New ADHD therapy by Bytemite

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New ADHD therapy

POSTED BY: BYTEMITE
UPDATED: Sunday, July 17, 2011 21:07
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Thursday, July 14, 2011 6:25 PM

Saw a report on this on my local news. I was intrigued.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/
articles/2009/09/10/neurofeedback-an-adhd-treatment-that-retrains-the-brain

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Friday, July 15, 2011 12:14 AM

THEHAPPYTRADER

Very interesting. The EEG provides instant feedback essential to dealing with ADHD and rewards focus. Starting with a preferred activity is good, but I'm curious as to how the therapy progresses. Including that in the article might have made it too long I suppose.

That fact that it appears to all be done via a computer or television screen does make me skeptical as to how well it transfers to other environments, such as the classroom. Perhaps they incorporate distractions as part of the therapy. If it really has no side effects and transfers to areas off of a screen, I think it would be preferable to drugs.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 4:41 AM

BYTEMITE

I'm not sure what you mean by "how does the therapy progress."

I don't imagine schools have access to the medical sensors they use and attach to the scalp, but I don't think it would be too expensive. Expenses for the therapy currently seems to be because it's experimental instead of a high price tag for the equipment.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 10:30 AM

FREMDFIRMA

This is really just a refined and updated version of similar therapies in use for years by folks who don't buy into Big Pharmas forever-junkie method of treating such problems.

Whether it be therapy in combination with (temporary) meds in progresively smaller doseage, or simply therapy alone, focus-familiarity is very TIME consuming, compared to shoving a pill on them, and most health insurance won't touch it with a ten foot pole.

All the biofeedback does is refine the process with visual cues, replacing or substituting for the trained observer otherwise required - and of course the novelty and structure keeps the patients interest.

My method is simply to set a task, like building a birdhouse, or something constructive which interests them, which requires attention and focus to do correctly, while watching and offering comment and encouragement when they waver, prettymuch the same function, you think about it - I also note that the study doesn't cover what happens when they roll too far the otherway and go into hyperfocus, or worse, hyperfocus frenzy, aka "Gone Sparky".

Overall it just seems their replacing one human element of therapy with a machine, which may in some ways be more efficient, but I am not so sure that's entirely a good idea when machines have neither heart, soul, nor empathy.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 1:18 PM

THEHAPPYTRADER

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
I'm not sure what you mean by "how does the therapy progress."

I don't imagine schools have access to the medical sensors they use and attach to the scalp, but I don't think it would be too expensive. Expenses for the therapy currently seems to be because it's experimental instead of a high price tag for the equipment.

The article suggest it starts with a preferred activity. Every ADHD child I have met or worked with has had a preferred activity or few in which they could remain very focused, for hours at a time even. Of course, the ones I've worked with also had Autism or Aspergers, so that could be a qualifier.

There's one 3 1/2 year old with Mild Autism and possible ADHD who can do therapy with an Ipad for 45 min (with 2 min breaks every now and again where he plays with a preferred application). His performance drops significantly and he cannot take much more than 15 min at a time (still with small breaks) when applying the same skills to physical objects (touch 'ball', point to 'grape', say 'car'). IMO if a skill cannot be applied outside of the classroom or on the device (with obvious exception to device only skills like typing and such) then the skill isn't really learned.

It's good that the machine can help 'train' them to focus with the preferred activity, but what's next? Non-preferred activity? Added distractions? How would you add distractions using this machine? How will the child transfer this skill to another environment?

Quote:
Praising and rewarding a child when he steps up production of beta waves by concentrating on the game or movie should therefore teach him how to focus at will in other settings, such as doing homework assignments or cleaning his room.

I believe this is entirely possible, but the jump from video gaming to homework might be too great I distance. Or perhaps the skills do transfer and differences in performance could be purely behavioral.

I'm sure there are good answers to my questions. These folks are likely far more knowledgeable and experienced at this sort of thing than I. I'm just curious as to the details, especially concerning performance off the machine as after therapy. I'm not criticizing the technique as much as just curious about it.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 1:24 PM

BYTEMITE

Well, it does mention that they started to do better in school, though I'm not sure that's necessarily the most valid measure of improvement.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 1:55 PM

MINCINGBEAST

It is universally acknowledged that all children from upper-middle class backgrounds have ADHD and autism.

Scientologists have the right idea, and not just about Xenu. Psychology and psychiatry are dumb, and the cure for ADHD is a cocktail of shame, testosterone and silence.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 2:05 PM

BYTEMITE

What about entrained contempt and self-loathing for both the task, the society, and the person? I'd imagine that's an important part of your proposed therapy.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 6:40 PM

DREAMTROVE

I concur with Mince.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Sunday, July 17, 2011 9:07 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Interesting thread.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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