Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

The early years of a child’s development have the greatest impact on their future, as all later learning is based on these early foundations. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, young children missed out on many normal social experiences at crucial times in their development. Research has been undertaken in the United Kingdom where professionals and parents in 96% of the schools surveyed raised serious concerns about their children’s commun-ication and language development and were also concerned about social and emotional development and the flow-on effects for literacy and academic performance. Tomatis Sound therapy has proven effective in addressing a wide range of learning and developmental issues including speech and language development. A literature review of 58 studies was undertaken to summarize findings on the benefits of the Tomatis method, and its adaptation by Joudry and Joudry for portable use as the Sound Therapy International program. While language and speech were some of the greatest benefits observed, the studies also highlighted improvements in state of mind, academic performance, cognitive ability, motor skills and coordin-ation, focus and concentration, social skills, laterality and self-regulation. Therefore, sound therapy could be an important method to mitigate the impacts of lockdowns on language development.

Keywords: Tomatis, sound therapy, lockdown, language development, speech delay, learning difficulties, auditory processing