Re: After 21 sessions w/ my ADHD son [2 Attachments]

[Guest guest]

Ross,If a client is getting frustrated, that often means the trainer has mis-set the targets.  I like, with nIR, to run the first session or 2 just having him look at the graph and see what it is that makes the line on the trend object rise.  Once he realizes that there is a way he pays attention that changes his performance, there is a greater sense of control.

I'd be inclined to set something like 80% auto threshold at least for a while if you're going to use video.  You can also switch from Enable to Brightness, so the video doesn't stop but simply darkens.

Bear in mind that most 7-year-olds don't have much of a prefrontal cortex.  It doesn't fully come online until the early-to-mid 20's.  So the training he is doing now is probably first bringing him up to a reasonable level for his age, and then he will move past what others his age can do.

Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.comUSA 305 433 3160BR 47 3346 6235

The Learning Curve, Inc.

On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 10:59 PM, Ross <rashley@...> wrote:

 

[Attachment(s) from Ross included below]

I started a nirHEG course with him in the first week of Dec., using

Bioexplorer with a design that pauses a video when measured blood flow

falls below a manually set threshold. I have been using videos of

cartoons that he likes. He just turned 7 earlier this month.

The changes aren't night and day. Most days we don't think neurofeedback

is working at all but there are little signs that it is. It's hard to

quantify, which is why I'm writing this. I spent some time in late Nov

looking for an open source version of the Test of Variables of Attention

(TOVA) and found one as a part of a more generalized battery called

PEBL. The test is called Toav. As far as I can tell it's very similar to

TOVA with the exception being that it costs $0. For those who are not

familiar with it, it is a 24 minute test where the subject presses a

button when a simple target appears on the computer screen and doesn't

press the button when a false target appears.

The first time we did the test, he applied himself for about 15 seconds,

then refused to carry on, no matter how much I pleaded, cajoled and

offered for reward. He hated it, and spent most of the test yelling

about how boring it was. He was immediately put off and rebelled for

about 10 minutes. I eventually coaxed him back to the keyboard and he

applied himself again for about 15 seconds and then began randomly

pressing keys and complaining. The first trial was difficult to say the

least.

Today we did the test again. He complained about being asked to do it

again but not as strenuously. He applied himself for about 45 seconds

and then flatly refused to go on. I offered a reward and told him I knew

he could do it, etc. To my surprise, he started trying. He squirmed in

the chair, at one time tapping the space bar with his feet, but he kept

going. At times he actually had an intense look on his face. He

completed the entire test.

Here are the reports generated by the test. I am including them as

attachments since the formatting might not come through. The first

report is for the first test.

2010 Nov. 27

---------------------------------------------------

Statistic Half 1 Half 2 Pooled

---------------------------------------------------

Total Trials 320 320 640

Correct Targets 38 22 60

Correct Foils 157 65 222

Correct Trials 195 87 282

Commission Errors 91 7 98

Ommission Errors 260 0 260

Correct RT Mean 445 456 449

Error RT Mean 405 600 419

RT Mean 417 490 430

RT SD 378 437 390

Anticipations 22 22 44

Multiple Responses 24 24 48

---------------------------------------------------

2011 Jan 23

---------------------------------------------------

Statistic Half 1 Half 2 Pooled

---------------------------------------------------

Total Trials 320 320 640

Correct Targets 67 238 305

Correct Foils 141 17 158

Correct Trials 208 255 463

Commission Errors 107 55 162

Ommission Errors 15 0 15

Correct RT Mean 479 390 410

Error RT Mean 443 375 420

RT Mean 457 387 413

RT SD 366 345 354

Anticipations 9 9 18

Multiple Responses 11 11 22

---------------------------------------------------

It's hard to quantify a problem like ADD/ADHD. His day to day behavior

is pretty erratic. He has a very short working memory and has a hard

time being still. But the reward I offered today was a trip to the

bookstore of all places where he could spend his own money buying a

Geronimo Stilton book. That seemed to work today and it wouldn't have

worked 2 months ago, although he has been reading for almost a year.

His diet is great. He gets enough sleep at night and he gets plenty of

physical activity. I wish I could see more day to day improvement in

hyperactivity and in working memory. He doesn't like to apply himself to

a task that will require thought. But right now he is reading in bed.

That new book of his is 320 pages and he's already read 50+.

I think this is working. Like I mentioned, the changes are subtle but

they are there. We'll take the test again after 20 more sessions.

--Ross