Our gentle programs can help normalise attention, learning and behaviour. For instance, by re-training the way you listen, we can improve learning performance because listening, attention, comprehension and learning are highly correlated.

We offer programs that are designed to help unlock the potential of every client – particularly children
By identifying your performance deficits and by addressing your learning difficulties we believe that this will, more than any thing else, unlock what you can achieve in life. We would like every client to reach their full potential. Our programs are designed to help your child to make full use of their talents so they can make a valued contribution to both their family and society at large. 

… so we offer these gentle drug-free programs

Listening therapy (also known as sound therapy or music-based auditory stimulation)

These-programs are helpful for those with:

• A learning difficulty,
• Performance or auditory processing deficits,
• Those with poor listening,
• Sound sensitivities, hearing distortions,
• Attention difficulties,
• Muffled or unclear speech,
• Perceptual difficulties,
• Overloads easily (sensory integration challenges) or
• Those with development delays.

On the basis of your assessment performance, we will advise which program is most appropriate for you or your child.

What is “integrated” listening?
iLs programs “re-train” the parts of the brain involved in learning, communicating and moving. Combining an auditory program with specific visual and vestibular stimulation, iLs strengthens neurological pathways and improves the ability to learn and to process information.

A well-modulated vestibular system is essential for controlling the nervous system’s level of arousal. The vestibular, auditory and visual are our three main systems for organizing sensory input, and they are highly interrelated. Stimulating all three senses simultaneously is a holistic approach which requires and educates the brain to become better at processing multi-sensory inputs which engulf us in our everyday lives.

Each iLs system includes equipment for balance and visual activities, as well as a Playbook to guide you through the physical activities to be done while listening.

These physical activities enhance the efficacy of the listening therapy and provide important vestibular and visual stimulation. The Playbook includes background information, a listening schedule and a pre and post-program checklist. Complete the prescribed balance and visual activities for half the session time.

What else can I do while listening?
The remainder of the session can be filled with any quiet, relaxing activity such as:

• Painting & drawing,
• Construction activity - LEGO, K'NEX etc
• Jigsaw puzzles,
• Knitting,
• Sample games like Connect Four and Snap, or
• Relaxing comfortably

It is better not to read, eat or chew gum (too noisy), watch TV, play video games or do anything stressful.

We are able to tailor our Clinic Programs to meet the unique needs of each client. Our typical clinic program involve 30 listening sessions over thirteen weeks. Each 80-minute session has four 20-minute segments, each with different frequency filter or music.  In some cases, shorter or longer programs are appropriate (15, 23, 45-60 sessions). Regular re-testing ensures that the structure and pace of the program can be adjusted to optimise the client’s performance gains.

We use a Dynamic Listening System with studio-quality equipment and iLs Professional systems to deliver high quality auditory programs through both air and bone conduction.  While we can offer any guarantees for an individual client, in almost every case, our programs have facilitated noticeable improvements across a wide range of learning, physical, communication, emotional and behavioural issues.

Program structure
The first listening stage is PRE-FILTRATION. Most programs start with three-eight session in this stage. During this phase we use music which covers the entire audible range together as well as using filtered music where mid and high frequencies have been removed – leaving only the low notes which targets the sensory-motor zone.

The second listening stage is GRADUAL FILTRATION. Over three to five sessions, the lower frequencies (deeper sounds) are progressively removed. During these sessions we also use special filters to target the communication and integration zones - frequencies between 0.75-3kHz and above 750Hz.

The third listening stage is FILTERED MUSIC (usually five to eight sessions). In these sessions we continue the emphasis on the high frequencies of the creative zone. The music sounds very squeaky can be hard to listen to. We use a recording of the mother’s voice in most programs at this stage.

• We use a recording of the mother’s voice for most clients in this stage. We do this because the fetus starts listening in the fourth month after conception and by the 20th week is fully functional. So the mother’s voice imprints the fetus and has a profound influence on the construction of the child’s auditory system, the subsequent acquisition of language and the ability to communicate.
• Listening starts in the fourth month after conception and

The fourth listening stage is the DE-FILTRATION to complete the receptive phase. Over three to five sessions, the lower frequencies are progressively restored. Some clients finish here.

The fifth stage targets EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE to improve speech and speaking. This is also called the Active phase because it involve actively talking into the microphone to improve voice and speech quality. This Expressive phase and usually span five to ten sessions. These can be continued with a mixer, microphone and an Integrated Listeningprogram at home.

After completing a program, it is sometimes beneficial to sustain continued improvements using an Integrated Listening Program at home. Voice work can be continued with the addition of a mixer and microphone.

Programs at home or school are designed to build sensory processing capacity by providing integrated auditory and sensory-motor programs.

These innovative portable programs can be customised by emphasising individual segments and by modifying the sensory-motor program.

The auditory programs use modified classical music and are delivered through quality headphones on a 12 CD set or an iPod.

We recommend this gradual program be used daily for a minimum of 24-30 weeks to achieve lasting results.

These programs consist of 30 or 60 minute segments. We will provide a weekly program to fit your schedule and suggest a minimum of 3-5 hours per week is best to deliver best results.  

School is really good way to implement iLs Listening therapy because schools can economically treat a significant proportion of children with mild-moderate auditory processing deficits. Once they are trained, teachers are ideally placed to identify those children with learning, social and behavioural deficits that can be assisted with an iLs program.

Where to start
Any schools can implement iLs therapy once they have at least one teacher or aide trained.  A school can start with aslittle as a single iLs Home program which can be applied to two children with the use of a splitter and a second pair of headphones.

• The process usually starts with an individual in the school community who would like their school to implement iLs therapy. The individual usually has a personal experience of the benefit of Integrated Listening Therapy. The process can be facilitated by inviting an experienced Listening therapist to give a talk about the benefits of listening therapy at the school;
• The school must then earmark at least one, but preferably two or three teachers or teacher’s aide to be trained as an iLs Practitioner. Those with some Special Education experience or training are likely to be the most suitable;
• Identify the incidence of children in your school with auditory-based p[performance deficits;
• Acquire a suitable number of iLs programs according to meet your remediation objectives within your budget;

Using iLs in your school
Schools using iLs programs have adopted a variety of deliver styles, including:

• Stream children out of normal class to on a daily basis to complete their daily listening schedule in a small adjacent room/office;
• Implement Listening schedules for selected students in classes which are rich in sensory-motor activities like art/craft;
• Allocate iLs kits to families to take home and use for a term or two;
• We can help you to implement iLs to suit you’re the individual circumstances of your school.

Students with significant or multiple issues are best referred for a clinic assessment to ensure that the significant causes for their under-performance are identified.

How can listening therapy help?
We now have a number of school based research studies which demonstrate the efficacy of school-based Integrated Listening programs.

Adult programs
Adults programs share most of the structure and features of the programs we offer children. For instance if say a father and son or mother and daughter have a similar listening pattern and  learning challenge then it is highly probable that I would give them a very similar  program. So what are the differences that differentiate the adult programs?

• For those interested in personal growth, creativity or increased energy, we will incorporate the highest filters for a longer period which a pattern we would not implement for children;
• Incorporate a more formal art therapy component;
• For those interested in communication, public speaking, voice work, singing or musicality, we will to place more emphasis on the elements that build communication skills and less those which build movement skills;

ART therapy
I now provide every adult client an artist sketch book as part of their listening program. I require them to draw or paint at least a quarter of the time they spend listening on a clinic program.

My beloved father Sofyan worked as an art teacher with “difficult” children for most of his working life. His life’s work gently convinced me that a blank sheet of paper offers one of the most powerful opportunities to help resolve an obstacle in your life. Simply allow the pen, pencil or brush to do what it must – you just have to make a start and follow where it goes.

There is no need for any direction other than the importance of making a start and then regularly creating your pictures. What style? Abstract, impressionist, Modern, post-modern, cartoon – it doesn’t matter; just DO IT! Each blank page lies waiting patiently until it is filled and then on to the next until your process is finished. 

Pregnancy
We also offer specific programs for those who are pregnant. Tomatis found that the rate of birth complications were reduced in those women who had completed a prenatal clinic program.

This section of our website is currently under construction, please check back soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How young have we treated?
While iLs programs have been used on children as young as 20 months, in our clinic we have treated children as young as three years in the clinic and as young as two years with the home programs. In principle, there is no minimum age for Listening therapy because infants are exposed music as soon as their auditory systems start functioning during their fifth month after conception.

The earlier the better
All the evidence suggests that the human capacity for change is strongest while we are young. The neural pruning that occurs every seven years indicates that there are physiological windows of opportunity to lay down the critical foundations of learning and life performance. For this reason, the earlier we can assess a client, the more likely we are to be able to help a client to be able to reach their potential. Experience also suggests that our programs can deliver improvements more quickly in younger clients.

The superior capacity for change in younger clients also allows programs to more easily deliver unexpected gains. I will never forget one day when a grandmother rushed into my room during the third clinic session of a three year old with a speech delay. She asked anxiously “What have you done to little I***h?” Her grand daughter was sitting bolt upright while “listening” and playing with dolls. “She has never sat up straight before!” I explained that the Listening therapy also trains the vestibular system, which has triggered her to improve her posture. From that day on, little I***h maintained beautiful posture.

Windows of opportunity
For any client, there are significant windows of opportunity, which we can grasp to enhance the probability of successfully completing a program. These include:

• Address learning difficulties before the transition to “big” school (High school)
• More difficult to engage teenagers
• School holidays provide an ideal opportunity for a booster program in clinic
• Some clients complete a clinic program before they re-locate away from the clinic

Before writing this, I had thought that teenage children showed poorer program compliance. However, I thought I had better check - my statistics shows that while it is less likely for teenagers to present for an assessment, once they are assessed, they tend to complete programs at a similar rate to other age groups. Since there is no evidence that learning difficulties diminish with age, this suggests that it is harder to persuade any teenager to attend an assessment.

If you suspect your child has an auditory-based learning difficulty, you have a window of opportunity to address the causes of their learning difficulty before they become a teenager - 68% of our clients completing programs are aged less than 13. While teenagers do present with more ‘attitude’, it is possible to engage them by ensuring that their clinic program incorporates activities, which they find stimulating. However, the anecdotal comments of parents suggest that home program compliance is more challenging for teenagers.

But it is never too late
We now know that the brain is continuously plastic and remains adaptable into old age and that it is not hard-wired in childhood.  So while sensory programs work slower in older clients, we can often more reliably deliver the gains which clients seek because older clients are much more motivated. See Adults for examples of the results we can deliver to motivated older clients.