Category — ADHD: Education

I have written for years that only by redefining ADHD can we address the problem through education and training. Finally, the movement is approaching mainstream as indicated in the article from Scientific American entitled, Training the Brain, Cognitive Therapy As An Alternative To ADHD Drugs.

It is interesting to note that the techniques mentioned in the article have been incorporated in the Play Attention cognitive tools for about ten years.

“Recent studies support the notion that many children with ADHD have cognitive deficits, specifically in working memory–the ability to hold in mind information that guides behavior. The cognitive problem manifests behaviorally as inattention and contributes to poor academic performance. Such research not only questions the value of medicating ADHD children, it also is redefining the disorder and leading to more meaningful treatment that includes cognitive training.”

Salient issues raised by the author include:

1. The difficult decision by parents “To medicate or not? Millions of parents must decide when their child is diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)–a decision made tougher by controversy.”
2. While medication may calm a student’s outward behavior, research shows that it does not increase cognitive ability manifesting in improved academic performance, social relationships, or defiant behavior over the long-term.
3. This has led scientists to research effective means of cognitive training as a substitute.

This is really a shift in our understanding of this disorder from behavioral to biological,” states Rosemary Tannock, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Tannock has shown that although stimulant medication improves working memory, the effect is small, she says, “suggesting that medication isn’t going to be sufficient.” So she and others, such as Susan Gathercole of the University of Durham in England, now work with schools to introduce teaching methods that train working memory. In fact, working-memory deficits may underlie several disabilities, not just ADHD, highlighting the heterogeneity of the disorder.”

The article focuses on Dr. Torkel Klingberg of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who trained around 40 kids with ADHD with a software program that addressed “working memory.” After more than 20 days of training parents reported that their children had greatly improved attention and lessened hyperactivity.

Klingberg essentially proved that cognitive retraining improved neurobiological function. This work has been underway with Play Attention since 1994. It’s good to see the paradigm shift beginning to happen.

This story is from HealthCentral.com. It is important to realize these data are from three recent studies all indicating the same thing: too much TV results in poorer educational performance.

Kids Who Watch Too Much TV Have Lower Test Scores

Reading, math scores and college education suffer, studies find.

By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, July 4 (HealthDay News) – The effect of television on children has been debated ever since the first sets were turned on.

Now three new studies find that too much tube time can lower test scores, retard learning and even predict college performance.

The reports appear in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

In the first report, researchers studied the effect that having a TV in a child’s bedroom can have on third graders. “We looked at the household media environment in relation to academic achievement on mathematics, reading and language arts tests,” said study author Dina L.G. Borzekowski, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Borzekowski and her colleague, Dr. Thomas Robinson of Stanford University, collected data on 386 third graders and their parents about how much TV the children watched, the number of TV sets, computers and video game consoles in the household and where they were. They also collected data on how much time the children spent using the different media, as well as the time spent doing homework and reading.

The researchers found that the media in the household, where it is and how it is used can have a profound effect on learning. “We found that the household media environment has a very close association with performance on the different test scores,” Borzekowski said.

“A child who has a TV in his or her bedroom is likely to have a score that is eight points lower on a mathematics test compared to a child who doesn’t have a TV in the bedroom,” she noted. These children also scored lower on the reading and language arts tests.

However, children who have access to a home computer are likely to have higher scores on each of the tests compared with children who don’t have access to a home computer, Borzekowski noted.

The reasons why TV has this negative effect are not clear, Borzekowski said. “When there’s TV in the bedroom, parents are less likely to have control over the content and the amount watched,” Borzekowski said. “They are also unable to know how early or how late the set is on. This seems to be associated with kids’ performance on academic tests.”

Borzekowski believes that content and the time the TV is on may be the primary reasons for its negative effect. “If the TV is in the family room, then parents can see the content of what children are watching,” she said. “Parents can choose to sit alongside and watch, or turn the set off. A simple and straightforward, positive parenting strategy is to keep the TV out of the child’s bedroom, or remove it if it’s already there.”

In the second report, Dr. Robert J. Hancox from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and colleagues found, regardless of your intelligence or social background, if you watch a lot of TV during childhood, you are a lot less likely to have a college degree by your mid-20s.

In their study, the researchers followed 1,037 people born in 1972 and 1973. Every two years, between the ages of 5 and 15, they were asked how much television they watched. The researchers found that those who watched the most television during these years had earned fewer degrees by the time they were 26.

“We found that the more television the child had watched, the more likely they were to leave school without any qualifications,” Hancox said in a prepared statement. “Those who watched little television had the best chance of going on to university and earning a degree.”

Hancox’s team found that watching TV at an early age had the most effect on graduating from college. “An interesting finding was that although teenage viewing was strongly linked to leaving school without any qualifications, it was earlier childhood viewing that had the greatest impact on getting a degree,” he said. “This suggests that excessive television in younger children has a long-lasting adverse effect on educational performance.”

In the third paper, Frederick J. Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis from the University of Washington report that, for very young children, watching TV can result in lower test scores in mathematics, reading recognition and reading comprehension.

“We looked at how much television children watched before age 3 and then at ages 3 to 5,” Zimmerman said. “We found that for children who watched a small amount of TV in the earlier years, there was considerable beneficial effect compared to children who watched a lot of TV.”

For children aged 3 to 5, the effect was not as clear, Zimmerman said. “There were some beneficial effects of watching TV on reading, but no beneficial effects for math or vocabulary,” he noted. “The worst pattern was to watch more than three hours of TV before age 3. Those kids had a significant disadvantage compared to the other kids.”

Parents should follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation, which is no TV for children under 2, Zimmerman said. “Personally, I feel the cutoff should be children under 3, because there is just not any good content for children under 3.”

One expert believes that TV can have both positive and negative effects, but it all depends on what children are watching.

“Content matters,” said Deborah L. Linebarger, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who co-authored an accompanying editorial. “Educational content has been found to be related to performance on school readiness tests, higher grades when they are teenagers, whereas, non-educational content tends to be associated with lower academic performance.”

Another expert agrees. “TV watching takes up space that could be used by more useful things,” said Dr. Christopher P. Lucas, a clinical coordinator at the Early Childhood Evaluation and Treatment Program at the New York University Child Study Center. “TV is not necessarily toxic, but is something that has to be done in moderation; something that balances the other needs of the child for healthy development.”

Lucas puts the responsibility for how much TV kids watch and what they watch squarely on parents. “The amount of TV watching certainly has a link with the reduced amount of time reading or doing homework,” he said. “The key is the amount of control parents have in limiting the amount of access. Get the TV out of the bedroom; be aware of what is being watched; limit the amount of TV watching.”

Dr. Sydney Zentall from Purdue urges new techniques for teaching ADHD children. I agree wholeheartedly. However, the new techniques should be based on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) that should be given to ALL students thus teaching to their strengths and strengthening their weaknesses. While advocating new teaching methods for ADHD students sells books, it is only a small portion of this nation’s massive education problem.

From United Press International:

New ADHD educational methods urged WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., July 11 (UPI) – A Purdue researcher says teachers and parents need to learn new methods to help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Fads and ‘how-to lists’ are more prevalent than methods based on educational research, said Sydney Zentall, a professor of special education and psychological sciences in Purdue’s College of Education.

But, she added, because students who have ADHD spend the majority of their time in general educational settings, it’s critical to get scientific information to the people who are going to help them learn how to live in society.

She said part of the reason for the scarcity of ADHD information in textbooks is ADHD has not been categorized as a disability in special education until recently.

Purdue News Service said Zentall is an internationally recognized authority on hyperactivity and ADHD. She developed a theory in 1975 called Optimal Stimulation Theory, suggesting hyperactive children might have a greater need for stimulation and would benefit from a more active learning environment.

Essentially, the researchers used a computerized dance program to stimulate neural pathways thus increasing attention and therefore reading comprehension. Another example of neuralplasticity.

The story from ABC News:

Get Out! Popular Dance Video Game Helps Kids with ADHD

The same video game that endlessly distracts kids from schoolwork may improve concentration and memory, according to a study on a small group of children with attention deficit disorder. Researchers found that playing Dance Revolution, the arcade hit from Japan where dancers try to match the steps of a gyrating computer animation, led to an intriguing boost in reading comprehension.

“We’re still in the beginning stages,” cautioned Tammy McGraw, an education specialist with the Appalachian Educational Laboratory and lead author of the study. “But if we can demonstrate that video games help, we can find solutions that do not require us to medicate children as much.”

The game McGraw and her colleagues tested is a far cry from the gang violence found in Grand Theft Auto or the bloody martial arts action of Mortal Kombat. There isn’t even any bumping or grinding. Available for such popular home gaming systems as Sony’s PlayStation II and Microsoft’s Xbox,  Dance Revolution involves stomping on four large buttons to a danceable beat in what educators describe as a mix between Twister and Simon Says.

McGraw, who presented her findings at a recent Digital Games Research Association conference in Vancouver, Canada, said that she first got the idea to study the game after seeing a long line outside a mall. Following the endless convoy of adolescents, McGraw was surprised to find what everyone was waiting for: a chance to shake it against a virtual dancer.

McGraw had recently read about research suggesting visual and rhythmic stimulation could improve reading and attention. Perhaps, she thought, this emerging theory about learning could be matched with the latest video game craze.

“There are a lot of ways to help kids read better,” said McGraw, adding that few children find them interesting. “Kids naturally gravitate toward video games.”

As part of the study, McGraw and colleagues recruited 62 sixth graders who suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). First, the children were given a series of reading tests. Half the kids were then instructed to play Dance Revolution for about an hour a week. The other children continued with their normal routine.

Just to ensure that no parent was taken aback by the unusual educational aid, McGraw said they chose the Disney version of the game, which includes a dancing Mickey Mouse and songs by Chubby Checker.

Three months later, the kids took the same reading tests again. The scores were largely the same for both groups, but those who played Dance Revolution did slightly better with so-called receptive coding skills, the ability to immediately recall a word or series of numbers. This type of testing indicates greater focus and attention, a key issue for children with ADHD. The more times the kids played the game, the better they did.

“This was the real hot spot,” said McGraw. By quickly matching their movements to visuals and music, children who play Dance Dance Revolution seem to strengthen the areas of the brain that are necessary for better memorization, McGraw explained. Since the game is exciting, these skills are more easily improved.

McGraw hopes to press ahead with her research to find a broader educational role for Dance Revolution, as well as other video games.

“Everyone is playing them,” she said, “And it’s something schools can afford.”

The following story is from the Scotsman.com. Pay particular attention to the section where ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, and dyspraxia are described; they are notably different than our perceptions in the States.

The Lost Boy Who Found Happiness

MAIRIONA MCINALLY-KIER

LAST week it was my son’s 13th birthday. We’d barely finished breakfast but he was already on the back lawn, punting a new football back and forth while keeping up a lively running commentary on his imaginary match. And at the weekend, he will host his football party at the local five-a-side club.

No different from any other 13-year-old boy, you might think. Except that all this would have been unthinkable six years ago. Ball skills of any kind were beyond him, he was having problems completing or even starting tasks at school and had great difficulty relating to his peer group.

As a result, his self-esteem was in his boots, he felt himself to be friendless and he was miserable much of the time.

We knew our child was bright: his vocabulary and general knowledge were impressive, his reading age was way above his actual age, and his ability to memorise poetry, song lyrics and times tables was staggering. He was articulate and unfailingly polite. Yet, night after night, he tearfully struggled through his homework, knowing what he wanted to write but unable to commit it to paper. It was as though there was a disconnection between his brain and his hand.

His teacher said that she’d never seen a child like him. She only just managed not to call him lazy but he was so slow at everything, from changing for PE to starting any task in his illegible, awkward scrawl. The learning support teacher was called in and noted that he was unusually disorganised, hesitant in many of his actions and had problems with sequencing. However, as he was clearly not dyslexic, she couldn’t help any further.

By this stage our child was chewing the cuffs of his blazer, shredding his skin with his nails and banging his head with his fist or against walls “to make it work properly”. Our happy-go-lucky toddler had turned into a child who was shunned by others, left out of games because he was clumsy, over-loud and couldn’t be relied upon to catch or stop a ball. Fortunately, the new school year brought with it a new teacher whose first degree was in psychology (and who is now an educational psychologist). Within days she called us and asked us to get him tested, and by the end of that term we were told that our child was dyspraxic with a notable visual-motor dysfunction and accompanying ADHD, an assessment later agreed by the NHS.

Often found to co-exist with dyslexia, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) or Asperger’s syndrome, dyspraxia is thought to affect about ten per cent of the population to some degree, with boys being four times as likely as girls to suffer from it.

According to the Dyspraxia Foundation, it is “an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. This affects the way in which the brain processes information, resulting in messages not being properly or fully transmitted. Associated with this there may be problems of language, perception and thought”.

As far as we know, children and adults with the condition are wired up slightly differently to what we consider as the norm. Why this should be is still subject to research but it is likely that there are multiple causes. For some, metabolism and diet are implicated, particularly the manner in which essential fatty acids are broken down. It is thought that some children simply do not get enough of the right kind of movement practice while they are babies. Others believe that some children retain primitive reflexes and fail to develop postural reflexes.

Getting a diagnosis is a struggle. As parents, we expect teachers to recognise the condition, but many are not trained to do so. Even if children are referred by their schools, there are simply not enough paediatric occupational therapists and educational psychologists to go round. Assessment waiting lists are long. We know that we are very fortunate to have been able to fund private therapy to help our child. Without it, I doubt he would be the happy 13-year-old he is today.

In the years since that initial diagnosis, we’ve relocated to Glasgow, where our child now attends a private school that recognises his specific learning difficulties but does not diminish its performance expectations. Instead, it accommodates interventions to help him. He uses a writing slope, sits near the front of the class and uses a computer to complete assignments. He used a scribe for several of his S1 exams, an experiment deemed so successful that he’ll use one for most exams in future.

He still has his difficult days but, as he put it at breakfast on his birthday: “That’ll be my hormones!”

In other words, he has what is recognised as a specific learning difficulty, but he is still a typical teenager.

Mairiona McInally-Kier is a volunteer co-ordinator with the Dyspraxia Association in Scotland. For more information, visit www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

This article:

http://www.scotsman.com/?id=817462005

Scientific American, Ocotober 2004 reports that learning retunes the brain, so that more cells respond best to behaviorally important sounds. The researchers also maintain that training responses also depend on the experiences and training of the listener. Even a little training can quickly alter the brain’s reactions. This contradicts previous brain theory that held until about 10 years ago that tuning was “fixed” for each cell in the auditory cortex. The scientists’ studies on contour, however, made them suspect that cell tuning might be altered during learning so that certain cells become extra sensitive to sounds that attract attention and are stored in memory. The retuning was remarkably durable: it became stronger over time without additional training and lasted for months. These findings initiated a growing body of research indicating that one way the brain stores the learned importance of a stimulus is by devoting more brain cells to the processing of that stimulus.

While this research confirms current knowledge about brain reorganization (neuroplasticity) during learning, their research also found that “the pattern of a melody matters: processing in the auditory system is not like the simple relaying of sound in a telephone or stereo system.” For many years scientists have held that certain sites are responsible for reading, listening, etc. But researchers have found that listening, especially to music, “But in recent years we have begun to gain a firmer understanding of where and how music is processed in the brain, which should lay a foundation for answering evolutionary questions. Collectively, studies of patients with brain injuries and imaging of healthy individuals have unexpectedly uncovered no specialized brain “center” for music. Rather music engages many areas distributed throughout the brain, including those that are normally involved in other kinds of cognition. The active areas vary with the person’s individual experiences and musical training. The ear has the fewest sensory cells of any sensory organ–3,500 inner hair cells occupy the ear versus 100 million photoreceptors in the eye. Yet our mental response to music is remarkably adaptable; even a little study can “retune” the way the brain handles musical inputs.”

Localization is the foundation for fMRI and other imaging techniques in that many fMri proponents claim to be able to locate 6 – 8 different types of ADHD via analysis of these scans. If non-localization is true, i.e., the brain processes using a variety of modalities, subcortical as well as cortical tissue, then the superficial images exposed via fMRI may be a dead end as they can only reveal tiny pieces of a very large puzzle.

The bottom line is: The brain can be retrained to overcome learning disabilities, cognitive impairments, ADHD, etc. What we now know is that this is done over a vast network in the brain that encompasses many other minor and major networks. You could think of retraining as the confluence of several telephone companies coming together to in order to overcome a limitation. Each has its own network and substructure but can become bigger and stronger (overcoming their respective limitations) by merging with the other network (think AT&T and Cingular). In the brain, this is done over a wide area of networks – not locally in distinct surface areas as superficial brain imaging might indicate.

Play Attention CEO to Speak at NASA Benefits of Space Exploration Brought to Earth

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina April 13, 2005

WCU graduate, Peter Freer, Founder and CEO of Unique Logic and Technology, Inc. will speak at the National Space Society 2005 International Space Development Conference in Washington, DC. His presentation is entitled, “From Outer Space to Inner Space: Using NASA Technology to Increase Attention and Cognitive Function.”

Freer holds a Master’s degree in education from Western Carolina University. He is a former educator in both Jackson County Schools and Asheville City Schools in NC. During his tenure as a teacher, Freer encountered an increasing number of AD/HD students. Combining NASA research and his background in educational computer programming, he developed Play Attention®, the nations leading educational attention training system used in schools, homes, and professional offices.

NASA currently uses feedback technology to increase astronaut and pilot attention during flight simulator training. Freer augmented this technology to accommodate educational needs and received four patents for his pioneering efforts. Freer adapted sophisticated instrumentation to fit the personal computer and then incorporated a sensor lined space-age helmet to process brain output and translate it onto a computer screen. This new learning system allows control of game action via the powers of concentration alone – no keyboard, no mouse, no joystick! Users practice paying attention by making video games respond to their brainpower at home or under the guidance of a teacher at school.

 Just as NASA astronauts and pilots train to increase attention, Play Attention literally teaches the user to increase concentration, complete tasks, visual tracking, short-term memory, and to filer out distractions – all the skills necessary to be successful in the classroom.    The learner directly observes his mind’s ability to command the computer screen in real-time.

 ”Play Attention,” says Freer, “is popular with students because of its entertaining game format.  It keeps the student engrossed while he or she practices reaching new levels of concentration.”  The inventor adds, “The system is success based and includes behavioral shaping techniques.”

 He further notes studies demonstrate that children trained on Play Attention experience a greater sense of self-esteem, enhanced social interactions, and improved grades as a result of their own newly developed abilities.

 Freer says that, “Both NASA and Play Attention have proven that feedback-based learning empowers individuals to deal with their personal challenges by learning how to use their own resources. This produces a sense of accomplishment, self-worth, and success. We owe NASA a great debt.”

 The National Space Society 2005 International Space Development Conference is scheduled for May 19 – 22 at the Sheraton National Hotel Arlington, Washington, DC.  The conference theme, “Your Ticket to Space” refers to the new opportunities for citizens to participate in space exploration and realize the benefits on earth.

Why is Play Attention Different?

Dr. Olafur Palsson, Psy.D. Associate Professor of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and one of the NASA developers of similar technology, states, “The Play Attention system is in my opinion uniquely appealing because it simultaneously addresses three different factors that can inhibit healthy learning and concentration. It trains basic mental skills that underlie the ability to complete school-related tasks; it systematically monitors and reduces attention-incompatible behaviors; and it encourages the type of brain activity that is known from research to be associated with good concentration. This multi-faceted approach goes far beyond the scope of most brainwave biofeedback training. All of this is furthermore packaged into a training format that is self-esteem building for the learner and well suited for use in educational and home settings.”

Play Attention is a comprehensive teaching/learning system developed by a teacher for students struggling with attention problems and the cognitive deficits typically associated with focusing difficulties. In use worldwide and in over 300 school systems in the United States alone, Play Attention has quickly captured the attention of educators looking for an educational intervention.

Play Attention’s core teaching method is derived from neurofeedback. National publications like Discover, Time, and Newsweek have recently raised public awareness about neurofeedback – an exciting intervention for children and adults with attention problems. Neurofeedback is derived from the word, neuro meaning brain related, and feedback. Feedback is a teaching method used since teaching began. Feedback implies reporting information to the student to inform him if he is or is not performing as needed.  Clinical feedback using abstract games or graphs to teach control of attention and other autonomic functions has been around since the early 1970s.

The bane of the aforementioned clinical approach has been its difficulty of use and expense.  Clinical EEG equipment is complex, expensive, and directed toward changing brain wave patterns. The change in the brain wave patterns is supposed to indicate change in associated skills of concentration, improved behaviors, etc. Frequently, students practice on their own in the absence of a clinician and therefore have no behavioral guidance. Clinicians also have devised a myriad teaching methods (‘protocols’) using different frequencies and sensor locations. Most all of these ‘protocols’ have demonstrated success in training brain training. Virtually no neurofeedback programs or ‘protocols’ incorporated educational methodology and cognitive skill building which commonly resulted in a lack of transference or generalization. This meant that skills learned during the feedback training were difficult to relate to home or classroom activities. This fact greatly delayed its acceptance by the professional educational community and resulted in severe criticism of the technology by others in the field. A few significantly good practitioners like Dr. George Von Hilsheimer had the acute ability to coach well and get students to be successful at home and school.

Background information

In mid 1980’s, Peter Freer was teaching at an elementary school in the rural mountains of Appalachia. He faced significant numbers of students with attention problems. Most of these students were also discipline problems. Being a second year teacher, he did not understand their learning differences, and he felt inadequately prepared to teach these students. There wasn’t even a label for students with attention problems at that time. Upon speaking with his university professors, he implemented a token reinforcement system, repeated instructions as needed, shortened assignments, and moved these students closer to his desk. While these interventions succeeded slightly, Freer still believed more could be done over and above simply modifying student curriculum and environment. Once these children became adults and entered the job market, no employer would move them closer to his desk and give them trinkets to motivate them.

Over the course of his graduate work, Freer was trained on educational implementation of computer software and educational programming developed at MIT in a program funded by the National Science Foundation. Computers were proving to be intrinsically motivating to students. Freer quickly realized that computers could be used to teach attention classes or instruction in focusing, if he could devise the correct program. He began studying research being performed at NASA and integrated into their flight simulator program. It was apparent that the neurofeedback technology NASA had implemented was not appropriate for students. However, significant educational modifications could be implemented that would make this technology practical and educationally efficient.

He undertook the massive effort to totally revise neurofeedback into a pure teaching tool by founding Unique Logic and Technology in 1994. Freer immediately stripped out the active brain wave reporting component as his intent was not to change brain wave patterns. He did intend to help alter cognitive skills because after researching decades of studies on attention problems, he found that children and adults with attention problems seemed to have weakened networks of attention, time on-task, visual tracking, short-term memory, and discriminatory processing. In other words, these students were deficit in the skills they needed most to succeed – the core components of the learning process. So, instead of trying to modify brain waves, Freer thought it more important to develop deficit cognitive skills that would directly affect behavioral performance and educational outcomes. The US government awarded Freer three patents and one pending based on his strategic modifications.

After two years of restructure the program was ready to be tested. Dubbed, Play Attention®, Freer negotiated an agreement with a local school system to test the learning system under the guidance of the special education director.

This special adaptation of neurofeedback only monitored brain wave activity to make the student aware of proper focus. Students can actually control screen characters by mind alone in activities that directly teach students to stay on-task, visually track the teacher during a classroom lesson, follow multiple step directions by increasing short-term memory skills, and learn to filter out distractions. This was a significant modification of existing teaching and feedback technology as it focused on performance based outcomes that were measurable as opposed to the older method of brain wave change which provide no conclusive evidence of specific behavioral change.

The results of the study so impressed the special education director, that he purchased a complete system for every school in the district. But that was only the beginning for Play Attention as Freer placed sensors in a bicycle helmet and integrated a behavior shaping program to assist students in diminishing or extinguishing behaviors not conducive to learning. The helmet was ideal for students as they could quickly prepare it for use in as little as 90 seconds with no fuss, no gels, no mess. It was familiar to them as they wore helmets for biking, roller blading, and skate boarding. The helmet could also withstand the rigors of the school environment.

If a student fidgets or calls out during his Play Attention session, the screen characters become uncontrollable. This allows students to actually see a direct correlation between their behavior and their attention. The behavior shaping module bases it goals on the fact that students want to succeed but need to know why they are being asked to make behavioral changes. Most students with attention problems are unaware that they exhibit behaviors that distract not only themselves, but others in their immediate surroundings too. Awareness of the behavior makes shaping it easier as attainable goals can be set and reinforced through positive reward. Yet another patent is pending on this process.

The overall result of the advancement of feedback technology in Play Attention is simplicity. Play Attention is a comprehensive program but is not complex. Its interface appears as a simple lesson plan. Goals are easy to set in all of the five cognitive components. Results are graphed from the internal data that are collected for each student. Students are even encouraged to work on actual homework assignments while wearing the Play Attention helmet and operating the learning system. This is a unique way to teach them to finish homework within a proper time period promoting good time on-task. When students log out, a journal asks them to reflect on what they’ve learned that session, what they are proud of, and what goals the need to develop for the next session. This information appears at the initiation of the very next session to promote continuity, transfer, and generalization.

Knowing that parents, teachers, and other professionals have tight schedules and need to implement software quickly, he established a support program that allows everyone to be trained quickly and be adeptly supported by professional staff via telephone and the Internet. Tech support is also available free of charge for the life of the product.

The significant changes in technology and methodology stemming from a different perspective – an educational perspective – have enabled Play Attention to become a world leader in educational attention training with homes, schools, learning centers, and professionals using Play Attention from Beijing to Brazil.

I just wanted to take a moment to further comment on The November 13, 2004 Boston Globe article, Playing their Way to Improved Concentration, referring to Play Attention, a feedback based learning system I created for persons with attention problems. It uses a video game format to teach cognitive skills typically deficit in children and adults with diffused attention.

In order to balance out the article, Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray sought out the expert opinion of Dr. Stephen Hinshaw.

Dr. Stephen Hinshaw chairman of the psychology department at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on hyperactivity disorders, said techniques that teach concentration may work in a doctor’s office, but often stop working when the child reenters his home or classroom. “I’m not a cynic, but I’m a skeptic until things are proven pretty thoroughly,” Hinshaw said.

I admire Hinshaw’s candor. Frequently experts are requested to remark on technology or teaching methods they have never seen or used. They must produce off the cuff remarks. Hinshaw should be respected as he utilizes multi-modal approaches to treating AD/HD and has a book worth reading.

While I was not allowed to comment about Dr. Hinshaw’s remarks in the article, I would like to comment that Play Attention is the preferred educational learning system for students struggling with attention problems in over 450 school systems in the US. We’ve recently received a 91% satisfaction rating from our users because of our great support and teaching method utilizing feedback technology.

The November 13, 2004 Boston Globe article, Playing their Way to Improved Concentration, refers to Play Attention, a feedback based learning system I created for persons with attention problems. It uses a video game format to teach cognitive skills typically deficit in children and adults with diffused attention.

I have always considered attention problems to be learning disabilities rather than brain damage (minimal brain dysfunction). In an evolutionary sense, people with diffused attention have always existed among us. In primitive times, they were likely the people standing or walking the perimeter of the camp fire while the rest of us ate our catch. Their orienting reflexes quickly triggered at the slightest sign of danger.

I synthesized my experience in education, computer education, and psychology to devise a system to optimize human potential. However, at the time I began this journey, my university training was of little help. None of my classes mentioned attention problems and therefore I received no training to assist my students.

The Globe cites that ‘…Peter Freer, who developed the product, used to teach school in West Virginia [actually Western Carolina] in the 1980s. Confronted with hyperactive students, Freer didn’t know how to help them. “At that point, at university level, they didn’t even teach anything about how to cope with these kids,” he said.’

I researched experimental data from NASA regarding astronaut performance and attention. I founded Unique Logic and Technology (ULT) in 1994 to provide technology to educators and the general public.

As the Globe points out,‘Freer was trained in computer programming, and he wondered whether technology might help his hyperactive students. While researching the matter, he found that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had developed computer systems for improving the concentration skills of astronauts and test pilots. NASA scientists attached electrodes to pilots’ heads to capture their brain waves. They learned to identify the kind of brain activity that occurs when a person is concentrating on a task. Then they wrote software that lets pilots control images on a computer screen. The more they focused their minds, the better they performed. In the process, they learned how to how to set aside distractions and concentrate on the task at hand.’

I vastly altered and advanced NASA’s technology to make it appropriate for educational use. I did this by incorporating cognitive skill training and behavior shaping. ULT has been awarded three patents with others pending based on the advancements.

Everything we know about the brain indicates that it can restructure provided the right challenge is provided. The difficulty is that this process takes time. Play Attention takes time, too – perhaps forty to sixty hours of training to gain permanency. ‘Hours of practice can teach a child what it feels like – and looks like – to pay attention. As Joyce Bowen put it, “after you do it a couple of times, you develop muscle memory in your brain.”’

Joyce’s child has rewired his brain to perform quite well at school. He no longer strikes his sister impulsively. He’s a normal, might one say, average kid – bright and happy. Sometimes it’s great to be average.