Hi there - I would like to know the experience of anyone who has had their child go through neurobiofeedback, the type that is usually administered by a psychologist (PhD) and has been in existence with various machines the past 10 years. Why did your child go through this type of biofeedback and did you find it effective? Also, how old is your child? I understand that there are 2 types of biofeedback: the type that has the child participating and the other with mostly the practitioner attending to the machine with some feedback from the patient. I am starting to read “The Symphony in the Brain.” Thanks for any feedback.
neurofeedback
I had planned on using this if my son still had attentional issues after interactive metronome and vision therapy. He also had occupational therapy at school which helped.
My son had a severe visual motor deficit that looked a lot like adhd. He was helped enough with these interventions so that I will probably not need neurofeedback. He does want to do Karate so we will do that after football season. I know he could still benefit from learning to relax better. I think it can be the key for some kids.
He is in so many things now our heads are spinning. Choir, school band playing sax, piano, football and vision therapy. There is absolutely no way he could have tolerated this schedule before all of the therapy we have done. He would have had daily meltdowns. He thrives on this schedule now.
If your child has coordination problems (even subtle inconsistant problems or dysgraphia) along with inattention, consider interactive metronome. Of all the things we have done IM has had the biggest impact. I think the research on IM is pretty compelling too.
Re: Neurobiofeedback
Karate had a really big impact on me in a positive way. I took this several years ago. It improved my coordination, and helped me relax. I liked doing the katas (which are prearranged sets of movements). I had uncontrolled partial complex seizures. I had a poor prognosis for ever having 100% control. After a few years of Karate I got my 100% control and haven’t had a seizure in 8 years or so. I pretty much think it was mostly Karate, not that I stopped taking seizure meds.
For the boys, a good teacher will de-emphasize the violent part of it, and it can actual help kids get control. The sparring is in a controlled setting which is good for them.
Anybody in Chicago, I have a great teacher to recommend.
—des
Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback requires a well-trained practitioner. Dr. David Amen, in one of his books (Healing ADD, I think) discusses it, along with diet and exercise. In the Washington, DC area where I live, more and more reputable psychologists approve of it as an alternative to drugs for ADHD.
My son had over 40 sessions of neurofeedback but not for typical ADHD. He went into cardiac arrest as a toddler and his brain was without oxygen for 12 minutes. Although no “damage” showed up on CAT scans and an MRI, this was a serious injury to the brain. Before starting neurofeedback, his EEG was totally abnormal, his brain waves were all over the place. Metaphorically speaking, the neurofeedback practitioner had to untangle and recalibrate many of the different brain waves.
I think neurofeedback is a reasonable option if you go to someone who is extremely well trained and really knows what they are doing.
I am also very excited about the work of the Handle Institute (www.handle.org). They address a wide-range of neurological disorders without drugs. You might want to check them out.
Re: Neurobiofeedback
Thanks for all your feedback and comments. My impression is that neurofeedback is very useful in treating people with brain injuries as well as a slew (sp?) of other disorders. Even if one finds a competent practitioner, the sessions are very expensive, however.
I was wondering if LindaW would be willing to e-mail me because I would like to ask her some questions. [email protected]. Thanks -Phoenix.
It’s been around a lot longer than that. In fact there was something of a fad for it back maybe 20 years ago and I participated. It is rather relaxing, but I would pick maybe the martial arts as being more valuable— ie able to carry over past the machines.
The research hasn’t been very enthusiastic except in a few cases— ie for people with a rare disorder called “Renaud’s syndrome”. I haven’t read of it being used to improve concentration, say. If it is for ADHD I think the research hasn’t been that great at all. If you don’t want to use drugs for ADHD, you might want to explore some cheaper options— yoga for kids, diet, martial arts (no research on this, but we did have a kid in the class that was ld, very poor coordination, etc. and this did help him, choose a teacher carefully), those kind of things.
Otoh, it won’t hurt, but if the kid has a predisposition to seizures, relaxing to alpha waves might be harmful.
—des