But first, let's go back a week earlier. We had a long meeting at a new clinic just 30 minutes from home. The place isn't exactly what I expected, as it's run by a bunch of chiropractors and not MDs or psychiatrists or psychologists with lots of initials behind their names (and that's not intended as a pot shot at chiropractors, but when we are dealing with the brain, I want somebody with a lot more credentials behind their names). Their office takes a 3-pronged approach to healthcare. And honestly, some of it sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. I went in solely for the QEEG and corresponding Neurofeedback which seems to actually HELP these kids debilitated by Reactive Attachment Disorder. I did not go in for a huge medical work-up.
They did lots of "tests" like balancing, closed eye activities, sensory activities and a very small physical exam, and then finally, that QEEG. Sadly, I truly believe our daughter played the staff. She played them like a fiddle. She couldn't recognize scents that I know she knows from very familiar essential oils. She couldn't balance like she normally could. She complained that her belly hurt when the 1 chiropractor came in and pressed on her belly (yet I did it at home less than an hour later and she said it didn't hurt). My list could go on, but trust me, she played them. And I know this child and personally, they may fall for it, but I will not fall for it.
So, their 3-pronged approach can be flushed down the toilet for all I'm concerned. Just give her the bleeping QEEG.
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| First attempt at a QEEG |
Uh oh. That was a problem from the start. That same day as all those other tests, they tried the QEEG. She got the cap on and they injected all the gel into all the holes and then they began the test. But the girl would not cooperate. She refused to follow their directions. She wasn't ornery or throwing a tantrum, she just wouldn't keep her eyes closed when instructed. The gal who was completing the test insisted my daughter was "too tired after such a long appointment (2 hours) already," and that we should come back another day. LADY, YOU WERE BEING PLAYED! But we complied with her own ignorance because frankly, she's my least favorite staff member and wouldn't listen to me and my concerns at all. We went home, only to come back another day that week.
That day, I had a nice long, STRONG talk with my daughter about how she had better comply or else there would be serious consequences (as if a RAD kid gives a rip about consequences). Now, I had another run-in with that same lady as before and I almost walked out of the office without said QEEG, but that story is for another time and has since been resolved. And this time, Quiet Tiger complied. Within about 20+ minutes, we were done and on our way home again, to wait a week for the results.
Results are EXACTLY as expected. But first, here's a map of the brain for those of you who might forget the biology of the brain. It's fascinating stuff!
LEFT FRONTAL LOBE
Results showed abnormally slower brain waves. This can result in symptoms such as:
- Depression - yep
- Difficult with planning - yep
- Difficulty with word finding - sure, sometimes
- Difficulty with focusing, concentration and being attentive - oh good gosh, yes!
- Unable to multitask - yes
- Poor language comprehension - maybe
- Poor judgement - heck, yes!
- Poor organization skills - yep
- Poor memory recall - sometimes
- Memory impairments - maybe
- Poor working memory - maybe
- Difficulty with problem solving - yep
- Unable to think logically - heck, yeah!
RIGHT FRONTAL LOBE
Results showed abnormally faster brain waves. This can result in symptoms such as:
- Aggressive behavior - um, yes!
- Anger - holy cow, yes!
- Anxiety - constantly
- Compulsive behavior - all the time
- Overwhelming fear - she lives here
- Hyper-vigilance - her middle name
- Impulsive - all the freaking time
- Increased risk taking - yep
- Irritability - yep
- Manic behavior - oh, yeah
- Obsessive behavior - yep
- Panic attacks - maybe, hard to tell in a 7 year old; mommy has had a few in the last few years thanks to this child
- Poor behavioral inhibition - yep
- Rumination - possibly, who knows what this child thinks about
- Oppositional defiance - scream it from the rooftops, yes!
SENSORY MOTOR CORTEX
Results showed abnormally slower brain waves. This can result in symptoms such as:
- Attention deficits - sure
- Difficulty calculating math - maybe, but maybe not (she plays her teacher like a fiddle too)
- Difficulty learning motor skills - maybe, but maybe not (after all, she is one-handed)
- Sleeping excessively - this I'll say no to
- Extreme sadness - hard to tell, she's angry a lot, probably not all that sad
- Loss of fine motor skills - again hard to tell with a 1-handed child
- Loss of touch and vibratory senses - very likely
- Poor auditory processing - likely
- Poor handwriting - yep
ANTERIOR TEMPORAL CORTEX
Results showed abnormally slower brain waves. This can result in symptoms such as:
- Depression - yep
- Non-attentive - yep
- Difficulty with categorization - probably, not sure what her teacher would say
- Poor grammar - not sure; compared to her China-adoptee peers, I'd say my girl's grammar is great
- Poor language comprehension - her teacher might agree to this
- Poor word retrieval - maybe
- Slurred speech - sure, especially when she's dysregulated
- Stuttering - haven't seen too much of this
- Inability to focus and concentrate - heck, yes!
- Disinterest - sure
- Dissociative - yep
- Inability to laugh or smile - sometimes, sure, especially when I want to do a photoshoot
- Lack of motivation - yep
- Lack of creativity - not really
- Seclusive - sometimes
MEDIAL TEMPORAL CORTEX
Results showed abnormally slower brain waves. This can result in symptoms such as:
- Difficulty processing complex sounds - not sure
- Difficulty multitasking - yep
- Inability to reason with others - heck, yes
- Long term memory loss - unsure
- Poor language and reading comprehension - her teacher might agree to the reading comp part
- Word finding difficulties - maybe sometimes
- Poor emotional processing - gosh, yes
- Poor navigational skills - likely
- Unable to recognize familiar voices - never tried this
- Unable to recognize symbols - unsure
Long story short, the only part of her brain that is functioning normally is the back of her brain that is basically keeping her alive. From my personal notes above, I think you'd agree with me that the Frontal Cortex (both left and right) is the place of biggest concern! That describes my daughter to a T. [And mommy finally has scientific proof that her daughter is messed up and needs help! Mommy is not making this stuff up!]
The course of treatment from here on out is Neurofeedback. This new team suggests 20 sessions, plus therapies we are to do at home, which I know nothing about at this point in time. Half way through, they will do another QEEG to check for progress. And then at the end of all 20 sessions, they will do a final QEEG to see final results. All in all, they'd want to see Quiet Tiger twice a week, making all of this take 10 relatively short weeks.
None of this comes cheaply. It will be about $3000 for all of this. Although we will most likely be able to apply this to Quiet Tiger's individual deductible and our family deductible, even $3000 doesn't fulfill even her individual portion. So, it will be all out of pocket. Plus, that $3000 is the reduced amount if we pay in full up front. If we pay as we go, we'd end up paying more.
I have some friends from the Healing Hearts Camp back this spring that have done Neurofeedback with their RAD kids and they all report great things! So, this really is the route we need to take. Now just to figure out where that money is coming from and when to fork it all over and begin treatments, knowing that these sessions would also take her out of school for a portion of her day, at least twice a week for 10 weeks.
So, there you have it. I'd appreciate prayers for:
(1) God to provide the funds to begin and take full advantage of every discount we get to keep costs down.
And of course,
(2) for the Neurofeedback to work; for all those brain waves in every section of her brain to be working as they should be, nothing abnormally slow or abnormally fast, so that we can once and for all meet the real Quiet Tiger and see her function as a normal 7 year old should, and see help and healing from Reactive Attachment Disorder!
