|
||
 |
|
|
For patient confidentiality, the names of patients have been changed to protect their privacy. February, 2008 My child Hayden has only had 8 out of 12 Neurofeedback sessions. The improvement with Hayden virtually started straight away. Firstly family, friends and teachers would comment on the change to the better with my son. Hayden's manner continues to improve and the flow on was a great change in his attitude and maturity. The main change to his personality was that he wanted to improve his own school skills so he could be as quick and as clever as all the others in his class. Before Neurofeedback this never was a consideration by him. Since the program he actually wants to try harder and is getting a sense of self satisfaction. Also it is a great breath of fresh air for myself to have an enjoyable compliant child and I can communicate better with him. Also I am really finally enjoying my child. Hayden is now almost 12 years of age so it has taken me over 7 years to finally get an answer without medication, which I might add, I have been against from the beginning ( I know there are mixed opinions with medications). But I have definately strived for a patient friendly answer. Neurofeedback is the ultimate choice for my family and we are a lot happier. Thank you so much for all the hard work the Liverpool team have provided.
Yours Sincerely, March, 2006 To The Brainwave Centre, about your Neurofeedack treatment. My daughter Melanie was diagnosed ADD AD/HD in Term 4 of Year 4 at the age of 9. From a toddler, Melanie was a handful. A risk taker, demanding and confrontational but also a child prone to anxiety and low self esteem. Seperation Anxiety was a big issue from 2 to 4. At age 4 1/2 she was unable to leave the house if there were clouds in the sky because they might kill her. Through therapy we determined that she had seen on Television News that someone had been struck by lightning and had died.In Year 4 Melanie participated in an Anxiety Management and Self-Esteem Course at Peakhurst. They suggested having Melanie assessed at the Anxiety Management Clinic at Macquarie University. It was through this assessment that they felt the issue was ADD AD/HD with anxiety and self-esteem being symptoms of this. They sent us to the Brain and Behaviour Centre (now BrainWave Centre) at Westmead for an EEG. Our paediatrician helped us understand the results of Melanie's initial EEg. As Melanie was not aggressivie or out of control I asked for alternative therapy options instead of using chemical medication. Melanie was put on Effalex-an Omega-3 mixture, a diet low in sugar and caffeine and suggested kinesiology. We approached her primary school and her School Counsellor and her teacher worked with Melanie on time management and organisational skills. The combined effort of these therapies and counselling rewarded itself as Melanie recieved the Most Improved Student Award, at the end of year 5. While Melanie remained in her very supportive primary school she continued to cope. High School brought a new set of challenges as her support was gone. She was on her own and expected to manage her time and organise herself without assistance. Her first report at the end of term 2 indicated that Melanie was failing in everything except music. Parent/Teacher interviews confirmed that she was not paying attention in class, finishing work or handing in all required assignments. Half-yearly exam results were poor. We went back to see Melanie's paediatrician who recommended she improve her diet. The paediatrician also suggested Melanie would benefit from Neurofeedback. She still felt that medication could be avoided but did warn Melanie that without an improved diet and some effort on her part, medication may be the only option. We contacted the Brain and Behaviour Centre (now BrainWave Centre) and the therapist explained how Neurofeedback works. After looking at Melanie's initial EEG results, they recommended 40 sessions. We started in term 4 of year 7. The initial indication of change in Melanie was an overall calmness. She seemed less agitated and more able to sit still. Next was a drop in confrontational behaviours. She became less agumentative and less prone to tantrums when requested to carry out tasks. The Neurotherapy sessions continued through the school break. Melanie went to Queensland to visit some friends at the end of January 2006. By this stage we were half way through the treatment. The people in Queensland could not believe the change in Melanie's temperament. As school returned in February 2006, the biggest changes were noticed. Homework and projects were usually a huge deal in the house with Melanie not being able to work out how to attempt a project or start her homework. Either myself or her father would have to sit with her and it mostly ended in frustration, anger and tears. Melanie's ability to comprehend maths is her biggest problem. I noticed that she wasn't asking for help very often and thought that she wasn't doing her homework. She showed me her finished work and it was clear that although she wasn't getting all the work correct she was attempting to complete it without assistance and without emotion. I also noticed a marked improvement in her handwriting. I continued to check her work and she is getting most of it correct first go. We are now 35 weeks into her Neurofeedback therapy and she has achieved 3rd in her class maths exam, 25/30 for an impromptu spelling test and Ist in her English class for book review and collage. She had very little assistance completing the English assignment. My input was to time her speech and make some suggestions regarding order of themes. All the words and artwork was completed by Melanie by herself. Another area where improvements have been noticed is in her favourite sport, basketball. Her coordination and ability to play the game has improved so much she was selected to play at the representative level for Bankstown Basketball Association. A second EEG completed after 30 sessions showed Melanie's theta waves were now within normal range and her betas waves were almost there. Overall Melanie is now a confident, happy teenager able to cope with what life throws her way. As her Mother, it is a huge relief to know that she can manage her life without the need for medication. Neurofeedback was our last option and we are thrilled with the results. Jane Burkat.
February, 2007
My son has always been different. He is the third of four children but I just thought, well, everybody is different. Every day from the day he was born he would chuck a tantrum in the afternoon and cry for 1- 2 hrs and be totally non-negotiable. He would just cry himself to sleep and consequently wake up with a hoarse voice. I never quite worked out what that was all about. At the age of 3yrs that began to turn into every 2nd day and so on until now it hardly happens at all. He’s now 9yrs. When he started pre-school he never made friends and had difficulty with recognizing colours so had him tested for colour blindness but he wasn’t, of course. He had difficulty with his speech and forming proper sentences so had his ears and eyes tested but all came back negative. I took him to the doctor on numerous occasions worried about how slowly he seemed to be learning things but all I was told time and time again is that all children are different and learn at different stages. But as a Mother I knew something was wrong but just couldn’t put my finger on it. At 51/2yrs he started school so he was one of the eldest in the class. I told the teacher he was an interesting child and she would have fun with him but she said “Oh, he’ll be right.” Half way through the year she said “You should have him tested, he’s not concentrating or paying attention.” So I took him to a pediatrician. All he said was that he has problems concentrating so lets put him on Ritalin. Well I thought “Over my dead body.” I immediately got my back up and ignored him and just did my best with my son over the next couple of years and helped him where I could. I took him to a speech therapist for about a year but that didn’t help much either. In year 3 he was still falling further behind. He had the same teacher he had in Kindy and she noticed the lack of improvement since Kindy and prompted me to have him tested for ADD. Well, as far as I was concerned my son didn’t have ADD. He wasn’t jumping of walls as you see on the TV, he just has difficulties concentrating. So off we went up to the Brain and Behaviour Centre and had an EEG done which came back positive. So off we toddled do a different pediatrician for a diagnosis and sure enough he has ADD. Apparently there are 3 different forms of ADD. Hyperactive Inattentive and Hyperactive/Inattentive Of course, I was in denial for about 24hrs. But again all the pediatrician wanted to do was put him on Ritalin but I figured there had to be more than one way to skin a cat so I started doing my homework on the net - as you do. I then came across Neurofeedback and how it can help children with ADD. I was a bit skeptical at first but I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Here are my diary inputs.
September 4, 2006 3 Sessions I feel his fog is starting to clear. What I say doesn’t have to filter through so much like I’m talking to him from under water and he’s only getting part of what I’m saying. It has always taken him about 18mths to learn something and consequently he is falling further and further behind at school. Maybe now that the fog is thinning he can hear me, I can teach him, he can learn. I didn’t realize how much of an issue his ADD was until now. Now that it’s starting to clear. A big weight is being lifted off my shoulders. My little boy can now learn. I had a good cry Sun night. Another thing that happened on the weekend was, I could feel a tantrum brewing on Sat and new he would erupt on Sun and in which state he is totally non-negotiable. But when he did come to the crescendo, he did not erupt, he was totally negotiable and listened to reason. Improvements this weekend: Learning body language; Asking questions and listening to answers without interrupting; Doing chores without arguing; Becoming age appropriate in play. Seems to have matured by about 6mths in 1 weekend. His siblings and peers still have their back-up but that will come with time. What has really come out of this so far and which was totally unexpected is the learning of body language. It has really brought home how much he didn’t get it and why friendships have been so difficult for him.
September 6, 2006 4 Sessions Once he can concentrate for long periods of time, there will be a lot of re-learning and catching up to do. We will have to wait and see whether repeating is an option or tutoring.
September 11, 2006 5 Sessions James has just started spelling out words in conversation. He will say “Let’s have dinner – d-i-n-n-e-r”. He’s actually interested in spelling. He also spent about 3hrs playing with lego and building on Saturday. He was concentrating on something for that long. It’s amazing. James managed to get his homework done in ½ hr compared to 1 ½ hrs this afternoon, including spelling words, 3,4 & 5 x tables with no whinging. He even did 3 x tables on maths invaders. It wasn’t easy but at least he did it. There was a little bit of whinging there.
September 13, 2006 6 Sessions
September 23, 2006 9 Sessions His maths seems to be improving quite a lot. The 20 addition and subtraction questions he had for homework he did in about 2 mins without a problem. He didn’t have to use his fingers to add up. I was watching him and asked how he knew the answers so easily and he said he just remembered. Maths has always been so hard for him, having to count up and down on his fingers. I’ve now got him doing his timestables on Maths Invaders on the computer. He’s not arguing about doing them. They’re not coming that easily but it takes a lot of repetition with timestables. At least he’s doing them.
October 3, 2006 12 Sessions
October 18, 2006 15 Sessions
November 9, 2006 21 Sessions
November 16, 2006 21 Sessions
February 12, 2007 40 Sessions He is making friends. He is having a friend over this Friday. He is just so much happier in himself and confident. I can’t believe this is the same boy as 6mths ago. Another big change in all of the Neurofeedback is his oppositional behaviour, which he always had a bit of, has all but completely disappeared. The household is so much calmer now. It is so much nicer for his siblings as well.
I now have a boy that can learn. |
