End of year status

TRex has continued with his neurotherapy protocols.  This next week I schedule his last two of the 25 sessions as well as his follow up QEEG.  He started twice a week speech therapy this week with Ms. Ashley.  She assigned two things for homework for the first session.

•                 When talking with TRex, if he doesn’t look at you gently tap his wrist and say “Look at me when talking”.  As time goes on, we should be able to do this less.

•                 Ask him to describe what is happening in a picture.  We will start with a new book tonight and ask him to tell me what he thinks is happening in the story.  

After the second session of speech therapy Ms Ashley again assigned homework:

•                 Sequencing – Have him verbally tell you the steps in a familiar process such as how do you brush your teeth.

She has also started a social skill building exercise.  They play the “Who am I game”.  She had him guess who she was with her giving him clues for instance a fire fighter.  Then he had a turn at giving the clues.  TRex plays iSequence on the iPad at home.  I am working with him to verbally tell me the steps as he is progressing.  Ashley said that after he completes a sequence, I should ask him what would be the next step. 

This month has shown a remarkable increase in language skills.  Remarkable enough that I notice even though I see him all the time when he isn’t at school.  A couple of examples follow:

1.                Last week on the way to basketball practice, he said “Momma you don’t have to come in.  I know what to do.  I am a big boy.”  I laughed and told him I am his mom and I AM coming in. 

2.                He told Santa Claus exactly what he wants for Christmas.   This is the first time he has ever said anything to Santa.  Ever.

3.                He has also gone into details about how Santa brings presents down from the roof and puts them under the tree.  He has never discussed with me before though I have talked about Santa in previous years.

4.                Yesterday on the way to neuro, TRex  says “Mom look at that car.  It is a mini cooper but it looks like a race car.”  This was a very good description of the vehicle.

5.                On  the way back from neuro, he said in a mature voice..”Mom I need to tell you something.”  This caught me off guard so I turned down the music volume and turned around and asked "What?"  He said "Mom I don't want school lunch.  I want to take home lunch."  I was a little taken aback since he has wanted to have school lunch this year.

I said “ You know that means you won't get ice cream and pizza on Friday?” and he said “I want school lunch on Pizza and chicken nuggets but the rest I want home lunch.”  I asked him why the change and he said “Wyatt and Riley bring home lunch. “  The he added “I want school lunches on Pizza and Chicken nugget day and the rest home lunches.”  I am amazed.  he is being social and is using his language in a very mature way.

What are the coincidences that he has this language spike on the week he started speech therapy?  He has had speech therapy as part of his PPCD program when he was 4.  I believe this is a combination of the two therapies together.  I can hardly wait until we see the QEEG results mid-January.

Moving into the second round of Neuro training

TRex has completed 3 of the 5 sessions for the new round of 25 session neurofeedback.  The protocols were selected from his QEEG.  All three have gone well and he is enjoying going back to the routine from this summer.  Lynsey asked me what I had thought of the results.

These two pictures show the QEEG prior to the first 25 sessions and the QEEG after.  Raw data is taken and then normalized for a "normal" person of the same age.  Green is ideal - the brain waves are not too fast and not too slow.  Red is very fast - which isn't good (think hyperactivity and having too much data to handle.).  Yellow is in between red and green.  On the other side, dark blue is a lot slower processing and light blue is in between.  Notice how many different frequencies have gone mostly green.  Also the two bright red maps have cooled, they still have some red but have shown tremendous improvement.  There has been some degradation in  the three top middle frequencies but overall I was impressed and it matches what we are seeing at home as well as at school.  I am looking forward to seeing the QEEG in January.

I told her that I was elated to have data to show that there had been a big improvement but that also shows there is still more improvement to go.  Prior to the results, I was afraid that they were going to say we were done and basically tell us to move along.

TRex has been doing amazing work with his letters, his numbers, and drawing.  He does NOT like to color AT ALL.  He attends worship with his grandmother after bible class on Sunday mornings.  She brought home the following drawing that he did on his own (without her encouraging him).

I asked him who it was a picture of and he said "It's Dot and her cat".  I asked him what is Dot's cat's name and he said "Mit." HAHAHAHA.  We have been reading the BOB books.  Or rather he has been reading them to me.

We worked on the "at", "it", and "id" word families and he can now read them.  I love how he sounds out the parts and then we say put it together and he uses his hands like he is squishing the letters together and says the word.

We also worked on simple addition.  I write the equation such as 1 + 1 =.  Then I have him put the appropriate number of dots under each and then he gives me a total and then writes it in the proper place.  He was so proud when he showed his Poppa all that he had done today.  I have to say that this Momma is proud too.

And the results are...

This week was a tough one for this specific mother.  My hope is that TRex will not be limited by any of his past issues.  I am thrilled that we can talk about things, he can tell me about his feelings, he can tell me what he did in school, etc.  However, underneath I know he is still not totally like other children yet.  The doctor had asked me to talk to  his teacher for feedback on how she thinks he is doing.
So I asked her "In your opinion, does he still struggle compared with his peers in understanding verbal instructions, staying on task, or in his ability to relate to his peers/make friends?"  In my heart of hearts I already knew the answer but still the answer was depressing anyway.

“I have concerns in the areas that you mentioned.  TRex is struggling with understanding verbal instructions, I usually do not give him more than two commands to follow, I do have to give him lots of prompts.  He is also struggling in his ability to relate to his peers.  I do not have any concerns regarding his academics – one on one he is great and he knows his stuff. “

On a very positive side, he is very bright and he DOES know his academics.  I had also had correspondence with the school’s educational lab leader.  She had attended the meeting with the public school teachers who had set his goals and objectives the previous 18 months.  I reviewed with her that TRex had completed the PPCD program and if he was going to proceed in public school he would have been discharged to general population kindergarten with only one hour of speech therapy support.  I had made the decision to continue with private school so that he could delay kindergarten by a year.

After the email exchange with his current teacher, I emailed his PPCD teachers to see if they had input.  They both said that TRex continues to be a visual learner and can master anything as long as it is visually modeled.  He will struggle for a while verbal instructions only.

Anyway, with all of the inputs, I was not really looking forward to the meeting with the doctor.  I have seen the improvements but I wonder sometimes  if I am finding more encouragement in it than is warranted.  However, even the educational lab leader said that he has made much progress.
I was very happy to see the results of the comparison of the two QEEGs.  There was remarked improvement but there are still some red areas – areas that effect verbal processing and logic.  This matches up with everybody’s observations.  I was so worried that the doctor was going to say – everything’s great now, move along.   We are moving out targeting the areas that still need help with 25 more training sessions.  And I am very happy to do so.  I am very thankful that they haven't given up on TRex.

Waiting on the results

TRex had his follow up QEEG a week ago Friday.  I am eagerly anticipating the results at the appointment Thursday.  I don't think I will be surprised by the results as I could see it going either way.  He still has some focus issues so I wouldn't be adverse to continuing therapy but he does stay on point much of the time now - and I need to stress that he takes NO MEDICATION.

As I write this entry, I can hear him in the kitchen with his grandmother making pies to take to church.  He loves cooking with her and follows instructions.  He now reminds me if I don't read him a book at night because he likes the stories.  He picks out the words he knows as sight words.  He likes the weekly drawing for the letter of the week.

C is for Crab

S is for Shrimp

TRex has no issues communicating.  I think he goes into jargon to irritate me and he thinks that is fun. This week he came home from school laughing saying that one of his girl classmates was on the frowny face board at school and she was saying "Please don't call my mommy."  I let him laugh a while and then told him that if his teacher called me to tell me TRex was on the frowny face board, TRex would not be able to go to karate that week - and that got his attention.  I love that he tells me about his day and understands what I am saying in the conversation and can apply it to himself.

This week was a review of the 5 letters of the week thus far in the school year.  As per our bedtime routine, I asked TRex if he wanted to brush his teeth in the bathroom or in his bedroom.  He said "Momma, B B, bedroom and bathroom both start with B."  I was pretty excited about this and thought I would carry on the conversation by pointing out he was carrying a book so I asked him "That's right, what do you have in your arm that starts with a B?"  He replied "Bones, Momma, I have bones in my arm!"

His teacher told the class that Mrs. Owens was going to substitute the next day and TRex said "Mrs. Owens loves me!" HAHAHA!  I guess he was excited about seeing her.

And we're done with the training...bring on the QEEG

TRex's last training session was uneventful.  He handled it like a pro.  The conversation with the doctor afterwards was very interesting.  He asked me on a scale of 1-10 what was the improvement and I said I don't think I can say but I can give you another measurement.  In May I was lucky if TRex were able to concentrate on a task for 5 minutes.  This week he colored and decorated his poster for 20 minutes.

I told the doctor that I was concerned because of my conversation with the room mom the day before.  Her child had trained at the same age as TRex but 5 years later is having issues and is on ADHD medication.  How do I know if and when I need to bring TRex back if the QEEG shows everything is in the "normal" range.  His statement was that neurofeedback is just a tool that is needed to be used with others.  He gave me the example of someone who weight trains very strenuously but goes home and eats pizza will not achieve the desired results.  I have to be honest here and say that this doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling...all I can do is be vigilant and make sure that TRex's brain is stimulated every day.

Several observations about today:1. TRex was talking about his pets and kept calling Jasper a "red devil barrow" and laughing.  I asked him to repeat it several times and he kept using the same term.  I always call Jasper the Red Devil but I didn't understand what "barrow" meant.  I then asked him if LoLo was a red devil barrow and he laughed and said funny momma, she is a brown barrow...hmmmm that got me thinking so I asked him if Scooter was a red devil barrow and he said no momma he is a gato.....then it clicked I asked him if Rowdy is a gato too and he said yes.  So it seems that little Mr. Man has had some spanish lessons and he is correct both Japser and LoLo are perros....hahahaha!

After TRex finished his bath he was standing in front of the mirror and laughing.  He asked me "Am I a girl?"  I said of course not silly.  The he said look I have hair like Ms. Kittridge...and I almost laughed because he had made the sides of his hair spiky...like Ms. Kittridge.  Then I said are you sure it isn't like Ms. Owens?  Then he slicked his hair down and said this is like Ms. Owens.  So I would say his verbal processing is progressing.

One to go

TRex continues to do well.  He had an excellent session with Mr. Bill Saturday and one with Ms. Charity today.  She asked me if I had noticed any improvements at all since I didn't note any on the paper.  I have to say....the improvements happen all the time.

As an example, TRex is the class star of the week which means a poster about him was needed for Monday.  Typically the teacher sends home the blank poster and we complete it.  Last year I did all of the work though he was interested in the final product.  This year, I picked out the pictures and cut them to size.  He decided on his own that he wanted to color in the circles on the four corners and the letters.  (I think the student who was the star the previous week had done that so he thought he would do it.)  Anyway the point is....he FOCUSED on it for over 20 minutes.  It isn't perfect but he DID IT!  And he also wrote some of the answers.  I wrote about half since the space was limited but he was able to read it back such as his birthday.

TRex was very proud of his poster when we brought it in this morning.  It is much more precious than the one I did last year.  I am looking forward to the one he does BY HIMSELF next year.

Also, this weekend we traveled to Austin to visit my BFF and her son (the original neurofeedback child mentioned in the first entry of this blog).  TRex has always loved Mike.  Mike plays basketball so I think that is why TRex has been interested.  Mike worked with TRex while we were there, and he definitely got him to focus.  I think we need to borrow Mike a couple of times before the season starts.

Look at that intensity.  The focus is starting to happen. 

While we were waiting for TRex's appointment, he noticed a girl wearing a uniform for his school.  Turns out, she is the sister of one of his classmates.  The mother is our room mom, HA!  Talk about a small world.  (TRex's classmate is not the child who is having the neurofeedback sessions.)  Her eldest son had gone through treatments back at TRex's age.  In the 5 years afterward, he has had to go onto ADHD medication and was back with the neurofeedback in order to help.  I will definitely be vigilante in noting any symptoms so that TRex's odds of having medication are drastically reduced.

Everything is working out!

This past week has been great for TRex.  Hard to believe that his training will be complete by this time next week.  TRex now tells me what he did at school during the day.  Today, his class had a football player and a cheerleader visit which he told me about plus who all was in his class today..

He was very focused at training today.  We came home for a quick snack and then went to karate.  I was amazed at how focused he was.  We had practiced the first part of Chon Ji at home and he did it for Mr. David.  Also he has improved on his balances and block.  Today a pair of the higher belts brought their sparing gear and for the first time I noticed TRex paying attention.

On the way home, TRex mumbled something so I asked him to repeat.  He said I want to fight.  I asked him what he meant and he said fight like at Mr. David's.  I asked him do you mean you want to spar and he said yes I want to spar.  I explained that he has to get to the next belt to be able to spar and that is what he repeated to his Poppa when we arrived home.  I feel like everything is finally paying off for TRex.

I talked with a friend on the way to karate and said she could come by - which she didn't but will next week.  On the way home, TRex also asked me who didn't come to karate.  I asked him what he meant and he said "Who did you want to come to karate?"  I still acted like I didn't know what he meant and he actually named her.

TRex had wanted me to go a certain route on the way home from training but I told him no because of the school zone and that we would go after karate.  I went straight home because I was caught up in the fact that he was able to discuss his wants and such as I stated previously.  As I pulled into the driveway, TRex said "Momma, where didn't we go?"  I was kind of taken aback and asked him what he meant and he said "You said we could go on Mimosa after karate."  I high-fived him and drove up to Mimosa.

Before his bath, TRex used his number wall chart and counted to 100 for me.  He also did the "at" family of words.  After his bath, TRex read his first book to me EVER - the BOB book Mat.  I would say this has been an amazing and blessed day.   I don't believe he could have done this in May before his neurofeedback training.

Headed into the homestretch!!

TRex is on the last protocol with only 4 more training sessions left!!  His PE teachers at curriculum day commented that he is paying attention now. So far, we have had all positive reports from school which is very different than the previous two years.  I can't wait to hear the feedback from his parent teacher conference scheduled Oct 31st.

We have been practicing his skills from school.  He can count up to 100 and is starting to read three letter words using the family word methodology - at, it, etc.

End of first week of preK5

Friday was the end of the first week of pre-K5.  TRex was disappointed that he was not able to go to school on Saturday and Sunday so I would say that is a sign that he likes his class.  I have to admit I have had some nervousness about how this year would go.

Last year in pre-K4 TRex was socially isolated.  I could tell that he was sad about it because he would come home and cry about it (and as his mom this breaks my heart).  I think the social isolation was in part due to the fact that he was “different” from his classmates.  He only went half days.  He got special attention, etc.  The other part was also due to the speech issues.  I am hoping to help this pattern not repeat this year.  I was concerned because one of the students who he had said “doesn’t like him” was in his class this year when we were looking at the roster.  However, I have asked him this week if said classmate is being nice to him and he had so yes.  TRex is becoming very willing to talk about his feelings with me so I will continue to ask and hopefully this situation will resolve and we can move past it.

I saw his teacher on friday at release and she said she still has to direct him to start activities but that once he gets started he is ok (I hope I am not projected my wishes upon how I interpret what she said).  So that is part of what we will be working on for the coming weeks.

With school on-going, TRex's training sessions are in the evening during the week.  I am trying to schedule one of the two weekly sessions on Saturday morning.  He was very tired Wednesday with school, neurofeedback, and reciting his memory verses at church.  We skipped karate that night.  I think we will not go to karate on Wednesdays while he has training.

Aug 22, 2012

What a day and week for TRex!!  He did well on his training session Monday which was his first one in this protocol.  He had a 63% reward.  Today he had a 75% reward.  Lynsey said next one will have more difficulty.  TRex's speech and thought patterns continue to improve.  An example of speak this week:

On the way back from the store tonight
TRex: Mom how old are you?
Me: I am 5 just like you.
TRex: Mom 5 year olds don't drive.

Um busted. Guess I need to fess up to being 16.

Today was TRex's first day at pre-K5. This summer he worked his rear end off on school work. The only day of the week he got totally off was Sunday. Additionally he has been in karate since the end of May, had 10 Saturdays of soccer fundamentals, and 5 Saturdays of basketball fundamentals. Today was be the 17th neurofeedback training session out of a total 25 scheduled. Lots of activity and lots of hitting his brain.

When I picked him up in car pool, his teacher said "He drew the ginger bread man on his own, he ate his lunch on his own, he answered and participated in conversation. I took him down to talk to his teacher from last year. She amazed at the difference." All I have to say is AMEN! Thank you God. 

At home, he told his Poppa and M'Dear that he did his work by himself.  TRex was very proud as was his mother.   I am sure the neurofeedback isn't the only thing that made the difference, but I do give it lots of credit.  I am thrilled that he stayed on task.  I hope tomorrow brings as much success but need to keep my hopes in check.

TRex finished his third protocol on Wednesday.  The extra sleep seems to have worked as he was able to focus and had one of his best training sessions so far.  Only 10 left to go and I am looking forward to the protocol starting on Monday morning.  The focus will be on short term memory and verbal processing - the two areas that are at the heart of his issues.

I haven't post about the last three training sessions as they were uneventful.  I had expressed to Dr. Rey my concerns about TRex zoning out - that had been part of the issues with him in the past that had led to understanding about the speech delay and verbal processing.  Dr. Rey explained that this is similar to me being bored in a meeting and using that time to think about what I need to buy at the store.  He did indicate that TRex will learn how to deal with boredom as he gets older and that the neurotherapy should help him.

TRex was very fidgety today at neurofeedback.  So I guess it is time to institute an earlier bedtime.  I have put this off for as long as possible because I cherish the evening time with him since I work.  Starting tonight bath time is 8 pm followed by bed (in his own bed!) at 830pm.  I am a little sad but he needs the sleep time so he can be ready for Mrs. Roach's class.  I guess this means I can go to the gym at 9 pm instead of having to get up before the butt crack of dawn. (In my previous life BT I worked out at 9 pm so this will be good.)

Tuesday -July 31st (Neuro 10) and Thursday - August 2nd (Neuro 11)
Both appointments were rather normal.  TRex knows what to expect.  He ate well before the appointments and trained well.  I talked to Dr. Ray about TRex still using some jargoning and basically he told me to not be so uptight about it.  Obviously TRex knows how to talk so he is just messing with me.  So since then, when TRex does that I ask him if he wants a bottle to go with the baby talk and he quits it.

TRex has been so very verbal lately which of course I have craved.  Some examples are:


TRex:I am getting a new car when I am 16
Me: Oh really?
TRex: Yeah a Kia or a Mustang or a truck and it is going to go fast
Me: I guess you need to save your pennies
TRex: No problem Mom. I have pennies in my room.

TRex: Mom there are two parts of the Bible. Did you know that? What are the two parts?
Me: What?
TRex: Silly Momma. The old testament and the new testament.

His class roster arrived on Saturday.  I am very excited as he likes all the classmates he knows (4 are new students) and he loves his new teacher.  All the paperwork is complete.  He asked to buy his lunches at school.  So we are ready.

Thursday 7/26/2012

TRex's appointment was at 940 so he had his deviled eggs around 8.  His therapist was Ms. Charity.  This was the 4th session in the protocol.  The session itself was uneventful.  Charity made the increased the difficulty so TRex was in the 75% reward range.  An electrode was off for a couple of minutes but Dr. Ray said his training effectivity was high.  He explained further that they like to see the variance in brain waves to "normal" to decrease throughout the protocol which is what is happening.  The next session is his last in this protocol.  He also said that the last protocol should help with gross motor skills/balance.  I think we will need to try the bike without training wheels at that time.

Wednesday July 25

Today is not a training session day.  I love it.  TRex wanted to get on my computer this morning and knows to turn the power button on for the power strip but does not know where the computer start button is.  He is normally on the computer in the front.  Anyway he tells me "Momma, your computer is having issues."  I love his use of language!

I came home in the morning to make food for me to eat at work.  He was on the iPAD on my facebook account saying "Momma where are Leighton's pictures."  Awesome!!!

Tuesday July 24

TRex ate a deviled egg an hour before our 935 appointment with Lindsay.  The screen appeared to be dark a lot of the time.  However, she said he did excellent with the training as she increased the difficulty and he was in the 70% reward zone.

TRex had a play date with Cyrus and then went to karate.  Since he tested for his yellow belt on Friday, I moved him to the next class.  I love that the students were much more focused which of course help TRex focus.

Friday 07/20/2012

Today is not a neurofeedback day but there were some really significant milestones.  We have been doing an alphabet review all summer.  Basically 2 days a letter for 6 days out of the week.  We are on Letter U today and will finish it up tomorrow.  TRex pretty much has them down now and can do them in scale – capital vs lower case.  He had a play date with Cyrus…and it went really well.  Leila said that she could hear them conversing and she heard TRex stand up to Cyrus and tell him no and to stop.  This is a huge milestone which I think will help his social interaction at school.  She and Cyrus dropped him off at the house and both he and Cyrus did the memory verses together.  Peer pressure of each other’s company is very good for both of them and encourages each to do better.

Also Leila commented on TRex concentrating on a specific task for 10 minutes…the same as Cyrus.  They made boats out of shoe boxes.

Wednesday 07/18/2012

TRex had breakfast an 2 hours before our 950 appointment.  It was the second  session in the 5 protocol session.  He had Ms. Lindsay again and she played the second half of the Barney Christmas DVD.  TRex watched it but fidgeted a little at the end.  Dr. Walker said that he had a 70% reward which means that his brain produced the desired waves 70% of the time.    He explained that the training targets in the 65-85% reward range.  Below 65% means that the brain isn’t responding well and that protocol won’t be very effective.  85% means that the brain is at the optimum point and further training is usesless.  Typically the earlier sessions in the protocol are lower on the scale.  The 5^th training session should have the highest reward but of course the difficulty is increased to maximize the brain training.

TRex finished the memory verses tonight.  His memory is incredible.  I can’t remember the verses.

At the beginning of the training session, the therapist attaches electrodes to the area of the brain that will be worked.  It isn't painful and is easy for her to clean after the session.

This is a typical training session.  The electrodes are already attached and TRex is watching the DVD.  The electrodes monitor his brain activity.  The screen is darkened when his brain doesn't make the desired brain wave and is lightened when it does.  All that is required is that the patient sit and pay attention to the screen.  TRex loves his Barney.

Tuesday 07/17/2012

Today is not a neurofeedback day so I generally work in the office.  I called the house from my office to say hi to TRex.  I asked him what he is doing and he said:

“Watching poppa's bandage is changed”.

OMG.  Then I said, “What letter is today?” and he said “I already told you”.

I said “I don’t remember.”  Then he said “It’s “S””.  Then I told him to be good with Poppa and M’Dear.  His response was “Bye momma”.  Up until this point, most of our conversations have been saying Yes and No and other familiar phrases.  He also usually answers “Fine” to “What are you doing”.  Unbelieveable.

I expect to finish his memory verses tonight.  Unbelieveable.

Monday 07/16/2012

TRex had breakfast an 2 hours before our 1025 appointment.  On the way to Dr. Walker’s this morning, TRex looked at me and said “Momma where is my DVD”.  Holy cow on that one!  He reminded me to bring something.  How about that?

He had Ms. Lindsay again today.  We had the first session of the second training protocol.  Evidently the first session is always a little difficult – classified as inconclusive.  After the first protocol, I don’t question the meaning any more. 

We met with Dr. Walker after the session.  I am recognizing a pattern WTF NAS pattern with the Dr. Walker consultations, Dr. Walker does the NAS at the beginning of the protocol.  There are a total of five training sessions per protocol.  Therefore, duh, there should be 5 if training goes well.

According to the therapist, the training session went well today so that section of the brain responds well.  Typically the therapist will proceed instead of switching to a different area if this area was not responding.

I have been noticing comments/observations concerning TRex’s progress.  Below are a few:

TRex went to Cyrus's 5th birthday party in January.  His mom has finally told me that Cyrus admitted he couldn't understand TRex most of the time.  They had a play date on this past Friday….and guess what…Cyrus had no difficulty understanding TRex.

TRex went to Wal-Mart with my mom who was trying to hurry him back.  He turned around and told her “Keep your hands off me” which she was startled.  Next time she won't let him get away with it but was impressed by his use of language.

He told me this weekend....”Momma I can speak.”  I think his frustration level is down and he loves being able to communicate.

TRex’s Sunday school teachers have sent home a memory verse of the week.  There will be a total of 30.  This week was verse number 28.  I didn’t work with him on them since he already had a weekly memory verse for PCA.  Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, I received a letter saying the Sunday school teachers saying that the class is going to do recite for the whole church mid-August…and TRex didn’t know a single one.  I have had 4 learning sessions with him and a couple of repeats.  TRex already knows 23 out of the 30. Basically he is memorizing 5 at a time.  My old brain can’t remember the verses.  We will finish all 30 this week.

Thursday 07/12/2012

TRex had breakfast an hour before our 935.  TRex had Mr. Bill for therapy today and did well.  He watched the Barney Christmas DVD and paid attention for the most part.  He did fidget towards the last 5 minutes.  Dr. Rey said he trained well and that the next session would start in another area.  This one will be primarily focused on visual processing…Interesting.

Tuesday 07/10/2012

TRex had two deviled eggs two before our 935.  I had received the Copy of Barney Night Before Christmas Saturday that I had ordered from Amazon.  This is TRex’s favorite DVD and he wanted to watch it but I told him he has to wait until he is at Dr. Walker’s office.  We had Ms. Lindsey again today and she played the dvd.  TRex barely fidgeted.  I only had to say something twice.  Amazing.  And she had made the training more difficult.  Only one more training session in this spot then on to the next one.

Currently TRex knows 50 different words plus names. We use powerpoint to help/motivate him on different words so I had been working with him on knowing his numbers spelled up. We had gotten up to 15 a couple of weeks ago. I started the site words up again last night and flashed up sixteen and he said he didn't know it. I asked what is the first part - and he said six, then he looked at the second part and said momma it's sixteen...Amazing stuff.

Thursday 07/05/2012

TRex had an egg* two hours before our 935.  I am just going to admit up front that yes I bribed my child.  We talked about that he wanted to see Dr. Walker.  I told him if he sat and watched the movie I would give him a present.  We had Ms. Lindsey today.  I believe TRex likes her.  She put on Barney’s House DVD and TRex sat there and hardly squirmed.  I think I only had to tell him something 5 times at the end which is amazing considering the other two times it was much much more.  He did so well that she increased the difficulty.  We met with Dr. Ray afterwards who also commented on how well he is doing.  Margi came over and took TRex with her today so I can work.  I can’t wait to see how he does on his letters tonight and we are also going to do memory verses.

*Several people have asked why I record what he ate before going.  It is my way of noting that he did have a good breakfast so that he will be prepared to pay attention.  This is similar to making sure he eats before going to school so that he can focus and learn.

Tuesday 07/03/2012

TRex had an egg two hours before our 940 am session.  We had a female technician, Ms. Charity, and she did play the Barney DVD.  TRex did better overall but he still fidgeted.  She had challenged him to see if he could sit still for 20 minutes and of course he couldn’t.  The last 7 minutes was really a challenge.  But they did give me a statistic.  TRex focused 62% of the time….so I would say it went better. 

The Dr. Walker did that stupid “New Age” Schadenfreude – which we will just refer to as NAS from here on out.  He asked will one more treatment be needed, then two, then three, then four and that is when the old arm went down….geez.  Wow??? I guess we are having 4 more sessions at this protocol before moving on.  I would have been better if he had just came out and said I think we need 4 more sessions at this protocol before moving on.

I find it interesting that TRex has been tired after both sessions.  Talking with Margi, she said Mike was tired after each session so maybe that is working?  We went to a Vietnamese place for lunch and TRex concentrated enough that he was able to pick up bean sprouts with chop sticks.  And holy cow.  Look at his Mm’s this afternoon.  I am eagerly anticipating session 3 even if I have to put up with Wow NAS.

Saturday 6/30/2012

Neurofeedback Session 1 - TRex had his first neurofeedback session today at 115 pm.  The waiting room was full when Dad, TRex, and I arrived.  Moments like this make me reflect on how truly lucky and blessed we are.  A dad was there with his three kids and recognized a mom who had her son. 

The dad’s 9 year old son had not been talking until recently.  They use neurofeedback and light therapy which he claims has helped immensely.  Also said his son was recently potty trained.  The mom’s 4.5 year old son started having seizures at 8 months.  Last year his doctor’s thought he was going to die after a month long seizure.  She said she was very thankful for the neurofeedback.

We encountered a couple of kids from his karate class on the way into the therapy room.  I am looking forward to Monday so I can talk to their mom to compare notes.  I suspect that the daughter has autism.

TRex’s therapist today was Mr. Bill.  TRex didn’t object to having the electrodes attached as Mr. Bill was explaining the procedure to him.  As TRex’s brain produces the desired brain function the pac-man game operated.  But when he didn’t, the game stopped and turned blue.  Mr. Bill later started up a DVD of robots dancing.  TRex fidgeted a lot because I suspect he got bored.  Mr. Bill said I could bring in a DVD for TRex to watch next time.  I wish I had known that would be helpful because I would have brought one this time.  Both dad and I kept telling him to focus on the screen which of course led to more fidgeting.

Mr. Bill said that TRex’s brain trained well for the first 7 minutes but then he probably got bored which is when he switched over to the video.  TRex again got bored and then it was a fidget fest.  However, Mr. Bill said that this is normal for the first session.

We met with Dr. Walker directly after and asked about the data on the sheet I fill out at the beginning of the session.  The sheet asks about the patients current state with questions such as “How many hours of sleep did you have the previous night”, “What is your energy level”, and “when was the last time you ate sugar”.

Dr. Walker said the training was “inconclusive” which is normal for the first session but didn’t give much feedback. 

Later, Ms. Melisa came over to play with TRex and swim.  She had been to therapy sessions with Mike when he started and said that this was very similar to how his sessions started.  She said that the effect is starting to be noticeable after the 3^rd one.  This gives me a lot of hope.  I can’t wait to see how he is Thursday.

Friday 6/29/2012

QEEG results day – The appointment time has finally arrived.  I have been on pins and needles anxiously awaiting the results.  All of the different scenarios have been circling in my brain.  What if the QEEG found nothing?  What if the QEEG found something really bad?  The meeting was with Dr. Walker who sat between my dad and me with the computer printouts.  He took his time to explain in detail the theory behind the output plots and what they mean.  Basically the brainwave activity at different frequencies is measured and normalized via a sinusoidal wave plot and then compared with brainwave activity of a “normal” person of the same age – in this case a “normal” 5 year old.  Finally, the doctor had documented some scientific evidence that is repeatable and thankfully matched the symptoms that TRex has been exhibiting.  The plots indicated TRex does have an attention deficit issue and some social interaction/isolation issues, which Dr. Walker said is very treatable.  The treatment plan is 25 thirty minute neurofeedback sessions to treat the 10 areas of concern.  Unfortunately insurance will only cover two sessions a week.  Therefore, TRex will have the two sessions a week starting the next day and the treatment will run 5 weeks into the school session.

Tuesday 6/12/2012

Consultation – I had called to make an appointment with Dr. Walker after much urging from my BFF.  Her son, born in 2000, had issues with school and had been put on medication for ADHD.  She did not like the medications side effects and sought out an alternative treatment.  At the time, the details did not sink into my consciousness because I didn’t have to directly deal with the effects.  Of course I want him to do as well as possible, but I just didn’t get it.  Flash forward to today, and with TRex’s symptoms heck yeah I am paying attention.

At this point I would have to say I am feeling several different emotions.  First I am having a little trouble believing in the process as it has a “new age” feel to me.  Part of the skepticism comes from the evaluation.  Dr. Walker told TRex to hold his arm out while Dr. Walker pressed on different parts of his head.  The “theory” was that TRex’s arm would go down when there was an area that might have a problem.  Well TRex was having none of that and kept putting his arm down.  So Dr. Walker had me put one arm on TRex’s shoulder and hold the other arm out.  And he used my arm movement as an indicator.  I can tell you right now I think that is a bunch of hogwash. I would have had a much better feeling about this process if this step had been omitted.

Prologue
I first understood that TRex had a speech issue after being approached about the subject by his Pre-K3 teacher.  Up until that point, I had thought everything was fine.  I just didn't have the experience to know different.  TRex has gone through 1-1/2 years of speech therapy as well as pre-K3/4 in the Richardson PPCD program.  His speech has vastly improved.  When he started the program, he sounded like he was speaking a foreign language.  He had the cadence like he was conversing, but I could only understand every third or fourth word.  Richardson's initial assessment was that TRex might be on the ASD scale.  This was devastatingly difficult to hear.  All I could think about was how to make things right for TRex.  Had I done something to cause it?  Even writing these words make me want to cry.

Anyway, TRex completed the Richardson program and met all of the developmental milestones.  They released him to public school general population kindergarten.  However, I was still very concerned.  I see him with other children his age, "normal" children, and I can see the difference.  He isn't able to participate fully because of the language delay which means that he is socially isolated.  Totally breaks my heart.  So this is my blog for TRex.  I hope it helps other mothers. 

I would like to thank my BFF from the bottom of my heart.  I don't know what I would have done without her.  She is the one who brought neurofeedback and its benefits to my attention.