Low birth weight is considered less than five pounds eight ounces. In the US, 12% of babies are born prematurely. Since the early 80’s the rate of prematurity has risen by 17%. Research consistently finds a greater risk of developmental disabilities as these children move from infancy through adolescence. Prematurity can result in brain injures causing neuromotor and cognitive deficits. Oxygen deprivation and respiratory problems require oxygen supplementation, and can cause permanent injury to the brain and have been linked to later cognitive and motor deficits.  Premature, low birth weight and fragile infants often have a variety of disabilities in the areas of cognitive, academic, sensorimotor, social-emotional and behavioral development.

Over the past nearly 20 years, I have worked successfully with children, adolescents, and adults with anxiety disorders using neurofeedback. There are times when anxiety is secondary to a learning or social problem. If a person has a problem with their brain, they cannot trust their brain function and conclusions, which is very anxiety provoking. This is especially true if these challenges have been happening for a long time. In this case, it is necessary to address the neurological underpinnings of the learning problems as well as the anxiety.

I discovered the power of neurofeedback for reading problems very early. My daughter Lee had reading problems and hated to read. In elementary school, when it was time for that fifteen or twenty minutes of silent reading we all had our children do after they completed their homework, she would scream as if she was being beaten! At that time, she was still reading little kids books, but the first Harry Potter book had come out. I would set her up for her neurofeedback session and say to her, "Now put the book away," and she would dutifully stuff it between the chair and her leg. I would leave the room to tend to another person and, unbeknownst to me, she would pick up the book and read while she was doing neurofeedback. She became a little “reading monster” and we nicknamed her “Nose In a Book”. She even read The Odyssey for pleasure.

“After six weeks of Maria’s Neurotherapy treatment, we were making plans for Maria to come home. Now, a year later we are anticipating her return to public school in a learning collaborative.“

Joseph*, High School, Severely Obsessive, Non-Verbal Learning Disability, Autistic Spectrum