READY TO FOCUS
800 Ellis Road, Suite 245
Norton Shores, MI 49441
Toll-free: 1-800-850-0535
Appointments: info@readytofocus.com
Billing: billing@readytofocus.com
Schedule an appointment today! 1-800-850-0535
800 Ellis Road, Suite 245
Norton Shores, MI 49441
Toll-free: 1-800-850-0535
Appointments: info@readytofocus.com
Billing: billing@readytofocus.com
Schedule an appointment today! 1-800-850-0535
Posted on December 7 2009
Written by Natalie’s mother:
Natalie had always had a problem putting herself to sleep since infancy. As an 11-year-old, it was really affecting her daily behavior. We were also trying to identify and isolate the root of her issues with angry outbursts, lying, disorganization, and irresponsibility. We knew she was a very intelligent, creative, outgoing, engaging person, but the other side of her was really making everyday life difficult. As parents, we were really struggling to do what we knew we needed to do (be consistent, follow-thru with consequences, set expectations) but were just not seeing any long-lasting results; she didn’t seem to be learning from consequences and our relationship was suffering.
Several years ago, when we had first heard of neurofeedback, we found a local psychologist that was offering it. We drove 40 minutes, round-trip, twice a week for 30-minute treatments and paid about $180 per visit, out of pocket. When we met with the psychologist, we paid $360 an hour, out of pocket. It was very difficult to afford, but for the first time ever, Natalie (then 9-years-old) was going to sleep on her own and staying asleep. Her daily behavior was much more consistent and we just knew this was the result of the neurofeedback. Unfortunately, we were not able to continue as long as needed because of the extreme cost.
Knowing that we had had success with the earlier experience with neurofeedback and Natalie’s sleep issues, we thought that it was worth a try with these current issues. When we heard about the Ready to Focus program and spoke with Brad Oostindie, it was such a relief and, actually exciting, to tell him about Natalie and have him really understand our dilemma and to help us to put some shape and scope to what we were dealing with and how neurofeedback would help. Getting started with the program was easy and so much more convenient to be able to have the whole system in our home. We were able to get in more sessions and not waste any time or expense driving to appointments. We were also able to complete many hours of training for Natalie at a fraction of the cost we paid several years ago in the office based program. The weekly meetings with Brad Oostindie really gave us an opportunity to learn so much about what was happening in Natalie’s brain which actually helped us, too, to know that a lot of Natalie’s behavior was a “brain mis-fire” issue and not necessarily a conscious choice that she was making.
We have seen great results. So many little things along the way have added up to a much more manageable child. Her progress reports from school used to have a list of missing tasks and grades that did not reflect her potential, but now we have not seen a missing task in months and she is consistently taking responsibility for getting homework completed and turned in. Having a 3.6 GPA in sixth grade is a big accomplishment! She still needs reminders for chores or picking up her room, but the difference now is that she responds to reminders instead of ignores or rebels against them. Overall she seems to hear and respond in a much calmer and cooperative way. When I asked her what was the difference, she said, “When I knew that I didn’t have my homework done, it would race around in my head and I would just get really stressed out. Now, I just do it and I feel sooooo much better.” We all feel much better.
Posted on November 2 2009
Bill and Jack (not their real names) are two brothers who completed the Ready To Focus home based neurofeedback program in the summer of 2009. Both Bill (middle school age) and Jack (late elementary age) had struggled with academics, behavior, and focus for their entire life. Attempts at intervention utilizing different types of medication and counseling had been unsuccessful. Bill (who completed approximately 35 hours of training) recently received his first progress report at school for this school year, in which 4 out of 5 classes indicated grades A or B. Teachers and caregivers had always felt Bill was intelligent and capable, but had never lived up to his potential. He is finally starting to do so! Behaviorally he is doing much better as well. Jack (who completed approximately 24 hours of training) had been doing grade work one grade below grade placement last school year. This school year he is doing grade level work (a two grade jump in this case!) and behaviorally is doing better as well. These results and the improvements that Bill and Jack experienced led to this quote from their parent, “For the first time in my life I feel like they are doing mainstream academic work!” Objectively, both Jack and Bill’s testing and re-testing in the Ready To Focus program showed significant improvement from pre neurofeedback to post. This includes increased IQ scores (a finding validated in many controlled neurofeedback studies) and increase in continuous performance testing.
Posted on October 1 2009
Written by Brad Oostindie:
Jane (not her real name), a 10 year old girl, completed the Ready To Comprehend program and the Ready To Focus program over the summer of 2009. It is a great story of positive change brought about by her hard work in these two programs.
In the Ready To Comprehend program a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was completed to assess her level of concentration, distraction, mood and behavior, learning disorders, as well as for signs and symptoms of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.(FAS). The assessment did indicate problems related to focus and attention span, as well as problems related to anxiety. Her cognitive scores showed some deficits and areas of weakness that were likely negatively impacting her academic performance. The assessment conclusively ruled out FAS and learning disorders, and really helped us focus in on two main areas to help Jane. The type of comprehensive assessment completed was the only way to answer all of these questions.
After completing the assessment we started the Ready To Focus program (home based neurofeedback). Jane completed nearly 50 hours of training over the course of three months! This was absolutely fantastic as her parents and I had concerns about how well she would engage in the program as she could be oppositional at times. During the course of training we noticed improvement with sleep, improvements with focus and attention span, reduction of anxiety, improved mood, and improved social functioning. By the fall she was able to return to school (she had been unable to complete school the prior year due to her difficulties) and is off to a good start.
Six months after her initial neuropsychological assessment, we re-tested Jane on the neuropsychological measures. Significant improvement was observed in her Verbal, Performance, Processing Speed, and Full Scale IQ scores. Jane improved from approximately the 30th to 40th percentile rank to the 70th to 80th on some of these measures (Verbal and Performance IQ), and her overall IQ score improved to the 85th percentile! Her ability to avoid distraction improved from the 1st percentile rank to nearly the 50th percentile rank! I believe these cognitive improvements will help her greatly over the course of this new school year.
We will continue to work on her ability to sustain effort on tasks, which improved during the course of training but is not fully at the level we want it. In addition, we would like to see further progress with her level of anxiety and tension. Because of the high amount of training she completed we will be able to take a break now and return to the training later on next spring or summer. The research shows that those who complete over 20 hours of training will hold the gains they made, and will likely continue to improve even after the treatment over the next 1-3 years.
I am so happy for Jane and her family and the improvements she is experiencing.
Posted on September 28 2009
Posted by Brad Oostindie, MA, LLP - Chief Clinician and Founder of Ready To Focus
Although many studies exist showing the efficacy of Neurofeedback treatment in ADHD there have been criticisms of these studies due to their smaller sample sizes, lack of a control group, among other issues. This recent study published in the Clinical EEG and Neuroscience Journal (July 2009) addresses those issues and shows Neurofeedback as a Level 5 (efficacious and specific) treatment for ADHD. Level 5 criteria means the treatment (in this case neurofeedback) “needs to be demonstrated to be statisically superior to a credible sham therapy, pill, or bona fide treatment in at least two independent studies.” This current study, which is a meta-analysis of several studies, shows this level 5 criteria to be met. The study also addresses other issues related to Neurofeedback including long-term positive effects (such as 3 month, 6 month, and 2 year follow up studies) and issues related to pre and post QEEG studies and pre and post continuous performance testing studies. I believe this study to be the most comprehensive and conclusive in terms of addressing the issue of whether or not Neurofeedback is a scientifically “proven” treatment.
