FAQ’S

What is neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback technology goes back more than 60 years to 1958 where they manage to demonstrate that humans could be trained to control their brain activity in response to feedback.

Now to give you a better understanding of how powerful this technology is let’s first look at the meaning behind the two words that make up Neuro-Feedback.

Neuron: A nerve cell that transmits INFORMATION thought out the brain and body.
Feedback: The process required to notice CHANGE in a system.

As humans our most important skill has been the ability to notice CHANGE quickly in the surroundings we find ourselves in by LEARNING and adapting to the new and always changing environment around us.

Neurofeedback is a technology that reads the brain activity and then notifies the brain what it just did but at a much quicker speed than what is humanly possible.

This technology has the ability to notify the brain of a change so that it can then learn quickly that something is new and different from before and from this discovery and new perspective of change the individual is invited back into the present moment and out of the old, repetitive and inefficient pattern behaviour.

In simple terms Neurofeedback allows the individual to learn more effectively by helping them come back into the present moment because for any learning to take place one needs to return to the present moment or no new learning will ever take place.

How does it work?

Neurofeedback does two things.

First, it reads your brain activity 256 per second and second it sends feedback to your brain in an audio format.

To read your brains activity we need to place sensors on the sculpt.

These sensors allow the neurofeedback system to read the delicate electrical activity of your brain, the sensors are not sending electricity into your brain they are only reading the brains activity, much like an ECG reads the electrical activity of a heart.

The trainer will then give you some headphones from where you will be listening to music and from where your brain will be receiving the feedback in an audio format.

Once the brain training begins you will be listening to meditation music and you may notice very brief pauses in the music.

The very precise timing of these interruptions in the music gives the brain feedback which is the vital information it needs to return to the present moment, It’s the feedback it needs to reorganise itself to operate more optimally.

During the session no conscious effort is required from the individual, all that is required during the training is for you to sit back, relax and let your brain do its job.

 

How can Neurofeedback help autistic individuals find their way in becoming more independent when facing daily challenges?

While the established interventions for autism addresses many challenges autistic individuals have by teaching them new skills, what they don’t address are two of the most important challenges one needs to deal with before any learning can take place which is to have a calmed and focused attention because if you can’t be in a calm state of mind and emotionally balanced then you will not be able to learn effectively and take in new information that will help you develop new skills and behaviours.

For Autism individuals to access certain regions of the brain for cognition they have to be calm and relaxed, if not the higher function areas in the brain, such as reasoning, subtracting and speech are not accessible. When you have a predictable neurofeedback system in place that has the end result of calming the brain then that makes learning much easier because effective learning cannot take place under stress.

After Neurofeedback training autistic individuals become more independent by being more resilient and flexible and this is achieved by reducing their anxiety levels and becoming emotionally balanced. Neurofeedback helps individuals find their way and navigate through life with less friction and more harmony than ever before.

 

What are the biggest mistakes Speech Therapist, Occupational therapist and ABA therapy all have in common when working with autistic individuals?

Today in the autism therapies most therapies are obsessed with their way of training and many times ignore the stressful state their clients are in.

All of these approaches teach new skills but it’s hard to teach someone who lacks emotional regulation. Somebody who lacks emotional regulation gets easily frustrated. What is required of an individual for any learning to take place is a calmed and focused attention. This is difficult for many autistic individuals and it’s what makes learning more challenging for them. They have a hard time focusing because of their sensory challenges, anxiety levels and because of the stressful state they are in.  These are all brain-based challenges.

Neurofeedback helps the individual recover easier access to different brain states and task. As this happens, learning and understanding increases also sleep improves. After neurofeedback training the individual gains improvement in all other therapies working from this balanced brain state. However, not all cognitive skills are being individually addressed with Neurofeedback. Therefore, other treatments like Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy or ABA therapy will benefit the client in creating new ways to relearn in the areas that are not naturally regained after being mentally focused and physically relaxed.

So as you can see the other training still plays a crucial role but just like trying to open a locked door with the wrong key the door will never open and learning cannot take place until they are in a calmed and emotionally balanced state which is exactly what neurofeedback does.

 

What are the benefits Autistic individuals receive after the training?

Here is a list of benefits Autistic individuals receive after Neurofeedback training:
-Improvements in their ability to notice and engage with others
-Ability to sense when their bladder is full (no longer peeing bed)
-Ability to sense when they are full and they stop eating
-better at communicating what they want and how they feel
-Start having conversations with others
-better self-control
-more patient
-they show more emotions and facial expressions
-they start making eye contact
-Better sleep
-tantrums disappeared
-Speech improves/speaks clearer
-Becomes happier and smiles more
-Auditory cognition improves
-Emotional regulation improves
-More polite and less aggression
-Increase corporation and communication
-Improved attention span and sensory-motor skills
-Anxiety levels drop
-Meltdowns less frequent and less intense
-More mindful of their actions towards others and better tune to other people’s emotions
-Able to make more friends
-More loving, confident and mature
-Frustration and anger drops in intensity and length
-Interacts with siblings and recognizes if they are sad or happy
-Much calmer

How many sessions do I need?

Typically clients choose programs that involve anywhere between 20 to 40 sessions depending upon the individual.

Results from the training are seen gradually over time but in many cases, clients notice an improvement right after the first session.

Are there any side effects?

No. The system is 100% non-invasive and safe. It trains the brain to become more balanced and present than what it was before and it does this smoothly and seamlessly without any side effects.