ADD, ADHD and Learning Disorders
One of the most remarkable successes of brainwave neurofeedback is that we can use it to sort out the chaos associated with today’s ridiculous treatment of children with attention difficulties. ADD and ADHD are “waste basket” diagnoses. Children who are inattentive or boisterous are often labeled AD(H)D and then drugged, whether or not they are truly AD(H)D. Children are normally boisterous and it is sadly clear that as a society, we are sedating the normal age appropriate behavior of children. Children can be inattentive for many reasons; perhaps they are bored, frightened, uncomfortable, insecure, or confused in addition to, or instead of, having a neurological condition. We use precise, proven brainwave biofeedback neurotherapeutic techniques to pinpoint the exact nature of the child’s difficulty.
The elegant precision of neurotherapy in identifying the exact cause of a child’s inattentive or hyperactive difficulties makes neurotherapy the primary care choice for the treatment of children’s learning problems, without the use of dangerous drugs that can severely harm the child both physically and psychologically. Neurotherapy identifies the exact location of brain function inefficiencies. Armed with this precise data, the neurotherapist can correct brainwave anomalies, permanently. During the neurotherapeutic treatment of ADD, ADHD or LD, we engage the child in tasks such as reading, writing or mathematics while the neurotherapist treats the relevant brain locations. Neurotherapy is an extremely efficient and safe method for treatment of ADD, ADHD or other Learning Disorders. Neurotherapeutic treatment can elevate children with poor reading skills to be able to confidently read at grade level, with very few visits to our clinic.
There are many different types of AD(H)D and they each have their own definitive brainwave patterns. Some AD(H)D children are daydreamers who show excessive slow frequency (Theta) amplitude on top of the head. Some are the “fidgety kids who just can’t sit still” and often lose focus and/or concentration when it is very important to maintain them, such as while the child is in a learning environment. These children’s brainwaves show a marked deficiency of slow frequency amplitude in the back of the brain. Other children are the “little socially precocious chatterboxes” who can drive their teachers crazy with their inappropriate “socializing” during class time, and can be disruptive to the entire classroom. This type of AD(H)D shows brainwave patterns with an excess of Alpha amplitude in the front of the brain.
We always remind the parents of an ADHD child before the end of neurotherapeutic treatment for ADD or ADHD, that their child will behave in an age appropriate manner. He or she will be boisterous, nosey, stubborn and trying, as all children are at times. The child will not be sedated, as these are normal childhood behaviors.
For more information on parenting a child diagnosed with ADHD, we recommend reading Parenting the Child with ADHD: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach, by Dr. Vincent Monastra.
Learning Disorders, such as dyslexia, also show brainwave deficiencies that can be corrected with neurotherapy. The treatment of children with these difficulties includes, in addition to neurotherapy, skill remediation during the brainwave biofeedback treatment. Thus a child having problems with written output would be engaged in writing tasks while the relevant brain center is being stimulated. The combination of neurotherapy and specific skill remediation results in a very efficient and precise method to enhance skill development because the area of the brain responsible for the specific activity is being activated during the treatment of the Learning Disorder.
Dr. Swingle’s podcast Traumatic Brain Injury in Children offers an enlightening discussion on how mild TBI is often misdiagnosed as ADD in children.
