As you all know my 3 year old son has NF1 showing no tumors or any other problems for that matter except some delays. He is delayed in speech and gross motor so we have him working with a speech therapist and a occupational therapist for these delays. In September we were even able to send him to a special pre-school where he could get these services in school along with special education. With this also came the option for the Tomatis Program. Its a program where they exercise the ear drum by having the kids listen to music through headphones, while listening to instructions from a teacher for about 2 hours, everyday for 2 weeks. Then they take a break from it and restart it for another 2 weeks and so on. My husband and I were not sure about this program at first. We went to a meeting about it and were left feeling on one hand Ky didnt really need this (its used for mostly non-verbal autistic children, not my sons case) but on the other hand thinking it could only do good for him not bad (because he still wasnt talking like he should). I even asked his pediatrician about it and her response was "Well its just listening to music right? He will be fine." So we decided to go through with it. He has done really well with it up to this point. I think because of the combination of good teachers and good therapists and Tomatis, Kyle has come very far. He is talking up a storm now and has greatly improved in everything from speech to gross motor. We are very proud of him. He is usually a very good boy and we love him very much. This was the last week of the Tomatis loop. Everytime he has a loop I do see a difference in him. He is more tired than usual, more defiant and cranky. He does not sleep well and is not himself at all. This week has been even worse. He is not only defiant but very aggressive (hitting and kicking his sister) yelling and screaming for no reason. Its been awful. I try to be sensitive to the fact that he is going through alot in school and the listening in the headphones is making his ears real sensitive and maybe he is being overstimulated but at the same time he is being so bad that I cant let some of it go without consequence (we use time-out). And then I start wondering, did I do the right thing by putting him through this? Would there really have been a difference if I kept him out of Tomatis and just let him work with the teachers? Not a whole lot of people and doctors even know about the program. I cant even find a whole lot about it on the internet (I found one good page thats all) Im so scared that maybe I put him through all of this for nothing. And today, he was just sent home from school because he may have an ear infection. If this is the case, he may not be able to finish the program, so then what happens? Does it not work if its not finished? Well, off to the doctor we go. I guess we will see what happens.
Well we just got back from the doctor. No sign of infection yet Ky keeps complaining that his ears hurt. He will resume the listening tomorrow and I am so nervous about it. I feel so gulity that maybe I am doing more harm than good.



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