Alternatives for Special Kids Conference, Irvine

Author: Darien C. Small

We are going to be participating in the upcoming Conference in Irvine, Alternatives for Special Kids, May 8-11. Darien Small, the organizer, was motivated to launch the first of these annual conferences last year in Boston because of his own experience as the father of a child with special needs. After the modest start, this year Darien is bringing together a large variety of resources for these children under one roof, with a wide spectrum of speakers. It should be a nice hothouse environment for them all. Sue and I are both giving presentations, and we will be participating in a number of workshops throughout the period. There will also be an exhibit area, where we will feature not only conventional neurofeedback but also Roshi II and HEG. We will of course also be promoting the practitioner network.

Darien’s most remarkable achievement has been the procurement of funding support for his conference. He is therefore able to offer scholarships for attendance. These scholarships may be particularly appropriate for those clinicians who are in dual roles both as neurofeedback practitioners and as parents of special-needs kids. We encourage attendance by any practitioner who is working with this population. Families are welcome at this conference. About 60% of attendees are expected to be families, and 40% professionals. Families bring their special needs kids, and these get to acquaint themselves as well with the available technologies. Attending families are typically well connected with support networks at home, having been commissioned as scouts to take the message back. So attendance may also be a way for you to build your practice. Continue reading “Alternatives for Special Kids Conference, Irvine”

An example of the value of an activation database in remediation of memory problems in a 9 year old Learning Disabled Female

Author: Kirtley Thornton, Ph.D.

A nine-year hold female with a history of a learning disability was self-referred to our clinic. She was evaluated under cognitive activation procedures with the Lexicor 24 channel unit. The activation tasks involved auditory memory, reading memory, eyes closed, auditory and visual attention and problem solving with the Raven’s matrices. The sampling range was set to 256K to allow for information up to the 64-Hertz range to be included in the analysis. The normative comparison database was collected employing a 256K sampling rate.

Her QEEG results were compared to the activation database on the values relevant to success at the task. For this particular subject, she showed problems in the coherence and phase values emanating from the T3 location to the other 18 locations in the 10-20 system. Her values ranged from .50 Standard Deviations (SD) below the norm to 1.5 SD below the norm. Her problem was particularly evident during the recall stage as her phase alpha values from T3 were 2-4 SD below the norm. This problem was addressed by having her pause the audiotape and quietly recall to herself the information she had just heard. Continue reading “An example of the value of an activation database in remediation of memory problems in a 9 year old Learning Disabled Female”