Autism and Neurofeedback:
One Child’s Miraculous Story
Autism and Neurofeedback | – Posted on March 20, 2015 by Gregory Farquarson
“Yes, we see miracles all the time. Your daughter is experiencing one of them”.
The most gratifying aspect of being a neurofeedback professional is witnessing complete – almost miraculous – transformations in the lives of your clients.
One such client is an eight-year-old little girl. She attends a special school for children with multiple psychological disorders and severe behavioral issues. I provide NeurOptimal neurofeedback sessions there once a week.
We first met two weeks ago. Her mother explained to me that her daughter was autistic and suffered from severe failure anxiety. She typically avoided eye-contact with strangers and would not shake hands on a first meeting.
Her mother and I went to her classroom and asked her to come with us for her first neurofeedback session. Seeing her mother, the girl agreed to come with us. I kneeled down in front of her, and gave her my hand; she took it and told me her name. I heard her mother whisper, “wow!”.
Hooking her up with the neurofeedback machine with the NeurOptimal sensors for the first time was challenging – she was afraid to be touched on the earlobes. I allowed her to attach the sensors herself after demonstrating on her pet cat.
During the brain training session, she watched part of a movie called “Spetter” – a story about a Dolphin. The session went well and when it was over, she smiled, looked at her mother and said: “NICE!”
The family went home for the weekend the came back the next Friday.
Same girl, same school, same movie, Part II.
Her mother couldn’t stop talking about the changes they’d witnessed in their daughter the week before. The Saturday morning after the first neurofeedback session, she and her husband were awakened early by the sound of a child whistling in their garden.
They went outside to find their daughter dancing in their sun-covered-garden, whistling tunes. When the girl saw her parents, she threw them a smile and said: “Look, there is the sun, and now I can hear the birds. The dance has been stuck in my head but now it is free”.
The mother looked at her husband when he asked: “Could this be possible? After one neurofeedback session?” She said: “Yes, it must be! Nothing else has changed.”
When the mother told me this story, I said, “Yes, we see miracles all the time. Your daughter is experiencing one of them”.
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- Combining Counseling / Psychotherapy and Neurofeedback – NeurOptimal
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