Hi all!
I'm coming out of a lengthy period of cybernation (since late May 2005). I invite everyone to check my previous posts at http://www.addforums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=555547.

A quick update. Yohanan (ADD) will be 11 in January & just started 5th grade. He's on Ritalin-LA 40 mg. He started on Ritalin-LA 30 mg. about halfway through 3rd grade & the results were apparent in his second half 3rd-grade report grade. 4th grade was kinda rough due to the fact that a certain kid in his class discovered that it was fun to goad & tease Yohanan since a reaction was sure to come. (His family moved over the summer & he's no longer at the school. Whew!) His teacher & class rabbi finally figured it out about half-way through 4th-grade that the school's assembly line approach to education wasn't working with Yohanan & they began testing him orally, eliminating multiple-choice tests for him, etc. 5th-grade is OK so far.

Naor (ADHD) has just turned 7 & has just started 1st-grade at the same school as his big brother. He takes Ritalin-LA 20 mg. on the 4 days a week when he has a long school day & regular Ritalin 10 mg. on the 2 days a week with a short school day. So far, so good.

My wife & I saw an ad about this gentleman http://tocureadhd.com/ & a free introductory lecture he'll be giving in Jerusalem next week. I'm a confirmed skeptic about a lot of things (homeopathy being one; had a bad experience with it & did some reading on the history of medicine) & swear by http://www.csicop.org/ & http://www.quackwatch.org/. I see red flags (all of which go quack-quack-quack) all over tocureadhd.com

I did a little internet research on such "brain exercise" approaches & saw http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/07/learning_center_touts_exercise_for_adhd/. My question is: Does anyone have any advice, experience, comments, etc. with such "brain exercise" approaches?

Thanks!
ssv :)

Still, There is a HUGE thread here running about Dore, which is what the article you have posted the link to is about. There is a link here in my signature. Lots of Dore mums with their experiences, what their children's difficulties are, and how some of them are just peeling away during the therapy. My own son started in December of last year, was a borderline candidate, and I am even very pleased with his progress.

If you have a center near you, you can call them and they will consult with you about your child's suitability for the program. If on discussion, they think he may be a good candidate, then they enter the evaluation which is very thorough and tests for cerebellar function, which they treat. I have done a ton of reading and research on vestibular/cereballar therapy and rehab, and it is spot on.

Let me or any of the other Dore mums know if there is anything we can do.


Just FYI, the quackwatch guy has some problems and issues of his own, so keep an open mind and do your own searching too:

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=486528#post486528

Hi FD!

Thank you very much for your post. Several things put me off about tocureadhd.com:

1) His claims are sweeping (to cure ADHD no less!);
2) He defines his approach as "proven"; by what criteria?
3) His site offers NO independent support from medical journals, professional associations, etc., of any kind;
4) He seems to buy into & play on an inherent antipathy to medications that many of us have (I don't buy into conspiracy theories about MDs out to get alternative practitioners or about the "medical-industrial complex", etc.);
5) The site does not mention costs anywhere;
6) He is basically asking us to take his word for it.

I'm not sure how similar Dr. Gimpel's approach is to other "brain exercise" approaches such as Dore (which isn't available here in Israel).

I saw this http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adhd-alternative-treatments which gives me pause.

I know that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Be well!

ssv :)

Well, it was quite a vague website, not much info at all as to what kind of treatments they offer. Left me very skeptical as well. If you are interested, find out if they will let you talk to parents or other participants to get an inside view?

Many of these kinds of therapies have been effective for many individuals, just that there is lack of studies to back them up scientifically. Dore has proven to work for my son and my friends here, and I'm happy with that. It does not work for everyone, yet neither do meds, which are proven. The brain is still quite plastic and new skills and neuropathways can be built to improve and/or develop certain functions. They operate on the same principles as vestibular rehab, or rehab to restore cerebellar (or other neurological areas) function lost acutely later in life. It's fascinating stuff, and it is gaining ground in the LD field, as most promising studies reveal merit for further research. (I'm referring mostly to Dore, since that is what I have researched the most.)

If you are interested in these kinds of things, the next most popular program is the Learning Breakthough Program kit, which is available by shipment to just about anywhere at a fraction of the price, and it's been around for 30 some years. According to the LB thread running here, the children seem to be responding.

Best of luck in your journey, keep us updated on what you find!

Hi FD!

Thank you very much for your post. Several things put me off about tocureadhd.com:

1) His claims are sweeping (to cure ADHD no less!);
2) He defines his approach as "proven"; by what criteria?
3) His site offers NO independent support from medical journals, professional associations, etc., of any kind;
4) He seems to buy into & play on an inherent antipathy to medications that many of us have (I don't buy into conspiracy theories about MDs out to get alternative practitioners or about the "medical-industrial complex", etc.);
5) The site does not mention costs anywhere;
6) He is basically asking us to take his word for it.
...
I'm with you. Seems a little shady, and doesn't offer a lot of scientific findings/backing.

If you are really looking for something to make lasting change in the way your brain functions, check out Neurotherapy. Here are a few links to get you started:
http://www.eeginfo.com/info_what.htm (http://www.eeginfo.com/info_what.htm)
http://www.adhd.com.au/neurotherapy.htm (http://www.adhd.com.au/neurotherapy.htm)

And as for your "put me off" list, let me compare them to the field of Neurotherapy:
1) The claims are sweeping as well in that it can make drastic changes to ADHD symptoms as well as depression / OCD / anxiety / autism / bi-polar / epilepsy / and other symptoms from a host of other brain systems not regulating correctly or from other "organic"/brain damage causes.
2) Neurotherapy has been shown to make long-term improvement in ADHD symptoms in several studies by measureing both subjective behavior and objective tests for attention and cognative funciton. (see below)
3) See http://www.isnr.org/ComprehensiveBibliography.cfm for a list of articles published in medical journals showing findings how Neurotherapy helps with a host of problems/applications, from "Academic Cognative Enhancement" to "Withdrawl"
4) Although I personally don't put a lot of stock into dealing with ADHD symptoms through "prescription Speed", there is recognition in the Neurofeedback community that certain cases still require medication to deal with ADHD symptoms, but the amount and frequency of medication can be greatly reduced if not removed all together.
5) Neurotherapy is performed by Clinicians all across the US, Canada, and other parts of the world. There are folks who are benefiting daily from this technique, and making lasting changes to the way their brain functions and are actually making changes to the electrical activity in their brain. There is no "Neurotherapy Inc." company trying to sell you anything, just a group of Practicitioners who offer a service to help the brain adjust it's self-regulating behavior through it's own "plasticity" - and their clients are getting real results. A partial list of Neurotherapy Providers can be found here (http://www.isnr.org/cart/pract_find.cfm?Alpha=&Zip=&theSearch=Search).
6) See #2 and #3 above.

I personally have had a QEEG test performed and gone through Neurotherapy. I'm currently off all medications for the first time since I was diagnosed back in 1994. It's like having a stream of "good days" all strung together without having to be dependant on a medication that offered me some clarity during the day only to "crash" in the evening, and has seriously helped with my depression and feelings of hopelessness, let alone the realization that my brain function was not a function of my spirit, and I could finally start to try to be the kind of person I want to be.

Seriously - look into it.