Exploring the Ear-Voice Connection
November 22, 2008
8:30 am - 5:00 pm at Project CHILLD
A Workshop by Paul Madaule
We are the first listeners of what we say and the quality of our voice and speech starts with the quality of our listening. This is where the ear-voice connection begins.
This key role of the ear-voice loop in the speech and language acquisition is well established, yet its role in the maturation of self control and self-regulation is virtually unknown. Amazingly, the ear- voice connection is a fabulous integrator of body and mind, influencing sensory-motor, emotional, communicative and cognitive functions. Breathing, body posture, flow of movement, sense of rhythm, level of energy, mood and affect, sleeping and eating habits, sociability, attention, focus/concentration and learning along with academics such as reading, writing and spelling may be related to this far-reaching mechanism. In short, the ear-voice loop has a determining influence on verbal and non-verbal communication as well as in the development of body image and self- awareness.
This experiential and interactive workshop is designed to explore the many facets of the ear-voice loop in both adults and children.
This exploration begins with Earobics exercises to experience first hand what listening is, how it works and how we can directly impact our listening function.
‘Voicening’, the use of the voice from a listening point of view, is the next step in the exploration. This close look at the mechanisms involved when talking and singing permit us to examine and exercise, layer per layer, the various elements which make up voice production: the listening posture, breathing, bone conducted sound, air conducted sound and the blending of the whole. This is when the use of the voice, an everyday occurrence that we take so much for granted, begins to reveal a totally unsuspected dimension and untapped potential. As a result talking, which is often experienced as an energy consuming activity, turns into an energy generating one. Just imagine, for example, the life changing experience of a teacher who goes back home after a full day of work feeling more energized than she was that morning thanks to the newly acquired energizing quality of her voice! And now try to imagine the difference it makes on the quality of her student’s listening, focus, interest and engagement, attention span and overall energy level – as well as on the quality of their acquisition that day! The transformation of the ear-voice loop becomes the starting point of a spiral of transformations affecting us and others alike.
Workshop Objectives
• Learning how to use our voice with minimum effort, maximum communication and energetic impact
• Learning how to teach children ’to read with their ears’, a key for automatic, spontaneous and effortless decoding, leaving all their brain power available for what really counts -reading comprehension
• Sharing ideas on how to include ear-voice exercises in our sensory diets as well as in the diets of the children in our care
• Acquiring a ‘hands-on’ experiential understanding of the rationale behind the various phases of a listening training program of sound stimulation
Paul Madaule is the Director of The Listening Centre in Toronto that he founded with Dr. Tomatis in 1978. The Listening Centre was the first clinical facility to use the Tomatis Method in North America. Paul has also helped create a dozen Centres throughout the US and Latin America, Mexico in particular.
Paul is the author of When Listening Comes Alive (1993), now available in nine languages and has authored numerous articles on the educational and therapeutic value of music and voice. His primary focus is on listening training for children with developmental and learning problems, specifically in areas of auditory processing, ADHD, learning disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorders. His work in this field has garnered international media attention through television and radio, as well as in the written press.
Drawing from his 35 years of clinical experience, Paul has developed a portable audio device called the LiFT® (Listening Fitness Trainer). Together with the staff of The Listening Centre, he has written The Listening Fitness Instructor's Course to teach professionals how to incorporate listening training within their own practices and classrooms. Paul also teaches the LIStem™ (Listening Identification System), a screening system he developed for teachers and childcare practitioners.
For more information, visit: www.listeningcentre.com and www.listeningfitness.com
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