The role of the middle ear is central to a "revolutionary" US therapy for children with learning and behavioural problems that is being trialled in Melbourne, bringing hopes of a breakthrough for the way abused children are treated, taught and supported.

Stephen Porges, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois, devised the so-called Listening Project, and has successfully treated children with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In a partnership with the Australian Childhood Foundation, about 60 children aged up to 14 who have experienced trauma will trial the therapy in Melbourne, with hopes that it could help them develop self-control, interact normally and learn.

Stephen Porges. Credit:Getty Images/Josh Robenstone

Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive Joe Tucci said abused or neglected children could seem locked up; unable to read social cues and make friends or learn because they were overly focused on identifying threats in relationships. "Not only has Stephen Porges showed us where to find the lock, he's given us the key."

The "lock", Dr Porges asserts, is the middle ear, which is central to communicating danger to the brain and body, and the "key" is using certain frequencies of sound to retune it. He says some children who have experienced trauma, such as some with autism spectrum or ADHD, become hypersensitive to sound as their middle ear becomes permanently set to pick up threats. As a result their bodies are constantly in protective mode: they withdraw, attack or freeze up altogether.