Neurotherapy

[Daisy2278]

Has anyone tried neurotherapy/neurotherapyfeedback for ADHD? It is a big investment that insurance does not cover, wanted to know if anyone has any feedback about it.

[bzipp]

My 11 year old son, had treatments 2x/week for 18 months. His EEG clearly showed a re-balancing of his neurological profile (lowering of his beta waves, and fewer areas of imbalance). Our hope was that he would be able to eliminate his Adderall meds; unfortunately this was not the case. He was, however, able to reduce his dosage. I understand that there is a more advanced treatment protocol that uses 3D imaging and is supposed to have a more immediate effect with fewer treatments. If you are going to pursue this, I would suggest that you find a clinic that offers the QEEG or LoRETA approach. Good luck!

[Jimquill]

For Daisy2278 re Nuerotherapy. I have tried nuerofeedback about 6 years ago for my then 5th grader. I have to say we did see some good changes and even his teacher was impressed, however, the improvements were short term. We had to place my son on medication in 6th grade. Now the only question is maybe he required a small dose of medicine because of the neurotherapy ...hard to say. Also, possibly the demands of 6th grade were greater than the previous years.

[Elijah1]

The research reports about the effectiveness of neurofeedback vary. Those who offer the procedure and do studies about it report positive effects (with criticism of the shortcomings of their work by some in their own group) . Those who are not involved in offering it and do or review studies do not usually find a positive effect. The most recent adult study found no significant benefit. It may affect working memory but does not seem to have a major effect on the core ADHD symptoms. It has an associated expense. Even 3D imaging, QEEG and LoRETA (fancier does not mean better) require good research to prove the claimed effects. Bottom line - if you have the money and are willing to spend it, it won't hurt (don't let it distract from proven interventions) but set a time limit on the amount of time and money that will be spent and have a neutral third party who does not know what you are doing give reports about progress.