Struggles with Reading? Math? Comprehension? Writing?
Certain children, no matter how hard they try, struggle in school. Too often the parents struggle right along with them. They spend countless hours helping their child keep up – not to mention digging into their pockets for tutoring, special classes or other learning programs.
The Center for Brain Training sees a lot of bright children who have to try harder than other children just to keep up. Many of them experience drastically improved lives after working with us.
You may have been told that the root of your child’s school difficulties is an attention deficit. However, if your child struggles with reading, with comprehension, with math or has difficulty getting words onto paper (for example taking notes) – then he or she may not have an attention deficit at all. They may have an undiagnosed learning or processing issue.
Many academic problems are brain issues, not a lack of desire in the child to do well. Though stimulants may temporarily improve attention, they don’t correct processing issues. They don’t help the frustration, the behaviors and the anxiety that often come with learning challenges when the medication wears off. They do not fix anything.
Our Innovative 3-Step Program for Helping Your Child Overcome Learning Challenges
For years we’ve helped kids who have learning disabilities with conventional neurofeedback. Thanks to the advent of the connectivity map and MCT neurofeedback, treatment is now even more targeted and effective. (MCT–multivariate coherence training–is even more effective than traditional neurofeedback. It hyper-targets and gently encourages connections to improve, often doing so surprisingly fast.)
Mike Cohen, the Center for Brain Training’s director, has been in this field for more than 25 years and says: “I’ve never been more excited about any development than I am the connectivity map and MCT neurofeedback.”
Mike Cohen, the Center for Brain Training’s director, first heard about the connectivity map in the fall of 2015 at the ISNR** conference when Dr. Robert Coben presented a study he co-authored on children with learning problems.
“Frankly, his results blew me away,” Mike said. “Children treated twice a week for 20 sessions with individually-tailored neurofeedback based on a connectivity map enhanced their reading scores an average of 1.2 grade levels. The control group showed no improvement.
“Dr. Coben did extensive pre- and post-neuropsychological testing to document the children’s improvements. Increasing grade level competence by one year in 20 sessions (as little as five weeks) is very impressive. I checked with several child psychologists I know, and they were equally impressed.
“I’m unaware of any other tool that has documented this level of consistent improvement.”
In early 2016, the Center for Brain Training began using this three-step treatment protocol on a select group of clients. By then, an enhanced version of MCT neurofeedback had been developed which potentially reduces the number of sessions required for most children to approximately 15.
The results exceeded our expectations and convinced us that this was a fantastic way to help people overcome the challenges of learning disabilities.
Here’s how the 3-step program works:
Conduct a connectivity brain map to identify the problem
The connectivity map is a special EEG of your child’s brain conducted right in our office. It’s painless and takes about 30 minutes. The raw data is processed in the laboratory of neuropsychologist Dr. Robert Coben*. The lab creates a report, and the findings are reviewed in depth with the parents.
The connectivity map identifies specific areas of the brain that are poorly connected or poorly organized and are likely to be impacting the child’s ability to process information.
Parents of our clients frequently exclaim that this information describes their child’s struggles remarkably well. They often marvel, too, at the fact that tests for which they have laid out thousands of dollars didn’t turn up what was really going on the way the connectivity map did.
In one study, children treated twice a week for 20 sessions with individually-tailored neurofeedback based on a connectivity map enhanced their reading scores an average of 1.2 grade levels! The control group showed no improvement.
Encourage new brain organization with MCT neurofeedback
Step 2 involves 15 sessions of MCT neurofeedback training, typically two or three sessions per week, targeted to the specific brain connectivity issues identified from analysis of the connectivity map.
We ask parents during the course of training to keep track of any changes in reading, math, writing, comprehension, behavior and mood changes.
Evaluate changes, assess progress
After 15 neurofeedback sessions, we conduct a second connectivity map to see where physical changes have occurred and to summarize parent feedback. We identify areas, if any, that may need additional training.
Being able to save kids (and adults) from a lifetime of struggle is at the heart of our mission at the Center for Brain Training.
Client Stories
Girl’s Grades (and Confidence) Skyrocket After Neurofeedback Training
Josie had struggled in school since kindergarten, and it just got worse over the years as Josie was socially promoted from grade-to-grade. Eventually she was doing so poorly in her academically demanding private school that she was in danger of not being able to continue there as a student. She was diagnosed with ADD, but her mother didn’t want to put her on medication. After doing neurofeedback, Josie’s grades significantly improved and required less effort, she didn’t go on medication and was able to stay in her school.
Reach Josie’ story here.
Struggling Eighth Grader Matures, Makes Honor Roll in Five Months
“Anika” was exhausted. Every night she spent two hours sitting at a table with her son, 14-year-old “Sai,” reading and explaining his homework assignments to him. Clean clothes piled up, unfolded, on the laundry room table. Dirty dishes from dinner sat in the sink unwashed. (She just had to stop looking). And by the time Anika made it to the gym, morning or night, the mother of three didn’t know whether to walk on the treadmill or lie down on it and take a nap. Life was hard for Sai, too. He wanted to succeed in school, but he only managed to consistently earn C’s and D’s. All that changed after undergoing neurofeedback sessions over a five-month period. Not only did he start doing homework without assistance, but he made the honor roll for the first time in his life.
Reach Josie’ story here.
