Can Mozart Help Children with Autism, Other Disorders?
TheKCRAChannel.com
November 18, 2003

Reporting on the opening of "The Listening Centre" in Sacramento, California, this story talks about the benefits of the Tomatis method in the treatment of autism. Mozart's compositions and Gregorian chant are cited as two of the types of music that are most effective in helping make changes in middle ear function. Part of the therapy involves playing music into the right ear, but also vibrating it through the temporal bone on the side of the head, just above the ear. It is believed that high-frequency sounds are involved in the process. The changes in middle ear function is then said to influence the ability of children with autism to pay attention to others and to better process sound, including spoken language.

One of The Listening Center's workers, Dr. Deborah Swain, says that there is limited research on the method, but that the UC Davis Mind Institute has provided their group with a grant to study how well it works with children with autism.