How to Be Successful with Autism | Accessing Your Gifts
The Lone Wolf
“He was a beautiful little angel, good-natured, and other people around us saw him the same way… Then came the day when we really started wondering about him.”
A young boy named Maël Nguyen, from New Caledonia was first diagnosed with Autism at the age of 20 months old. Later he will be confirmed to be Asperger’s by Dr Tony Attwood. The Asperger Syndrome is a part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The child with this disability usually has poor social interaction skills, learning difficulties, problems with coordination, and others related to this wide-ranging continuum.
As for Maël’s parents, they saw how Asperger’s changed him over time. In retrospect, from having learned a few words early on his age and by 18th months, he had stopped saying the words like “daddy, mummy” as if they never happened.
He also displayed repetition in the way he played and moved. He refused and avoided eye contact when his name was called out, kept hitting the ground with toys, started to hurt himself, screamed to the sound of the vacuum or the blender, and preferred to stay alone.
“All the deviant behaviours he had been showing were now more blatant. We became increasingly worried.”
Maël’s mother, Isabelle, cried so much recognizing the extensive responsibility at hand. The idea of Maël’s irreversible condition itself shattered her with his deviance on almost everything around him from the sound of the toilet flushing to the water running over his face when he was taking a bath.
Going to school was worse as he needed more than a term to adapt. This means not saying any word for more than six (6) months. This also meant being progressively cut off from any social life as going out with Maël had become such an ordeal!
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
“We felt that everything we had tried had only limited success. We needed something else for him.”
Maël was developmentally behind the other children so his parents brought him to the speech therapist and even tried horse riding once a week, but he still could not build any relationships with others or even interact with any success.
In November of 2007, Maël’s mother, Isabelle, heard about the Tomatis® Method and had a “gut feeling” onto something good.
“Straight away I wrote a long email to the practitioner I found, Françoise Nicoloff, in Australia. Her answer came back to me the next day. She would be happy and willing to work with Maël, and that she’d successfully treated many other children with similar conditions. I cried with relief, hope and happiness.”
With the help of Françoise Nicoloff, a registered psychologist and a Certified Tomatis® Method consultant, they were able to complete 90 hours of Tomatis® listening to which so many changes have occurred!
“People who know him well say that there is literally a Maël before Tomatis® and a Maël after Tomatis®”
Maël’s echolalia (repetition of speech by a child learning to talk) totally vanished. He became very sociable to the extent that he gave his parents a list of names that he wanted to come over to his birthday party!
“To us this was amazing. I soon noticed more creativity in his games. My son was happy, and so was I!”
He could stay calm and dive more than five feet underwater. He tried new food more easily and was becoming more comfortable in planes. But the most meaningful change was how the communication between Maël’s and his parents had improved. He could already understand everything Isabelle said, and he was able to answer her questions as well.
The Dawn of the Prodigy
“In fact, I am not surprised because of his exposure to Mozart music that he heard during his Tomatis® programs.”
“In January 2013, Maël was asked what instrument he would like to play and to no surprise, he chose the violin. Then his inclinations towards music flourished, particularly when he chose to pursue playing the violin.” Isabelle said,
In February 2013, he began his lessons with a private teacher, Amandine Dang. His level of confidence did not stop growing as he attended auditions successfully.
“What amazes me is that since our second session with the Tomatis® Method in 2009 in Sydney, Maël’s progress have never stopped improving and we haven’t gone through periods of regression at all.”
By March 2015, he entered the Conservatoire of Nouméa (CMDNC) and one of his professors, Martine Vignoud quickly realized his enormous potential. At the end of the first year, he got the best prize of the jury. In only four years of learning, Maël already achieved the postgraduate level that usually takes eight to ten years of learning.
“My differences are my strength!”
Last May 9, 2017, Maël’s abilities with solfeggio, musical composition and even mathematical formulas were featured in a French magazine, Le Petit Journal.
“You know, we have discovered that he has an absolute ear: I know in my heart that it is Tomatis® who has “generated” this in Maël. Similarly, I know that it was Tomatis® who gave rise to Maël’s passion for classical music.”
Maël not only plays the violin well but also composes music. As per Tony Attwood, a famous Australian Psychologist specialised in Asperger Syndrome, Maël is also a calendar genius as he occasionally loves to impress people by asking them for their date of birth and telling them a few minutes after which day of the week they were born. All in all, he is very busy and happy. He is constantly motivated by his music, surrounded by his scores and his CDs of classical music.
Maël has been living and studying in Canada since August 2017. He has adjusted very well to his new life and new temperatures too (from hot New Caledonia to cold Canada).
Maël’s success story is only one of the many cases on how the Tomatis® Method has helped people of all ages for over six (6) decades in breaking boundaries of learning barriers, social issues, and emotional difficulties. The Tomatis® Method clearly provides a long-term solution to a seemingly irreversible condition.
With more than 200, 000 individuals per year in 75 countries and 300 schools and universities around the world aided by the Tomatis® Method, get help today! This is the best gift for your child!
Interview with Mael, his mother, and his violin teacher [French]
The Tomatis® Method is based on the neuroplasticity principles of retraining the brain via the ear and using specific players (TalksUp with Gating and filters) and special earphones with air and bone conduction. The Tomatis® listening training is based on several concepts about how the human being develops, processes information, communicates with self and others and, finally, learns. The Tomatis® Method enables the individual to regain skills of analysis, concentration, memory to learn and communicate.
You can contact Françoise Nicoloff, a Registered Psychologist and a Senior Tomatis® Consultant for 4 decades. Françoise is also an international Tomatis® trainer and speaker. She has co-authored the Listening Journey for Children where Maël’s story is related too through his Mum’s journey. Françoise is based in Sydney, Australia and is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives and will travel the world to make it happen.
For more information, contact Françoise Nicoloff by email at info@tomatis.com.au or by phone +61 2 9326 1650 or visit her website www.tomatis.com.au!
Photo credits:
Maël’s mom, Isabelle Douyere
www.lepetitjournal.com
NOTE: Mael’s name has been used with the permission of his mother (personal communication 4/05/2017)
Françoise Nicoloff
Official Representative of Tomatis Developpement SA in Australia, Asia and South Pacific, Director of the Australian Tomatis® Method, Registered Psychologist, Certified Tomatis® Consultant Senior, Tomatis® International Trainer and Speaker, Co-author of the Listening Journey Series, 40 Years of Experience, Neurodiversity Speaker
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