Want info about PACE Neuronet & Brainbuilder!!!

Hi Laura, I am in a bit of a hurry but did want to post to your thread.

Do a search on this board by clicking on “search” and then putting in one of the three topics. Make sure you mark the date to search over the last 6 to 9 months. You will find a lot of posts on these programs (pros and cons) and will get info for the web sites. If you still have further questions, please post again. I would be happy to tell you more specific info about my experience with PACE and NeuroNet. (Both, however, are great program if that is what your child needs.)

I don’t know anything about brainbuilder.

Donna in MO

Brainbuilder is a computer program with exercises that help build digit span—a particular type of memory. It is boring but I know people who have great success with it and have seen leaps in their kids’ abilities with increased digit span. My son has done it but never with enough consistency that I can comment too much on it.

Neuronet is a therapy based on the vestibular system that was developed by an audiologist. It is integrative—and works very much at the sensory-motor level of development. We have done it for about a year and have seen wonderful gains as a result. My son has CAPD—integration subtype.

PACE is a cognitive development program which pretty much assumes an intact sensory motor foundation. We did it last summer with mixed results. We saw improvements in speed of visual processing, visual discrimination, visual spatial abilities, and visual memory. My son really struggled with many of the tasks and didn’t come near age level. It is a good program I think if the deficit is located at the cognitive level. We had done vision therapy prior to PACE which helped. We have returned to doing the auditory processing portion of the program after completing some sound therapy—The Listening Program—and are having more success. Frankly, for us, I am not sure it was worth the time and effort (and money) but I think that is because my son’s problems are very sensory based. Others have had far more success than we. If you search these boards, you will find success stories.

Beth

Hi Laura, I got your e-mail. I thought that I would respond on this board to provide this information to others that might need it.

I agree with Beth’s assessment of both NeuroNet and PACE. The magic to any program is that you match what the program provides, to the weaknesses your child has.

I wish that there would be someone that could do a complete evaluation of a child and then have an understanding of all the different programs to make recommendations of which program to put a child in. It would save all of us a lot of time and money because sometimes it’s trial and error.

My son and dd both did a minimum of 8 weeks of NeuroNet. (My dd did about 4 months.) My dd’s articulation and her language skills really improved. Her rapid naming, I thought, also improved althought I don’t have any tests to base that on. My son made gains but his main problem was and still is rapid naming. NeuroNet helped this but has not “cured it”. Because my son has been in doing different programs for the last three years, I am giving him a break. However, if I was to go back to a program to help with processing issues, I would go back to the tasks offered with both NeuroNet and PACE. I haven’t found any other program which addresses these concerns.

My son went through the PACE and the MTC program. His processing speed improved by 2 years, working memory improve 2 years, visual processing skills improved 2 years, auditory anylisis improved 7 years, however, his reading skills did improve, he is still reading one year behind his grade level. However, because of his gains, he no longer qualifies for the special reading group which I am VERY happy about. PACE really built a stronger base for visual and auditory processing. I also had my dd do some of the auditory tasks when she was only 5 and I know that his made a huge difference in her auditory skills.

The problem with these programs is finding a provider and then being able to afford the provider. Because of my Occupation Therapy degree, I was able to go to these conferences and then provide the service to my son and dd. I found this to be much less expensive and much more convenient.

I hope I answered your questions. If not, let me know.
Donna in MO

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with these products! I can understand how there’s a lot of trial and error in finding something effective, and agree that it would be great if there were some way to get an accurate assessment of what was going on and then be told what programs would be most likely to help.

But every bit of information really helps! If I think of any more questions I’ll post them. (also, I just figured out how to do a search on this site and found a great deal of infomation this way!)

Donna you wrote:

“I wish that there would be someone that could do a complete evaluation of a child and then have an understanding of all
the different programs to make recommendations of which program to put a child in. It would save all of us a lot of time
and money because sometimes it’s trial and error.”

I wonder about this a lot—why don’t such people exist? Also your other question—Why does it have to be so hard to find providers? Where I live, a big metropolitan area, you can’t even find SLPs who aren’t totally booked. Even when you do get in, there are no assurances they will be available to provide services the following year. And it’s not a question of money. Even if you had hundreds of thousands of disposable dollars to spend on it you would not be assured of such an evaluation or such remediation services.

So in the end, it comes down to the mother to try it all and do it all, at the sacrifice often of her natural relationship with the child and of the other kids.