Brain Balance?

[IT514]

Anyone have any interaction with one of those Brain Balance centers for kids with ADHD autism, and everything else under the sun?

Sounds beyond hokey and ABSURDLY expensive - more expensive than empirically sound treatments. I briefly looked through their website and found no research, just anecdotal miracle stories.

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[123EW]

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[IT514]

Thanks for the reply, thats interesting. The following is not directed towards you, or anyone really. Just my thoughts from hearing stories from around my neck of the woods...

It appears to me that its basically a tutoring center that uses the word brain in every other sentence. Anyway, any tutoring center if appropriately staffed can produce good results for kids, particularly kids who do not have severe problems and have good enough parents, esp. parents who can provide 32k a year for tutoring - that says something. What I mean is I think they attract a group of kids who would have similar results at the end of the 8 months without going through the program. It seems to me that lots of these kids undergo multiple therapies while in the program, and my guess is thats where the results are coming from in most cases.

Having taken graduate neuroanatomy and neuropathology, the stuff I am hearing from their "coaches" is completely misinformed, has no empirical basis, and costs an arm and a leg. I'm worried its taking away (time, family resources) from therapies that are known to be effective. Further, I'm wondering if malpractice and scope of practice lines are being crossed. I could be wrong...but my radar is definitely up.

 

[IT514]

Just found an article that used an ADHD sample. No control group and the kids were on stimulants, and they found improvement on some rating scales and on some absurd metronome coordination task. Thats called the Hawthorne effect, and maybe regression towards the mean, not a treatment effect. 32k per year huh?

 

[123EW]

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[FemmeFeline]

I'll add to the "I'm not buying that crap" sentiment. I knew someone who was signing up her kid for the program Brain Highways (http://www.brainhighways.com/) and I went with her to their "clinic" for a tour. The place was beyond hokey, and whenever I asked our "tour-guide" psych/neuro-based questions about any of their practices, she just smiled and deflected me. I wasn't trying to be impolite, I was just genuinely curious about their methods and how they were based (since she kept saying "brain pathways" and "restructuring misaligned systems.")

The place charged an exorbitant amount of money and had children ranging from 5-13 crawling all over the floors of their rooms. The basis of their model at the time was the claim that some children don't learn how to "crawl right" during their development, which led to stinted neurodevelopment, particularly of the brainstem.

I can't say for sure whether it's a scam or not, and obviously some families have experienced positive outcomes. And for those families, that is all that matters. But the way the Brain Highways people presented themselves to my friend and me raised serious doubts about their credibility... My friend was convinced, however.

 

[IT514]

I didn't get the impression that it was a tutoring session; rather, it was working on brain imbalance by doing exercises to strengthen one hemisphere while reducing input to the stronger side, much like using the patch for treatment of amblyopia.

My meeting was a while ago, so I am not 100% up to date on all of the details, and I only went because we received a complimentary evaluation. When I was told the price, I'm sure my jaw instantly dropped to the floor, and the director was happy to pick it up for me with a pamphlet regarding 0% financing information for 12 months.

I never looked into the empirical evidence for their program specifically. That said, do I believe a brain imbalance can exist? Yes. Do I believe it can be corrected? Yes. Am I willing to pay $16k to do this? No. I did buy their one book for $12.99. It is sitting on my bookshelf as we speak, unread. This is not to say there is not valuable information in there, it just became a low priority.

Through all of this, I was able to find a quality SLP for my child who also focuses on brain functioning. Her cost: about $4k/year. Couldn't be happier with my choice. If I had $32k of disposable income to spend on the Brain Balance Center, perhaps I would have chosen differently, but I am more than pleased with how things went for us.

Sounds like you made the wise choice. The lazy eye example is one I've heard before. Its a common misconception for folks, and yes this includes physicians(I see the creator is one), to look at higher level cortical functions the same way you look at cranial nerves. The truth is that the complex behaviors that brain balance attempts to treat do not lateralize in 1:1 fashion as was thought a while back. The entire theory is a gross over-generalization of the "disconnection" literature.

 

[Psych 2001]

Sounds like you made the wise choice. The lazy eye example is one I've heard before. Its a common misconception for folks, and yes this includes physicians(I see the creator is one), to look at higher level cortical functions the same way you look at cranial nerves. The truth is that the complex behaviors that brain balance attempts to treat do not lateralize in 1:1 fashion as was thought a while back. The entire theory is a gross over-generalization of the "disconnection" literature.

Not sure where the idea of 32k as far as cost became accurate. I do know someone who sent her son for one session and it was almost 7k. In his case it changed everything. I think he has dyslexia and anxiety. No londer has LD or anxiety. But I can't imagine it's for erveryone.

 

[erg923]

Not sure where the idea of 32k as far as cost became accurate. I do know someone who sent her son for one session and it was almost 7k. In his case it changed everything. I think he has dyslexia and anxiety. No londer has LD or anxiety. But I can't imagine it's for erveryone[/B].

According to who?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

The place charged an exorbitant amount of money and had children ranging from 5-13 crawling all over the floors of their rooms. The basis of their model at the time was the claim that some children don't learn how to "crawl right" during their development, which led to stinted neurodevelopment, particularly of the brainstem.

That *totally* sounds like a legit treatment! A huge red flag goes up for me when I hear non-specialists use "brain" or "neuro" too frequently in their sentences. I think I should open up a NeuroDayCare, "You Birth 'em, We Learn 'em!"

 

[Sunrise77]

( yes, 5 grades completed in 2 1/2 yrs of one on one homeschooling!).
( yes, 5 grades completed in 2 1/2 yrs of one on one homeschooling!)

I'll add to the "I'm not buying that crap" sentiment. I knew someone who was signing up her kid for the program Brain Highways (http://www.brainhighways.com/) and I went with her to their "clinic" for a tour. The place was beyond hokey, and whenever I asked our "tour-guide" psych/neuro-based questions about any of their practices, she just smiled and deflected me. I wasn't trying to be impolite, I was just genuinely curious about their methods and how they were based (since she kept saying "brain pathways" and "restructuring misaligned systems.")

The place charged an exorbitant amount of money and had children ranging from 5-13 crawling all over the floors of their rooms. The basis of their model at the time was the claim that some children don't learn how to "crawl right" during their development, which led to stinted neurodevelopment, particularly of the brainstem.

I can't say for sure whether it's a scam or not, and obviously some families have experienced positive outcomes. And for those families, that is all that matters. But the way the Brain Highways people presented themselves to my friend and me raised serious doubts about their credibility... My friend was convinced, however.

I am a mother, nurse of 17 years, and spent 8 years in the Marine Corps in communications. I have 3 children. My middle son had a multitude of 'learning disabilities' according to his IEP reports and was labeled as having 'Non-specific learning disabilities'.. no one could figure out what was wrong with him.. at the beginning of 4th grade we had him tested. We were told that he was working at low kindergarten level academically and psychologically he was depressed, shy, withdrawn, and suicidal. We were also told that he would never be able to participate in a regular class again, so he would need 'modified' classes and for graduation of high school, if he made it that far, he would have a modified exam so that he could pass.


Up to this point, we had tried everything the school and Dr's suggested...

After a complete meltdown, I decided to do something outside of the box!

I quit my job at the hospital, enrolled my son in a local charter school, and enrolled him in the Brain Highways program in Encinitas, CA.


I will not lie.. Homeschooling and doing the program was difficult and intense ... we went through many challenges and struggles.. but the program director/founder and her staff were very helpful, supportive, always answered emails and questions, always gave scientific support to what was happening and as to what changes we were seeing and experiencing.


I ended up homeschooling my son for 2 1/2 years... He completed Kgn-4.5th grade in that time he also completed the Brain Highways program ( which took about 4 months).. When he reentered public school in 6th grade, he was able to catch up by the end of the school year.. by the end of 8th grade he finished the school year with a 3.5 gpa... he is now a freshman in high school, is in regular classes, in the Japanese program, and the sound designer for the Drama productions... and is a straight A-B student.

If it hadn't been for everything we learned in the Brain Highways program my son would just be another kid labeled and just given up on.


This program is successful and has been for over 10 years now. So much so, that I am currently participating in the Adult program.

As a parent or participant, once your enrolled in the program.. be prepared to learn! ...


In this video, the lady with the long blond hair was my son's 3rd grade teacher... she put her son through the program too & this is their story..( We remember him before he went through the program.)

http://www.brainhighways.com/c/samestorydiffend


Part of researching a program is talking to people who have completed the programs and can give you full insight.

And the entire cost of the program is around $1300 ... not thousands.

 

[PsychBiker]

( yes, 5 grades completed in 2 1/2 yrs of one on one homeschooling!).
( yes, 5 grades completed in 2 1/2 yrs of one on one homeschooling!)

I am a mother, nurse of 17 years, and spent 8 years in the Marine Corps in communications. I have 3 children. My middle son had a multitude of 'learning disabilities' according to his IEP reports and was labeled as having 'Non-.

Admittedly, I know nothing of the Brain Highways program and I barely read this whole thread. I did browse through the Brain Highways website looking for research references for her "system." I didn't find anything, or maybe I didn't look hard enough. So I researched some databases myself and found nothing. I also looked for articles by Nancy Sokol Green, the founder, and there was nothing valid. However, I found some random online magazine articles and a couple of non-empirically based theory books.

Then, after researching through some of her theories and articles, I saw that Ms. Green wrote as if she is neuropsychologist. She mentions different parts of the brain and their functions, when she has had no proper training in neurology or psychology (that I am aware of) and does not have the nerve to cite ANYTHING. However, she does reference a blog to support her statements - a blog which she is the author of.

Anyways, my point is this: Working intensely with your kid, as you mentioned, will obviously be a benefit for him 95% of the time. Ms. Green offered some support through her program alongside your personal work, but keep in mind that this program is not likely to be the primary cause of your child's progress. I just feel like praising Brain Highways blindly with no research is not helpful to others. Maybe just my personal opinion and I know nothing.

Overall, the Brain Highways program is probably helpful and Ms. Green seems like a decent person, but my research background persuades me to question and analyze everything (probably to a fault).

 

[WisNeuro]

I have seen zero literature or support for a "hemisphere imbalance." These centers are everywhere, and they rely on snakeoil and task specific practice effects. save your money. If you have a child with autism, find a legitimate applied behavior analyst. If the kid has ADHD, make sure he was properly diagnosed (and no, that 5 minute doctor visit wasn't enough) and then look for behavioral interventions and possibly medication if it's impairing enough. Brain imbalance. Yeesh, almost as much of a racket as EMDR.

 

[IT514]

Sunrise, what you do in the best interest of your child is your responsibility. Anecdotal miracle stories, however, can be misleading and possibly harmful to the public IMO. You've invested time and money in something and have a personal relationship with these people, so why on earth should we glean "insight" from your opinion as opposed to an honest, careful, scientific approach which appears to be lacking on the part of the BrainHighways website. Intensive tutoring is fine, homeschooling kids who have good, able parents and need the support is ideal. There is no need to put the word brain and neuro in every other sentance, other than to benefit financially from this quackery.

 

[PsyDr]

 

[PsychBiker]

Did you know that Nude Primal Scream Therapy is more effective than Homeopathy in curing cooties?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I was curious and clicked on the BrainHighways link….wow. I mean…wow. It looks like someone took the diagnostic criteria of various disorders, bold them, and then used a random word generator that threw together a bunch of "neuro sounding" jargon and passed it off as science. An unsuspecting parent can then read through their descriptions and go, "Wow! That is my kid!" Of course, all of the surrounding text is complete junk science. There is not one shred of peer reviewed science in any of those descriptions.

 

[PsychBiker]

I was curious and clicked on the BrainHighways link….wow. I mean…wow. It looks like someone took the diagnostic criteria of various disorders, bold them, and then used a random word generator that threw together a bunch of "neuro sounding" jargon and passed it off as science. An unsuspecting parent can then read through their descriptions and go, "Wow! That is my kid!" Of course, all of the surrounding text is complete junk science. There is not one shred of peer reviewed science in any of those descriptions.

This sounds legit:

"If babies are placed on their belly, they innately learn how to creep (which looks similar to an army crawl). Such movement is directly linked to developing part of the brainstem called the pons. From there, babies get up on their hands and knees and begin to crawl. This movement is directly linked to development of the midbrain.

If a child creeps and crawls enough, then the pons and midbrain become fully developed. With such development, the child acquires, naturally, key brain functions that become the foundation for everything else that the child does later in life."


I'm not a neuropsychologist, but I want to gouge out my eyes.

 

[bcliff]

the plural of anecdote is not the same as data

 

[WisNeuro]

This sounds legit:

"If babies are placed on their belly, they innately learn how to creep (which looks similar to an army crawl). Such movement is directly linked to developing part of the brainstem called the pons. From there, babies get up on their hands and knees and begin to crawl. This movement is directly linked to development of the midbrain.

If a child creeps and crawls enough, then the pons and midbrain become fully developed. With such development, the child acquires, naturally, key brain functions that become the foundation for everything else that the child does later in life."


I'm not a neuropsychologist, but I want to gouge out my eyes.

Wow, talk about a misunderstanding of developmental neurology. I wonder how they explain normal cognitive and behavioral functions in individuals who have been physically disabled from birth and have problems with mobility.

 

[PsyDr]

It did activate my area postrema

 

[PsychBiker]

Wow, talk about a misunderstanding of developmental neurology. I wonder how they explain normal cognitive and behavioral functions in individuals who have been physically disabled from birth and have problems with mobility.

I don't think it is fair to dismiss this concept. For all you know, there is a study out there that shows individuals with cerebral hypothrophia who crawl display neural regeneration within their pons and midbrain.

If there is not a study on this already, I call dibs.

 

[WisNeuro]

I don't think it is fair to dismiss this concept. For all you know, there is a study out there that shows individuals with cerebral hypothrophia who crawl display neural regeneration within their pons and midbrain.

If there is not a study on this already, I call dibs.

I wonder how the VA will respond if I just start recommending to all of my patients that they just need to crawl more to balance their brain.

 

[PsychBiker]

I wonder how the VA will respond if I just start recommending to all of my patients that they just need to crawl more to balance their brain.

Maybe you could:

McGraw, M. B. Development of neuro-muscular mechanisms as reflected in the crawling and creeping behavior of the human infant. Journal Of Genetic Psychology, 5883-111.

Abstract:

The progress in the crawling and creeping behavior from the newborn reflex phase to the final stage of integrated creeping was recorded in motion picture film and written protocols at weekly, bi-weekly or less frequent intervals for 82 babies. In addition daily records were made on four different infants. On the basis of these records the author was able to detect nine distinct phases, each approximately a month in length, reflecting essential advancement in neuro-muscular maturation, namely: (1) newborn posture and movements; (2) beginning spinal extension; (3) advanced spinal extension; (4) incipient propulsive movements in superior region, and (5) in inferior region; (6) assumption of creeping posture; (7) deliberate but unorganized progression; (8) organized; and (9) integrated progression.


Sorry, here is the full citation:

McGraw, M. B. (1941). Development of neuro-muscular mechanisms as reflected in the crawling and creeping behavior of the human infant. Journal Of Genetic Psychology, 5883-111.

Holy ****, Ms. Green is basing her nuero concepts on research over 70 years old.

 

[student til 30]

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[cscholberg]

I have read through this thread, and I thought I should say something.

First of all, let me state that I respect all of your opinions and the invaluable education and experiences you have been through. Without people studying to be doctors, our world would be a much worse place.

Second of all, I don't like "snake-oil" or "hokey" things either. In fact, I'm quit the expert (self-proclaimed expert) at seeing through network marketing or multi-level marketing scams and calling them out on it. I don't get sucked into timeshares or miracle infomercial products, either.

However, I am smart enough to know that I don't know everything, and that new things deserve a fair chance. If nobody was willing to break traditional boundaries, then our science could never make progress.

I have enrolled in the Brain Highways program and have completed about 11 hours of the work. If it weren't for my younger blood-relative cousin, who had serious autism at a young age, I can assure you I would be open minded at best to Brain Highways (I certainly would not have tried it myself). My cousin was one of the slowest to progress people the staff had ever seen. He did more than 1,000 hours of work, where the average person takes 150-300 hours, and he still didn't completely finish. But, you would never know he is autistic today.

When he was a young kid playing on a soccer team, he could not weave in and out of the cones while running like the other kids could. Pretty much all the kids on the team could do it by the end of the first season, except for him; he couldn't do it even at all by the end of the third season. He also could hardly talk, and when he did, it didn't make any sense. But today, he is a normal kid in school with normal friendships and a normal life.

Could this be because he just matured and grew out of it? Absolutely! But I don't know that for sure. My aunt, his mother, talked to many of the other participants. Many of them had similar stories. Because of the overwhelming amount of positive stories, it made a favorable impression in my mind as something alternative that could help kids with mental handicaps.

About ten years later, in 2014, my life was getting difficult. I decided to give it a try. Mostly I had lifelong obsessive tendencies, impulse control issues, ADHD, I was medically retired by the Army and rated 100% disabled by the VA for bipolar disorder, and I could be described quite accurately as a "drama queen." It was only $625 to enroll in the online adult course as compared to the $8,000 required by Brain Balance.

Before I started Brain Highways, I looked into Brain Gym and Brain Balance. Both of those seemed similar to each other, but different than Brain Highways. Their exercises seemed to work well but were only temporarily beneficial, whereas the Brain Highways program is designed to be permanent. And, once you're "done" with the Brain Highways work, you're supposedly "done." Since $625 wasn't a big deal to me but $8,000 was, my wallet was also a determining factor in my decision.

I've been seeing psychiatrists and psychologists for years - real medical doctors whom all of you would approve of. One of the first things I noticed was a lot of the Brain Highways work was nearly identical to what my psychologist was having me do all these years, such as reframing negative thoughts to positive ones, figuring out a following emotion, and a following action. In fact, there were so many similarities I am willing to say they were the same thing, except that Brain Highways also included physical floor exercises.

Since my psychologists have been legit and the Brain Highways program was, for all practical purposes, the same thing, I assumed at least that part of the program was legitimate. I still didn't know about the floor exercises, though, but I decided to try them out so that I could know for sure.

I've only done 11 hours of exercises so far, but I am experiencing a notable change. For the first time in my life, I have been able to stop my fight-or-flight reactions to things that perturb me, and I have been able to stay calm "until the storm blew over." Could this be from the psychological work I've been doing and the exercises have nothing to do with my improvement? Sure, but it is strange that the same things had no lasting effect in my life up until now.

My conclusion is that this Brain Highways program is way ahead of its time. I could see, in the future, mental health doctors writing exercises prescriptions for their patients to do at home. I don't think it is superior to the medicine and practices we have now; I think it is a beautiful addition to them. Medication might be a catalyst for this process, even.

Also keep in mind that Western medicine might be missing this physical exercise component. Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, etc has been known across the East to have healing effects for many years, a lot of which are undeniable.

This lady is NOT a credentialed neuropsychologist, but that doesn't stop her from knowing a lot of things. Plenty of experts in this world are without credentials. I have researched everything she has said about the brain anatomy and all of it is accurate.

There's no free lunch, and no doubt this program requires a considerable investment of time and effort. But I encourage you to try this before you automatically dismiss it. Remember, Galileo was put to death for saying the Earth revolved around the Sun (or so the story goes).

Just my two cents....

 

[WisNeuro]

Couple things from the quick glance there. Western medicine is definitely not missing the exercise component. It's part of most recommendations I see for a variety of evals. Getting people to follow through with them, that's something we can improve on though.

Next, places like Brain Highways needs to produce research that they are not just relying on expectancy, placebo, and practice effects. Those alone will have people reporting significant improvement from a baseline. Also, it sounds like they are recycling some actual therapy procedures, which is great, but they don't need to rebrand it as some type of magic.

And yes, considerable time and effort is needed for most significant interventions. I imagine they also get highly motivated individuals with emotional and monetary buy-in, another component that will lead to positive outcomes with almost any intervention, empirically backed or otherwise.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I agree with WisNeuro--it sounds like Brain Highways is using a few different empirically-supported concepts in their treatment (e.g., cognitive restructuring, participation in regular physical activity, etc.), and thus it's working well for you. That's awesome. I also think that having paid for the course likely increases your motivation to "do the work" so to speak, just as it would with pretty much anyone else. Factor all those things together and I'm not surprised there's real, genuine improvement.

There are likely plenty of things we, as providers, could learn from programs like Brain Highways. How to deliver content in engaging and interactive ways, how to better leverage technology, how to better tailor our various recommendations (e.g., for physical activity) so that folks actually follow them, etc. Some of these things have probably been viewed as "hokey" by ivory tower-type folks, but just like anything else, I feel that they're tools to be used. After all, even if an intervention works, if people consistently fail to engage with it, I still count that as failure on the part of the treatment.

 

[IT514]

What is missing from this stuff (BrainHighways, BrainBalance, and all other Brain BS), other than accurate knowledge, is a sense of socially responsible practice. They might not care about this as its a business enterprise. That is not to say that all businesses are socially irresponsible. Its suggesting that these particular businesses are irresponsible because they choose to market and profit from a "therapy" without any hint of wanting to show that it is effective when controlled for affective/motivational factors that Wisneuro mentioned. IMO, sometimes its deliberate (i.e. Amen clinics) and sometimes the owners themselves are believers, blissfully unaware of factors such as placebo, motivation, and more. The link below expands a bit on my point, much better than I could say.

I'm all about people getting better and improving their lives. But when its at the expense of critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and social responsibility, there is no way that it cannot eventually be harmful to the public. Pardon the double negative.

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/temporal-binding/#more-4979

 

[smalltownpsych]

It is easy to criticize these types of programs but the truth is that people are desperate to help their kids when they are struggling and when they bring them to us they often do not see results. We either provide them an hour a week of individual or family therapy and/or various stimulant, antidepressant, or antipsychotic medications. I worked in the troubled teen industry for several years which started with non-professionals providing a level of service that we weren't providing. After some terrible and unethical practices that led to abuse and even deaths, the industry is hiring licensed clinicians to bring evidence-based practices. I was part of that move from lets see what works to applied science and ethical practice.
From my perspective, we need to be the creators of these programs and get involved in them more than just sit back and criticize. There are probably some more solid programs out there that provide similar service that we could recommend.

 

[IT514]

I think there is an appropriate time and place for standing back and being critical, and encourage others to think about things that they might not have otherwise. This is one of those.

Lets be clear. These folks are not about serving the underserved, or being "in the trenches" with those who suffer. Do you see any of these centers in the south-side of Chicago or opening up in rural wherever? They are about making a profit, and they do that very well.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I think there is an appropriate time and place for standing back and being critical, and encourage others to think about things that they might not have otherwise. This is one of those.

Lets be clear. These folks are not about serving the underserved, or being "in the trenches" with those who suffer. Do you see any of these centers in the south-side of Chicago or opening up in rural wherever? They are about making a profit, and they do that very well.

Unfortunately, one way criticism does little or nothing to promote effective care. Physician first heal thyself. My contention is that we don't advocate enough for the types of interventions that are needed for some of these kids and that is more of the problem than somebody profiting off the unfilled need that we have left. In other words, start a business competing with these people or go to work for a company like them as a licensed psychologist, and you will steal their clients and people won't need to go for the snake oil. Trust me, it's what I did for three years.

 

[bikergrrl]

There is some related research, but not much. Here is one example: http://activitas.org/index.php/nervosa/article/viewArticle/148 The author cites several other related studies (peer-reviewed and published in reputable scholarly journals). More study is needed.

 

[smalltownpsych]

There is some related research, but not much. Here is one example: http://activitas.org/index.php/nervosa/article/viewArticle/148 The author cites several other related studies (peer-reviewed and published in reputable scholarly journals). More study is needed.

At the school where I was at we used small class sizes, increased focused adult interaction, accelerated but briefer schedule, more hands-on activities, strong doses of interpersonal therapy, minimal electronics, engagement in the natural world, etc. to help all of the adolescents but we found that it was also very effective with students with ADHD and executive functioning deficits. I sought out research to support what we were observing and there was very little. Another school in Montana, the Montana Academy, is doing similar work and some research as well. They conceptualize using the construct of maturity which ties in pretty well to difficulties with attention. I am pretty certain that environment plays a huge role in this and many other disorders and what might be most effective in some of these interventions is that dramatic change in environment with the interpersonal environment perhaps being most significant. See Alan Schore or Daniel Stern for an introduction to that last point.