Treating autism with Neurofeedback treatment

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My grandson has started Neurofeedback treatment this spring in a year long program . He has ADHD-Autism-Mood disorder. He is showing improvements weekly. The goal is to be 50 to 100 percent off meds and have control of behavior issues. He has problems with agression and indecision. Wondering if anyone else out there has had sucess.

Hi, can you explain the treatment? I'm curious. Is it attention-improving computer games with an EEG helmet on, or something like that?

Yeah, tell us more!

I'm pretty sure it's no better than a placebo, and certainly more expensive.

Neurofeedback and the Need for Science-Based Medicine

I'd recommend learning relaxation techniques rather than all that expensive gadgetry.

In reply to how neurofeedback works. I am not an expert. But here it is as simply as possible. My grandson had a brain map done. This analysis shows how the brain waves are communicating in the brain in all the sections of the brain. A lot of his waves are too slow or too fast indicating problems. Some were at a normal level. Different areas of the brain control functions like sleep, agression etc. In order for him to function well these waves need to be at a normal level or communicating well. With the use of a computer he is retraining his brain to function normally. He has pads that attach to his head that track his brain waves during treatment. He also wears head phones and special glasses. He then hears and sees a video during which he retrains his brain. After the first session his sleep pattern was corrected. No more wandering at night unable to sleep and getting up before sun up. He no longer has any odd gestures or tics (sounds he makes) . The list goes on and on. His agression will be the last to be completly corrected. But we are already seeing improvements. His physciatrist when told he was undergoing this treatment immediately said "so when do we need to start weaning him off meds". That was incouraging. Go to the internet and research "Neurofeedback treatment". Lots of positive stuff out there. He has a great doctor and we are very lucky this type treatment has become availble. Covered by some insurances. If not I believe worth borrowing money. Not a cheap procedure but a whole lot less than buying some of these new cars we are willing to pay for. We will know by next summer the final outcome. Not a cure but certainly a tool to help him in life. He also got nutrition testing for allergens. He has changed his diet due to allergens which should help him feel much better too.

There may be a lot of positive stuff out there, but I can't find any high-quality research that backs it up. There's no evidence that there are "good" and "bad" brain waves, unless you're talking about epilepsy (which can't be consciously controlled, except by avoiding seizure triggers and exhaustion). There's no evidence that the "brain map" of your grandson's brain tells us anything, nor that the areas that were "too high" or "too low" were actually pathological rather than simply atypical. For all you know, they just marked anything outside one standard deviation of the mean--and that's if they were using any sort of statistical analysis at all.

Yes, you can change your brain waves through concentration. This is a form of biofeedback, and it is being used as a computer input/communication device for people with very impaired or absent motor control, who can learn to move a mouse pointer, direct a wheelchair, etc., by controlling their brain waves. It's also possible to use biofeedback and and EEG to teach people to get into a meditative state, though the addition of the EEG doesn't make meditation any more relaxing once you learn it.

It's troubling that they insisted he go off meds to do this. Medication can be helpful. If a treatment requires that you don't take medication, its value--if any--may be canceled out by the fact that you can no longer benefit from meds. If the meds weren't helping to begin with, then he shouldn't have been on them. And if they were helpful, then taking him off to do neurofeedback doesn't make much sense: Why would medication change your ability to watch an EEG and use the information to teach yourself to become more relaxed or more alert?

I have to say, though, that I have some benefits in researching this that many people don't have. I'm a university student and I can get at all of the article databases, all the major journals. Most people can't pay for that. I wish they could. I wish it were easier to do the research for people who don't have access to that. I do know that many schools allow visitor passes to their libraries, and that you can use their computer system. Talk to the librarian first; ask about how to find out which journals are reputable (especially important: peer-reviewed). Also do some reading on how to analyze an experiment for procedural and statistical flaws, so that you are not misled by poorly-done research.

No, he is not off meds now.. His doctor would never recommend that till he showed improvement and showed no need for them. Well despite any skeptism it is working for lots of people. They are no longer med dependent . The meds do lots of damage to the body. Most are experimental and no long term studies are complete. They work 50% to 70% of the time. Let see where his improvements keep going by next year. He has quite a way to go and he changes every week. This is a permanent fix so what is corrected will not be undone. Whether his problem is genetic or birth trauma or whatever is still up for debate.
Isn't it better to treat the problem in the brain rather than cover up the symptons quite often unsucessfully with meds that harm the body. He takes blood tests every year to look for damage to his body from his meds. A life time of meds could do a lot of damage. His doctors oldest patient came to him at 68 years old with a lifetime of unsucessful meds and a chaotic life. This person is doing well and now off meds. That is the goal to make peoples lifes better and more sucessful. Some of the extreme autisic patients are able to feed themselves now. There parents feel even this is an awesome improvement. Maybe more to follow. If you have a austic family member you care for or are one aren't you looking for ways to improve? I think a good doctor not one out for glory or $$$ makes the difference. My grandson is fortunate to have a good group of medical people looking out for him. Lets see how it goes.