The below post is from our friend “Marie.” She is sharing her story with us as she
tries a brain-retraining program (neurofeedback) with her daughter who has ADD
and severe memory issues. This
will be an ongoing series following their progress and success. We hope you find it helpful as you
search for solutions for your own children.
If you missed the first post, read it here:
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If you missed the first post, read it here:
Part 2. The First Three Sessions:
Hello again friends. Well, my daughter and I have committed to the process and we completed
our first three sessions.
How's it going?
The short
answer is there has been no change in her focus that I, or her teachers have
noticed.
The long answer is that we shouldn’t expect any change yet.
There are
30 sessions. In the first session she was introduced to all of the equipment
and how to attach the sensors to her ears and how to put on the belt and finger
sensor that measures her breathing and heart rate.
Breathing…from what I am
gathering, this is a big part of the ground work training.
The first thing she
had her do is some breathing exercises by looking at the screen. She was taught
to breathe through her nose making her stomach rise then releasing it through
her mouth. She was cued to do that by a graph that moved up and down on the
screen for about 3 minutes. My guess is that it helps to relax the mind (makes
sense right?) The technician
advised me to have her do those breathing patterns at night before bed so she
gets used to doing it right and doesn’t have to think about it. She said a lot
of people actually breathe wrong and do it backwards.
The next
step was to put a DVD, any DVD that she is wants, in the DVD player. This part
seems so simple, but is much more complex than my feeble brain can understand
or explain very well. Here is the essence of the program.
They have a sensor
placed on top of her head that measures her brainwaves. As she watches the
movie it monitors her brain activity. If she goes out of the norms that are set
in a certain area, the movie pauses briefly. So over time it trains the brain to
stop wandering “over there”.
Sounds a little like a dog with an invisible fence with a collar that
trains him to quit wandering “over there” – except of course there is no shock. Instead it is just annoying.
In
fact that was the one comment my daughter had about her first session. “Mom the
movie kept pausing, it was so annoying.” I said, “that is all a part of it
honey. It is strengthening your brain and over time it won’t pause as much.”
She happily accepted that and hasn’t complained about going again. In fact, she
is happy to be trying the program.
She knows how the drugs we tried make her feel, and she totally owns the
fact that her daydreaming can cause her problems.
As a side
note while in the waiting room I was reading one of the books they had there.
It was called HEALING YOUNG BRAINS The Neurofeedback Solution by Hill
and Castro. The first chapter was about Autism and how it can do amazing things
to help. I didn’t get very far in the book, but I am anxious to learn more.
I will check back in with you all after session 10!
Keeping you
posted – “Marie”
( Do you have experience with this type of therapy? Let us know what you think! ~ John: FPR
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