Neurofeedback versus medication for ADHD in children

[iron~orchid]

In Neurotherapy individuals are trained through the use of computerized biofeedback equipment to change their brainwave activity.

Do you feel it is less intrusive to use this therapy on children rather than the drugs they now administer ? It is scary these days that a school teacher can create a situation, involving your child, where mandatory drug inducement is acceptable to control the child and make their job easier.

 

[quantumcarl]

Originally posted by iron~orchid
In Neurotherapy individuals are trained through the use of computerized biofeedback equipment to change their brainwave activity.

Do you feel it is less intrusive to use this therapy on children rather than the drugs they now administer ? It is scary these days that a school teacher can create a situation, involving your child, where mandatory drug inducement is acceptable to control the child and make their job easier.

That's a good idea, Orchid.

I think parents might serve as a good biofeedback machine. They are in a position to reward, pay attention and be there in general throughout an infant/toddler/gradeschool kid's life...

The day that we "adults" leave it to a machine to respond/reinforce/relax/rediaper/re and re children is the day that there will be no more children and, probably no more anyone-at-all.

I have yet to get you some data on biofeedback... sorry... coming soon to a thread near you!@

 

[kat]

Originally posted by iron~orchid
In Neurotherapy individuals are trained through the use of computerized biofeedback equipment to change their brainwave activity.

Do you feel it is less intrusive to use this therapy on children rather than the drugs they now administer ? It is scary these days that a school teacher can create a situation, involving your child, where mandatory drug inducement is acceptable to control the child and make their job easier.

I've heard positive comments on the use of biofeedback for add and adhd kids in our own school district, a friend of mine works with the senior class as an adjustment counselor, personally I've had no experience with it as I had pulled my own adhd child out (and discontinued medicating him) of the public school system years ago.
I have to point out that "drug inducement" is not mandatory in public schools, it's always by parental choice. I also don't believe it's fair to state that the school teacher created the situation. It would be difficult for me to invision any classroom that could really encompass all of the neccesary adjustments for so many possible learning styles that exist in children not exclusive to only add and adhd children, this is of course why public school as it exists today will continue to fail many children.

 

[iron~orchid]

Thank you, kat, for your responding.

I stated a school teacher "can" create...

A teacher can pull a child into the vortex of being critically examined by school officials, thus, causing the parent to seek either medical of psychological evaluation of the child to prove one way or the other the need or not of medication of "said" teacher diangosed condition of ADD/ADHD.

It is up to the parent to prove differently if the finger is pointed at their child, is it not ?

 

[iron~orchid]

My apology, Kat, if I sounded defensive or offensive as I am a bit conditioned having come from a board where people are under constant attack.

It is interesting that you pulled your child from school if the condition was not irritated by the teacher's input and I hope all has worked well for you and they.


I have had a recent incidence with a teacher diagnosing this disorder for my brother's young son which caused expenses incurred on his part to have psychological evaluation done to prevent the School Board from taking action against him. The results of the evaluation proved he was not suffering from the problem of ADD but the classroom problems being experienced were based on the teacher's personality conflict with the child.

The increase in the incidence of attention deficit disorders is both dramatic and alarming. Although the problem is complex, the answer can be simple.

It is estimated that about seventy per cent of the time the cause of the attention or hyperactive problem is the overgrowth of the naturally occurring Candida yeast in the child, with the upset biochemistry this brings.


Many natural health oriented doctors believe that potential causes for the modern epidemic of Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD) and hyperactivity are:

Food additives
Refined sugar
Poor nutrition
Natural light deficiency
Food allergies
Heavy metal toxicity (such as lead, mercury, or cadmium)
Poor teaching methods combined with lack of discipline

ADD interferes with the child's home, school and social life. Unable to screen out stimuli, the child is easily distracted. This usually intelligent child receives a label of being "learning-disabled" and finds the nervous system cannot be slowed down to focus long enough to complete an assigned task. Other symptoms may be head knocking, self-destructiveness, temper tantrums, clumsiness and sleep disturbances. ADD may exist with or without the hyperactivity aspect.


There are simple and alternative remedies besides the popular drug induced control. For Instance:

Dr. John Ott, the pioneer in light-deficiency disorders, proved an association of natural light deficiency with ADD in the school system in Sarasota, Florida many years ago. You can read about it in Dr. William Campbell Douglass' book, Into the Light. (A)

Dr. Douglass suggests that if your child or grandchild has been diagnosed with ADD, all the light bulbs in your home should be replaced with full spectrum lights (everyone should do this anyway). (8) You might also attempt to get the schools in your area to install full-spectrum lights.

The vast majority of medical doctors consider Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to be of unknown causes. Yet it's a known fact that the elimination of food additives and refined sugar produces dramatic improvements. An anti-fungal corrective diet can be administered. Why haven't you been told this well-known fact?

CONSIDERING THE ADVERTISING REVENUES, IT DOESN'T TAKE A GENIUS TO SEE WHY THE PRINT AND BROADCAST MEDIA HAVE, FOR THE MOST PART, REFUSED TO PUBLICIZE THIS VITAL INFORMATION!

 

[kat]

Originally posted by iron~orchid
My apology, Kat, if I sounded defensive or offensive as I am a bit conditioned having come from a board where people are under constant attack. Don't worry about it, I just hadn't noticed your response. It tends to be a sensitive issue as it deals with a very precious commodity, our children.

It is interesting that you pulled your child from school if the condition was not irritated by the teacher's input and I hope all has worked well for you and they. Well, the teacher didn't create the issue, children each have different learning styles, needs and capabilities, some teachers are better equiped to deal with a wide range of styles, needs and capabilities others are not, for whatever reasons be it personality, carelessness or their own learning styles and capabilities. Certainly there are teachers that have no business in the field, but for those who might have the ability to be very effective there is also a limitation to their ability to help certian children because of the confines of the "system" period. ADHD and ADD children are particularly difficult to adjust a classroom for because of the high level of distractions, many times it comes down to...for a child to succeed in this atmosphere without "stigma" and within the usually already overburden limits of the teacher within the classroom, the easiest route is to medicate.


I have had a recent incidence with a teacher diagnosing this disorder for my brother's young son which caused expenses incurred on his part to have psychological evaluation done to prevent the School Board from taking action against him. I'm not sure how a teacher can legally diagnose a medical disorder? are you in the United States? I also don't understand how the School Board can take action against him, if this is in the U.S. the school must work within a team atmosphere that includes the parent, a child CANNOT be medicated without parent approval. The school must work within the federal laws and if they cannot provide the neccesary help for the child to succeed in the classroom then the school must provide moneys for alternative education in a private school. That is the law. If the school has not or is not able to provide sufficient testing, or if the parent is unhappy with the testing they are allowed to acquire outside testing, usually at the schools expense. This is also federal law. The results of the evaluation proved he was not suffering from the problem of ADD but the classroom problems being experienced were based on the teacher's personality conflict with the child. This is an entirely different matter, if no special needs are found..how did your brother handle the situation at this point?

The increase in the incidence of attention deficit disorders is both dramatic and alarming. Although the problem is complex, the answer can be simple.

It is estimated that about seventy per cent of the time the cause of the attention or hyperactive problem is the overgrowth of the naturally occurring Candida yeast in the child, with the upset biochemistry this brings.


Many natural health oriented doctors believe that potential causes for the modern epidemic of Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD) and hyperactivity are:

Food additives
Refined sugar
Poor nutrition
Natural light deficiency
Food allergies
Heavy metal toxicity (such as lead, mercury, or cadmium)
Poor teaching methods combined with lack of discipline

ADD interferes with the child's home, school and social life. Unable to screen out stimuli, the child is easily distracted. This usually intelligent child receives a label of being "learning-disabled" and finds the nervous system cannot be slowed down to focus long enough to complete an assigned task. Other symptoms may be head knocking, self-destructiveness, temper tantrums, clumsiness and sleep disturbances. ADD may exist with or without the hyperactivity aspect.


There are simple and alternative remedies besides the popular drug induced control. For Instance:

Dr. John Ott, the pioneer in light-deficiency disorders, proved an association of natural light deficiency with ADD in the school system in Sarasota, Florida many years ago. You can read about it in Dr. William Campbell Douglass' book, Into the Light. (A)

Dr. Douglass suggests that if your child or grandchild has been diagnosed with ADD, all the light bulbs in your home should be replaced with full spectrum lights (everyone should do this anyway). (8) You might also attempt to get the schools in your area to install full-spectrum lights.

The vast majority of medical doctors consider Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to be of unknown causes. Yet it's a known fact that the elimination of food additives and refined sugar produces dramatic improvements. An anti-fungal corrective diet can be administered. Why haven't you been told this well-known fact? Well, I don't agree that this stuff is difficult to find. It's on numerous parent advocate sites, all over the web. This is stuff that was around for anyone to read 15 years ago when my son had entered pre-school and I began to delve into the issue. I agree, it's tragic the number of children developing different issues that are being labeled with a blanket label of ADD. Each child is different and when high percentages of children in one area show similar issue it's important to recognize that there may be environmental factors. I noticed that my son had an unbeleiveable craving for processed meats and sugars, I cut these out of his diet but this did not change his ADHD, putting him in the less distractable atmosphere of my own home and allowing him to study in the quiet hours of late evening did. Over time, without medication, he was able to learn self modification methods to self correct many of the difficulties that his AHDH presents. He will never be comfortable sitting in an office chair, he is studying to be a wilderness guide, he's very good at it..it is his "niche" but it is a niche he may not have discovered if I had allowed my son the square peg to continue to be forced into the round hole..
CONSIDERING THE ADVERTISING REVENUES, IT DOESN'T TAKE A GENIUS TO SEE WHY THE PRINT AND BROADCAST MEDIA HAVE, FOR THE MOST PART, REFUSED TO PUBLICIZE THIS VITAL INFORMATION!