Hearing pioneer moves on
An Inglewood teacher who brought therapeutic music to the ears of Taranaki children is stepping down.
Kylie Ujdur, who brought the brand of Tomatis Listening Therapy to Taranaki, wanted people to know that just because she was leaving it didn’t mean Tomatis was too.
The therapy, which helps with depression, anxiety and communication issues, is aimed at both children and adults who have learning difficulties, particularly in the areas of communication.
By broadcasting music at various frequencies, listening therapy seeks to surprise the brain and create new neural pathways.
Sessions run for two hours with clients donning special headphones with ear conductors and a bone conductor.
Ujdur is moving across the ditch to continue her studies from next year.
‘‘I’m hoping to continue my study of the ear so I’m looking at wanting to do some audiometry study so I will be able to work with hearing and listening.
‘‘I think that’s really important. It’s good to understand all aspects of the ear rather than just one portion of it.’’
There are 10 Tomatis practitioners in the region.
‘‘We have the highest concentration of practitioners in the region of Taranaki compared to the whole of New Zealand,’’ Ujdur said.
Rebecca Sedgwick’s sevenyear-old son Daniel began using Tomatis at the beginning of the year and said it had been life changing for the family.
He was born with Cerebral Palsy after being born premature and Rebecca was told that he may not ever walk or talk.
Tomatis, although not responsible for all of his improvements, has seen Daniel develop better communication skills and he is now able to run and jump, Sedgwick said.
‘‘Essentially he is communicative, bright, aware, conversational, physically more able, able to write better, comprehends things at school better and his balance, walking,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s a gradual process but when I look back before he started to now he’s a completely different child. Those kind of improvements are massive.’’
Ujdur’s vision was to have Tomatis in schools as a part of the curriculum and Julianne Swanepoel, who is taking over from Ujdur, hopes to continue this vision. "Her vision was to have it out there and have it in schools, so that is where I want to carry on,’’ Swanepoel said.