About The Listening Centre

The Listening Centre started in 1978, using Listening Training - a program of sound stimulation and counseling - as the primary mode of intervention. This approach is based on the work of Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French ear, nose and throat physician. Over the years under the leadership of Paul Madaule, the work has evolved to a unique way of providing listening training services. Morana Petrofski and Rosalinde Pecino are both Listening Consultants who work in close collaboration with Paul Madaule the founder of The Listening Centre.

What is Listening Training

The main purpose of Listening Training is to improve the listening function. A major distinction is made between hearing and listening. While hearing is the passive, involuntary function of sound perception, listening is active and voluntary. When well-developed or well-trained, the listening function allows us to focus on the sound information we need and leave out, or protect

ourselves, from those we don’t. Receptive and expressive communication, learning ability, social behaviour, self-regulation, activity level, motor function, muscle tone, balance and coordination are all related to the ability to listen. The good news is listening can be developed and improved.

Following an Initial Assessment with one of our Consultants, the child receives an individually tailored sound program (music and voice) through headphones using the LiFT, our portable listening device. The sound is modified through various electronic filters and gates before being transmitted to the ear in a pulsating way to achieve the listening training effect. The modified sound reaches the ears through both air and bone conduction. The sound program is designed to reproduce the different stages of the development of listening.

The first phase of our program works primarily on receptive listening, which is the first stage of communication. This is what gets the ball rolling.

The second phase, the ‘expressive phase’, works primarily on self-listening, the auditory control of the voice. With the addition of a microphone, children are playfully engaged in activities which facilitate the use of their voice, such as vocalizing, singing or reading out loud. The goal of exercising the ear-brain-voice loop is self-sufficiency. In other words listening keeps improving on its own.

Our Listening Training is now offered as a home program under the supervision of one of our Consultants. Following the program, reviews are planned to ensure the permanence of the changes. If necessary, the Consultant will recommend reinforcement ‘boosts’ or make suitable suggestions.

The Listening Training can be beneficial for , but is not limited to:

· Global Developmental Delay

· Sensory Processing Disorder

· Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

· Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

· Learning Disability (Dyslexia)

· ADD & ADHD

· Speech, Language, Singing

· Children we Help

· Adults we Help

How to Access the Listening Training

Books:

· When Listening Comes Alive – by Paul Madaule

Foreword by Norman Doidge M.D. on the updated & expanded 2015 e-book version

· The Brains Way of Healing – by Norman Doidge M.D.

Chapter 8: A Bridge of Sound: The Special Connection Between Music and the Brain is dedicated to

the use of sound in therapy, Alfred Tomatis and our work at The Listening Centre.

Articles:

Media:

The Child That You Do Have

A full-length documentary of Autism featuring the work of Paul Madaule at The Listening Centre in Toronto. Produced by Helga-Liz Haberfellner, this documentary was first broadcasted on the Discovery Channel in 1994

Watch this video documentary on Vimeo

The Brain’s Way of Healing

The CBC Television Program The Nature of Things presented a 2016 documentary film on Norman Doidge’s book, The Brain’s Way of Healing with a segment on our work at The Listening Centre, which is only available to watch within Canada at:

Watch this documentary on the CBC website