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Early childhood intervention may be as simple as a hum. Research has revealed that many children with attention deficit disorder and autism have a hyper-sensitivity to sound and every single sound that comes up diverts their attention.
They don't have the focus. They don't have the ability to filter out irrelevant sounds so they can focus. It's like having an eye that sees every word on the page at the same time and cannot track. 1 Sounds captured by the bone go directly into the inner ear without passing through the middle ear (the gatekeeper). So if background music and a teacher are at the same volume, the student cannot focus.
Humming exercises the Tensor Tympani and the Stapedius muscles located in the middle ear. If these muscles are strong they aid in the ability to listen and take information correctly. Information is then sent to the brain. Humming helps aid the body to function on all levels: physically, developmentally, mentally and spiritually.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French physician who was an ear, nose, throat specialist, is often referred to as the 'Einstein of Sound'. He is credited with creating the field of music therapy. Tomatis believed that many learning disabilities are listening disabilities. Listening is key to learning. He paid attention to the science of listening, how people take in information and filter it in a different way. He discovered that certain melodies carried by certain frequencies, stimulate the brain helping it to develop speech and improve movement. He experimented with the uses of sound in the ear and bone that trigger different language, cognitive and communication skills. He came up with the theory that music is energy for the brain and an instrument for healing. 2 Don Campbell, a recognized authority of the transformative power of music and listening, has created a CD series, 'The Mozart Effect', to specifically target the development of listening in relation to brain function. 3
The parents of autistic children have found that music therapy can help their children to interact with them in a normal way. Sam a seven-year-old child diagnosed with autism at the age of two would be unable to tolerate any loud sound. He had tantrums and when his mother sang to him he would say to her, "stop singing."
After sound therapy he said to his mother "Hold me, hum with me." 4
"When You Hum Bumble, You Can Overcome Anything"
"Autistic children and children diagnosed with ADD all react positively to music therapy. Kids with learning disabilities show remarkable improvement in mathematics, reading, and reasoning skills when they are exposed to appropriate music. The results are magnified many times when these same children have an opportunity to make music." 5
Written by Maya
4 Mucci, Kate. The Healing sound of Music: Findhorn, 2000.
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