Understanding Attention and Attention Disorders in Calgary
Attention is the capacity to select and maintain awareness of an exterior event or a thought. It corresponds to the general waking state and to vigilance, which allows the nervous system to be receptive to any form of information that it receives.
Attention disorders affect children and adults who cannot sufficiently concentrate on work to be done over long periods, even if this work requires only a minimum of intellectual effort or has a routine or familiar character to it (such as doing homework or revising topics).
Selective Attention and its Importance in Learning
A specific modality of attention is the capacity to divide one’s attention among several sources of information or tasks to be done. A deficiency in this attentional modality is not only very costly in a cognitive sense, but is also a source of difficulty and even considerable suffering for a child in a school setting.
The Tomatis Method and Selective Attention
Beyond its general action of cerebral stimulation (i.e. cortical charging), the Tomatis Method can also have a very positive effect on selective attention. The Tomatis procedure is based on the electronic gating that brings a perceptual sound contrast, meant to constantly surprise the brain so that it stays awake and attentive. The goal is to help the brain develop automatic mechanisms for detecting changes, which will consequently reinforce selective attention.
