Neurocore and Charlie

Charlie is my curious, intense, talkative, outgoing, creative and sensitive four year old. I love him to the moon and back.

Charlie makes me laugh and he makes me tired.  

About six months ago, we started to wonder if the energy and intensity he had was just that of a normal little boy, or if there was something else going on. Charlie has such a sweet heart, but he was getting in trouble both at home and at school for impulsive behaviors. He rarely had any calm moments and he had a hard time waiting his turn for anything. He has always been really verbal, but he didn't seem to have a filter; anything that popped into his mind would also come out of his mouth.

I felt so frustrated because I worked HARD with him on these behaviors and it seemed like we were getting nowhere.  I read books, talked to other moms and tried to give him loving, patient attention. I used timeouts, marble jars, sticker rewards...etc. Nothing seem to work for long.
We would have great moments and I could tell he was trying so hard to please us, but his impulses and emotions would often get the best of him.

I was jealous of other moms who could take their kids to Meijer and actually have them walk next to the shopping cart. I wanted to him to be able to sit for a few minutes in church or at a restaurant.  I LOVE his vibrant personality, but he was never still.  

November and December were tough months. Charlie had surgery to have his adenoids removed and his third set of tubes put in his ears. Then, in the following six weeks, he got stitches on his forehead from a fall at Crazy Bounce, broke his arm falling off a friend's bunk bed and cut his lip open by stepping off the couch downstairs.   I went to different emergency rooms because I was seriously nervous I would be reported to CPS! Needless to say, all the accidents brought extra strong emotions from him and that was exhausting for us. 

We got through the cast and stitches, and the emotions seemed to calm a little. We thought maybe moving past the injuries would really help him, but it seemed he still struggled with things like sitting still, controlling his emotions (especially when tired), waiting his turn, not blurting things out and getting in people's personal space. 

It was around this time that his teacher mentioned that he might be struggling with ADHD.  

I left school that day and cried, hard.  Seriously? Another one of my kids was going to have a diagnosis that I couldn't control? Another child of mine would have to work harder then many "typical" kids? So frustrating.

As I processed this, I remember that we had tried neurofeedback with Ruby for her seizures. It wasn't effective for her, but I knew neurofeedback was often used to treat ADHD. Mark and I soon decided to have Charlie evaluated by Neurocore to see if he would be a good candidate for this brain training program.

It turns out he was a perfect candidate for the treatment. His brainwaves on the first evaluation showed that he didn't have typical ADHD where kids' brains move to slow. He had the opposite problem; his brain was moving WAY to fast. His beta brainwaves were pumping twice as fast as they should be. This completely explained his impulsive, emotional behavior.  

He was in fight or flight mode all of the time.

We started neurofeedback treatment with Neurocore right away and I am pleased to say that after 30 sessions, we are blown away by the changes we see! These changes show on his brain scans and in his behavior. Charlie has a calm we have never seen before.  He sits at dinner and carries on two way conversations.  He has gotten great reports from school, Sunday school and his babysitter.  He is starting to think about things before he does them.

Charlie is still an active little boy and we will still deal with typical four year old behaviors.

I'm so glad this program didn't change his personality at all like meds often do, it just calmed his brain down so we could enjoy his personality more.  We still have a little more work to do so we will go to a few more sessions, but we are so excited about the changes we see in this little guy!

If you can relate at all to my story, please check out Neurocore. 

I can send you an email for a discount if you want to get an evaluation.

 It has been so worth it for us.