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Description: |
The A.D.D. Centre began in the fall of 1992 and was incorporated in 1993. We currently operate with a Director, CEO, and 15 part-time staff with university degrees (many with advanced degrees - Masters and Doctorate levels) or professional qualifications in education and health related fields.
We are currently the largest centre in Canada using EEG Biofeedback for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), with over 100 hours of training provided each week.
Parents and Schools are increasingly recognizing Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.) as a major difficulty which produces academic underachievement. With an estimated 6% of school age children affected, you can expect almost every class to have someone with A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Their problem may include short attention span, distractibility, and difficulties organizing and completing their assignments. Many also have an impulsive style; they start work without checking directions, blurt out answers, and have trouble awaiting their turn.
Fortunately, there is a new approach to helping both children and adults learn to self-regulate their brain waves to improve their concentration. This educational approach is called Neurofeedback or computerized EEG feedback. Within 40 to 60 sessions people can aquire the skill of producing brain wave patterns which are associated with focusing and concentrating. Unlike stimulants, Neurofeedback training appears to have a direct long term effect on increasing the child's ability to remain focused (decreased slow wave activity) and spend extended periods of time concentrating in a problem solving manner (increased fast wave activity). There is a significant decrease in the phenomenon of tuning out (associated with Alpha and/or Theta activity) when the child is expected to be carrying out an assignment or listening intently in class. In addition, Neurofeedback appears to have a similar effect to stimulants in that it increases the child's "natural guards" to inhibit or avoid impulsive actions. Children already taking medication can continue while training, however, most find that they can gradually reduce the dosage as self regulation is mastered.
Neurofeedback training is virtually the opposite of therapy or treatment by menas of medication. In Neurofeedback training children quickly recognize that no one is doing "it" to them. They are totally in control, responsible, empowered and working it out for themselves. The feedback is nothing more or less than a useful tool which allows them to learn self-regulation. |