Confidential: The (Autism) Whisperer by Bill Kennick
Not to put too fine a point on it but when my wife, Valerie Dejean,
gave up conventional OT for the Tomatis method with the electronic ear,
she gave up what some people called her Magic Hands. If you are psychic
or magic in any way you would understand this. Psychic healers or even
psychic mind readers talk about a contamination or loss of boundaries
as the result of
dealing with the ill-winds of their clients.
When
a healer deals with your problems of this sort, he sometimes gets stuck
with the ill-winds himself (herself) and then has to do quite a bit of
cleansing.
So when Valerie and her magic hands gave up "hands on" OT in favor of
Tomatis she was able to treat several children at a time with the help
of the Tomatis machine and listening therapists, and importantly, to come home not so
exhausted.
Typically
they
had
2
listening
therapists
caring
for
4
children with a 2 patient
to 1 therapist ratio. Then within earshot there was Valerie and
another OT and way too many administrative people.
And this continued until the seeming demise of the Tomatis Method.
Things change.
For one thing, upon the demise of Tomatis and his son, the company was
sold and the new owners moved from Paris to Luxembourg and recreated
themselves in much the way that many companies reinvent themselves when
the original genius, founder, entrepeneur, visionary tyrant, father and
prophet (think of Apple and Steve Jobs and you will understand Tomatis)
leaves the scene only to be replaced by MBA educated management types.
The company transforms. Sometimes it becomes a great deal bigger.
What happened in the case of the Luxembourg outfit is that they built a
new machine, which they sell to any Occupational or Physical Therapist,
chiropractor, ex-school teacher or beauty school dropout who wants one,
give them all of three days training and send them on their way. "You
too
can
be a Tomatis therapist in just three days."
Sure, be a brain surgeon by mail order. Learn acupuncture in your spare time.
Sure, be a brain surgeon by mail order. Learn acupuncture in your spare time.
When Valerie Studied in Paris under Tomatis himself the training was
about 2 months. Then he had seminars. Some were open to all Tomatis
practicioners and some were by invitation only. Tomatis's Last Seminar,
to which Valerie was invited in 1997, lasted a week and was held at
Tomatis's castle on the Spanish Riviera.
Now Tomatis was very interested in the ear and the voice and the very premise of the Tomatis effect and the Tomatis electronic ear was that there had to be a feedback loop between the ear and the voice. One of his books was titled The Ear and the Voice. This means in practical application that the true Tomatis machine must have a microphone to sing into. If it does not have a microphone it is not delivering the Tomatis effect, because without the microphone you cannot connect the ear and the voice.
Now Tomatis was very interested in the ear and the voice and the very premise of the Tomatis effect and the Tomatis electronic ear was that there had to be a feedback loop between the ear and the voice. One of his books was titled The Ear and the Voice. This means in practical application that the true Tomatis machine must have a microphone to sing into. If it does not have a microphone it is not delivering the Tomatis effect, because without the microphone you cannot connect the ear and the voice.
So to make a long
story short, things have happened to Valerie over the last seven years.
One thing is that competition has increased since the electronic
revolution and many devices are now available which outwardly resemble
the
original electronic ear but which don't have microphones. The second
was lawsuits from
employees. One employee who sued Valerie for a million dollars also
turned her over to the OT Board in Maryland (on the same day) and if you ever heard about how Organized
Medicine (paid for and controlled by the drug companies) can get its
government minions to lower the boom on anybody it considers dangerous,
threatening or a little too successful without the use of prescription
drugs, then you understand the relationship between the OT
establishment and Valerie.
Then you also understand
the
relationship between the FDA and the FBI and Valerie.
The former two busted the latter on September 21, 2010 and confiscated
all
her "Tomatis" machines. Some were the conventional electronic ears and
some were not. One was designed by her husband.*
The Whisperer
The Whisperer
I have a theory
about the Horse Whisperer (played on the big screen by Robert Redford
who is a little bit of magic, himself). To be a horse whisperer you
need to get into the psychic space and pretty near the physical space
of the horse himself and have a meeting on common ground. Then the
whisperer must persuade the horse to "listen to me --be still and find
your inner horse."
In humans we call this finding your inner voice. Playing music, such as Mozart or Gregorian Chant (Valerie has tried non-Catholic Chant alternatives with some success) helps you to find your own inner voice.
More to the point, the Whisperer must somehow get into the psychic space of the (frequently autistic) child. This means sitting down on the floor with the child. If the child has withdrawn into the womb (this is of course an expression, but an expression with deep symbolic and practical therapeutic meaning), the Whisperer must go there too. If the child is full of emotional and physical rage, the Whisperer must meet that rage and look that horse (or was it your child?) right in the eye and somehow reach him. Easy:) Actually, you have to have the gift. And the training. And a little Night Music from Mozart.
"Be still. Listen to the music. Listen to that voice. That is you. You can make that voice so that we will be able to understand you. You can look your mother in the eye and she will know it is you. You can talk with your own voice and we will know it is you. Stand up. You can be part of the world. People will understand you and you will understand them. Stand up. Use your voice. Hear your own voice. Be somebody!"
Playing this music through the Tomatis Electronic Ear (or even through a cheap imitation) helps too.
If you are one of the "three day" therapists, just playing the music helps a little even if you aren't sure what to do next. Better than nothing. But if you are a client of this "not knowing exactly" type of therapist, you might try to get your sessions on sale or have a discount coupon.
The point is that you are trying to find your inner voice. Sometimes you need a whisperer to give you the courage to try it.
Tomatis himself spent more and more time hanging around and probably irritating the monks at the European monasteries the last 20 years of his life. He was trying to learn about Chant. When he held his Last Seminar for his favorite students in 1997 he talked about Chant, taught Chant and didn't even mention the electronic ear, except that he had a new one for sale, "and I'll take the money right here."
And now, getting to the point:
It seems that Valerie is becoming more and more of a Whisperer. She works alone now and seems to be getting some really tough cases. I'm not sure you would call it Tomatis anymore, although Tomatis is certainly at its basis. Whether or not you call it OT is the subject of an ongoing litigation. But it seems the my wife, in her new modality as Whisperer, comes home from treating her tough cases at work, very, very exhausted. Finally, she takes it out on me:) and is then happy and fulfilled in her life as a Whisperer.
Bill Kennick
*Bill Kennick began his fledgling career in electricity at the age of 9. This was the year of the Hungarian Revolution and then Sputnik. He built a tic tac toe machine which won no prizes at the science fair because of poor soldering connections, but that did have, unlike the tic tac toe machine that won first prize , a theory of tic tac toe built into it. His main achievement besides burning sulfur on the kitchen stove, was taking his mother's telephone apart and getting it back together before she got home from work. He was a ham radio operator (general class) at age twelve. Then he got sidetracked variously, into music, anthropology, business, politics, hair dressing, law and astrology before building a Heathkit H8 computer in 1979. He spent 20 years computerizing horary astrology, the free results of which may be had at www.whoaint.com. So it was only natural that he should interest himself in the inner workings of his wife's office equipment. (Read Between the Lines.) See also.
In humans we call this finding your inner voice. Playing music, such as Mozart or Gregorian Chant (Valerie has tried non-Catholic Chant alternatives with some success) helps you to find your own inner voice.
More to the point, the Whisperer must somehow get into the psychic space of the (frequently autistic) child. This means sitting down on the floor with the child. If the child has withdrawn into the womb (this is of course an expression, but an expression with deep symbolic and practical therapeutic meaning), the Whisperer must go there too. If the child is full of emotional and physical rage, the Whisperer must meet that rage and look that horse (or was it your child?) right in the eye and somehow reach him. Easy:) Actually, you have to have the gift. And the training. And a little Night Music from Mozart.
"Be still. Listen to the music. Listen to that voice. That is you. You can make that voice so that we will be able to understand you. You can look your mother in the eye and she will know it is you. You can talk with your own voice and we will know it is you. Stand up. You can be part of the world. People will understand you and you will understand them. Stand up. Use your voice. Hear your own voice. Be somebody!"
Playing this music through the Tomatis Electronic Ear (or even through a cheap imitation) helps too.
If you are one of the "three day" therapists, just playing the music helps a little even if you aren't sure what to do next. Better than nothing. But if you are a client of this "not knowing exactly" type of therapist, you might try to get your sessions on sale or have a discount coupon.
The point is that you are trying to find your inner voice. Sometimes you need a whisperer to give you the courage to try it.
Tomatis himself spent more and more time hanging around and probably irritating the monks at the European monasteries the last 20 years of his life. He was trying to learn about Chant. When he held his Last Seminar for his favorite students in 1997 he talked about Chant, taught Chant and didn't even mention the electronic ear, except that he had a new one for sale, "and I'll take the money right here."
And now, getting to the point:
It seems that Valerie is becoming more and more of a Whisperer. She works alone now and seems to be getting some really tough cases. I'm not sure you would call it Tomatis anymore, although Tomatis is certainly at its basis. Whether or not you call it OT is the subject of an ongoing litigation. But it seems the my wife, in her new modality as Whisperer, comes home from treating her tough cases at work, very, very exhausted. Finally, she takes it out on me:) and is then happy and fulfilled in her life as a Whisperer.
Bill Kennick
*Bill Kennick began his fledgling career in electricity at the age of 9. This was the year of the Hungarian Revolution and then Sputnik. He built a tic tac toe machine which won no prizes at the science fair because of poor soldering connections, but that did have, unlike the tic tac toe machine that won first prize , a theory of tic tac toe built into it. His main achievement besides burning sulfur on the kitchen stove, was taking his mother's telephone apart and getting it back together before she got home from work. He was a ham radio operator (general class) at age twelve. Then he got sidetracked variously, into music, anthropology, business, politics, hair dressing, law and astrology before building a Heathkit H8 computer in 1979. He spent 20 years computerizing horary astrology, the free results of which may be had at www.whoaint.com. So it was only natural that he should interest himself in the inner workings of his wife's office equipment. (Read Between the Lines.) See also.
Valerie Dejean Copyright 2011
Phone: Toll Free
1-877-4AUTKID