication challenges with decreased listening and hearing health.
Dr. Tomatis helped thousands of children, teens, and adults of all ages from the 1950’s through the 1990’s at his Paris Center in France. He successfully helped those whose attention disorders, hyperactivity, dyslexia, and other learning challenges compromised their ability to learn and interact sociably.
His “Tomatis Effect” discovered that “the voice can only contain the frequencies that the ear can hear.” He treated and improved the voices of opera singers and performers throughout Europe. He also worked extensively toward facilitating language acquisition. Today, French public schools employ his method for students learning foreign languages. Tomatis Centers operate throughout Europe and North America.
Today, SoundWave Listening Arts offers The Alpha Effect in Central Oregon, enriching our communities through art, music and brain fitness
History and Research
The Alpha Effect was developed and implemented through the New Mexico Alliance for Children (NMAC), an educational non-profit organization established in New Mexico. NMAC also provides training and certification to teachers and practitioners throughout the US and in China.
Applications
The program is not age-dependent, and can benefit children and adults of all ages. NMAC launched The Alpha Effect in 2003 in New Mexico school settings with children, K-12, including general education, gifted, and special needs students. In private settings, Certified Alpha Effect Practitioners work with children, teens, adults and seniors who have participated in the program for a variety of reasons. Some simply wish to sharpen their cognitive abilities or spark a deeper level of creativity in their work. Individuals learning or perfecting other language acquisition have terrific results. Others may have memory loss, injury, depression, anxiety, low self esteem issues, or post traumatic stress disorders.
Research and Results
Independent evaluations of The Alpha Effect Program in New Mexico public schools were conducted in 2005-2007, which resulted in striking results for 65 students, and published in the following reports:
- Mental Status and Pro-Social Testing Report, by Dr. Janette A. Isaacson, ED.D, M.Ed. Licensed Mental Health Counselor.
- A Longitudinal Study of Reading and Related Achievement of Students, provided by Dr. Anne Calhoun, University of New Mexico.
Highlights of this study with outcomes for students include:
- Reading-related scores with Alpha Effect students gaining on average more than two years of reading level while their control group peers gained a year or less. Markers in these scores included comprehension, retention, decoding, reading rate, regulation and correction.
- Alpha Effect students demonstrated stronger pro-social skills and better mental status than their peers in the control group, with remarkable results in achievement-related and social skill variables.
- Outcomes included greater growth in a number of academic areas, accompanied by improvements in auditory and motor skill tasks, listening skills, improved integration of body awareness, language, and creativity skills.
- Students in this study improved beyond their peers in the following categories: affect, mood, language, frustration level, imagination, enunciation, reciprocity, real dialogue, attitude, social contact, acceptance level, creativity, distractibility, and listening skills.
The testimonials from hundreds of students’ parents, caregivers, and teachers, consistently agree on positive results for the student, including enunciation, speaking ability, improved attention span and focus. Vestibular and coordination improvements, balance and focus. Better handwriting and concentration skills. Calm and happy mood, and greater well-being.
Refer to the following link: http://www.nmhealthykids.org/page5.html to learn more, including the research substantiated impact with participants.