posted March 04, 2010 04:32 PM         

Here is a list of interventions,treatments,and therapies for neurodivergent conditions. Because there is so much overlap between the various neurodivergent conditions, these therapies can be useful for more than one neurodivergent condition. For example, speech therapy can be helpful for people with Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,Autistic Spectrum m because speech therapy are symptoms of those conditions. Auditory processing issues are also symptoms of those conditions. Tomatic Method,Audiblox,,and Auditory Integration could be used to correct the auditory processing issues of Visual processing problems are common in Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,ADHD,and Autistic Spectrum, and so vision therapy could be useful. Some people believe that vestibular problems are common with the neurodivergent conditions, and so Balametrics or Dr. Harold N. Levinson's approach might be something to consider. All the neurodivergent conditions are linked to sensory integration issues, and so sensory integration therapy could also be something that could be useful. The thing is that not one therapy will work for all nor most. It depends on the individual.

AROMATHERAPY
Aromatherapy is the inhalation of plant oils, called essential oils, for improved physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Essential oils are the pure essence of the plant—often referred to as nature's living energy—and can provide both psychological and physical benefits when used correctly. Essential oils can be used on their own for aromatherapy or with complementary natural ingredients, such as vegetable or carrier oils.

Some aromatherapists use Peppermint (neuro-stimulator,helping with concentration), Neroli(calming, helping resolve obsessive behaviors),Roman Chamomile (calming, works well with hypersensitivity and aggression),and Sandalwood (helping with obsessive,aggressive behaviors) have been used to treat Autism.
Vetiver (mental balancing,deep relaxant), Lavender(calming), Cedarwood (stimulating the nervous system),and Frankincense (ability to lower anxiety and depression,calming) have been used to treat ADHD. http://www.naha.org/

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS
Assistive technology means any item,piece of equipment,or product system that is used to increase,maintain,or improve the functioninal capabilities of a person. It can be a high-technology item such as a Lightwriter to help someone type what they cann say verbally. Or it can be low technology such as picture icons used to communicate something a person wants or larger letters on keyboard keys. Some children with autism can easily use computer programs and learn by using them. Others struggle with the sensory issues of too much to look at and too much to listen to. Some programs have been designed for students with autism in mind. www.atacess.org www.techable.org

AUDIBLOX
Audiblox is a system of exercises aimed at developming foundation learning skills. It was developed by Dr. Jan Strydom, a South African educator. The goal is to improve cognitive abilities such as as concentration, perceptual skills, memory,number concepts, and motor coordination.

The kit comes with ninety-six colored blocks,a set of cards printed with colored patterns, and an instruction book detailing a serious of games and activities to be practiced with these materials. THe kit includes a student reading book with a story made up of the 800 most commonly used words in English, and a set of colored word cards and word lists to be learned by memory in conjunction with reading the book. It is recommended that your school-age child practice the exercises for about three hours a week. Improvements within six weeks to three months of sustained practice is to be expected.
www. audiblox

AUDITORY INTEGRATION THERAPY
Auditory Integration Therapy is based on the theory that some people have hypersensitivity toward certain sound frequencies, making some common sounds painful to hear. Individuals wear headphones and listen to modulated sounds and music, with certain frequencies filtered out. This is done over a period of time. The purpose is to help build tolerance to sounds and listening acuity due to the acoustic relex muscles being exercised. Pain or sensitivity to loud noises or certain frequencies is reduced, and the pathways in the brain that transmit and respond to sound are stimulated. www.sait.org

BALAMETRICS
Balametrics’ products and therapies focus much on balance stimulation activities. Balance is the central role of the vestibular system aka the inner ear. The products are used for developing good balance,multi-sensory integration,spatial awareness,integration between the right and left brain hemispheres,brain timing/reaction time,sequencing,binocular teaming,and proprioception(the awareness of movement and body position). Balance boards are mainly used. http://www.balametrics.com/

BRAIN GYM
Brain Gym is a series of twenty-six exercises designed to help learners coordinate their brains and their bodies better. It consists of simple movements similar to natural movements. The goal of the program is to improve sense of balance and ability to focus as well as relieve stress. http://www.braingym.org/

PACE and BRAINSKILLS
Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) is a program of exercises designeed to strengthen weak skills such as difficulties with memory or processing speed. BrainSkills is a simplified version of the PACE program developed for home use. Both programs are done with the parent or tutor working one-on-one with the person. The program can address skills such as processing,auditory analysis,and logical reasoning. www.brainskills

CHIROPRACTIC
Chiropractic is a health care discipline and profession that emphasizes diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The main chiropractic treatment technique involves manual therapy, including manipulation of the spine, other joints, and soft tissues; treatment also includes exercises and health and lifestyle counseling.

It is believed that most developmental disorders are based in the brain, they are central nervous dysfunctions thought to be triggered by nerve interference or misalignments called vertebral subluxations.

A reduction of spinal misalignment may restore proper joint and central nervous system function and improve motor balance. http://www.acatoday.org/

DAVIS DYSLEXIA CORRECTION
Davis Dyslexia Correction is a program that is geared to the creative strengths of people with neurodivergence. It combines certain techniques to resolve perceptual problems and attention focusing issues with a method for mastering sight words and improving reading fluency and comprehension that is geared to the creative thinking strengths that are involved with neurodivergence. It is a two-stage program beginning with a one-week, intensive program of counseling and guidance that breaks down major learning barriers and often results in reading improvement. The second stage is practice and implementation of the Davis methods at home that include mostly clay modeling. Koosh balls are also used to help develop coordination and balance. www.dyslexia.com

DORE
The Dore Program is an exercise program that is designed to improve balance and coordination. The program begins with an assessment to determine if the child has problems with balance or coordination. After the assessment, the person is given a set of exercises to to at home for five to ten minutes per day. One of the exercises is to throw a bean bag from one hand to another while standing on a cushion on one leg.
Every six weeks, the child returns to the DORE center for a follow-up assessment, and a new or revised set of exercises is prescribed. The Program lasts about twelve months. www.dorecenter.com

FACILITATED COMMUNICATION (FC)
This type of communication that was originally developed for use with individuals who had problems controlling or using their muscles and therefore were unable to communicate independently. A facilitator who holds the communicator's hand or arm in a certain manner, thus allowing the communicator to point to letters on a letter board or keyboard. The goal of facilitated communication was for the individual to eventually be able to communicate independently, without the use of a facilitator. www.soeweb.syr.edu/thefci/fcfacts

FAST FORWORD LEARNING PRODUCTS
Fast ForWord uses computer software to stretch out the sounds of language and provide children with listening practice in order to build phonological understanding and awareness. It involves playing compuer games. As the person's ability to distinguish sounds improves, the software increases difficulty and rate of speech until the person reaches a level of competence or mastery. www.scilearn.com

FATTY ACIDS
It has been recognized that fats have a very important role in the metabolism and development of the body. There is some evidence that a nutritional or dietary deficiency of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs) or Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) may play a part in neurodivergent conditions.
Lineolic Acid is found in many vegetable oils. Alpha-linoleic acid is found in vegetable oils and dark-green leavy vegetables. Docasahexaeonic acid is found in fish and algae. Eicosapentaeonic acid is found in fish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_fatty_acid

FEINGOLD DIET
Feingold Diet was developed by Dr. Ben Feingold to treat hyperactivity in children. He recommended removing artificial colorings and flavorings, salicylates, and some preservatives from children's diets. Salicylates are a group of chemicals related to aspirin and found in certain fruits and vegetables. His view was that that many children were being seen and treated for hyperactivity due to the increase in artificial ingredients being added to our food and the increase in the consumption of processed foods. www.feingold.org

FLOOR TIME APPROACH
This was developed by Dr. Stanly I. Greenspan as part of his developmental approach to therapy. The approach is based on his belief that emotions give meaning to our experiences, as well as direction to our actions. Floor Time seeks to have the child develop a sense of pleasure in interacting and relating to others, and is done through play, based on the child's interests, and through creating an increasly larger circle of interaction between the child and an adult. The goals include encouraging attention and intimacy;two-way communication;encouraging the expression and use of ideas and feelings; and logical thought. www.stanleygreenspan.com

GLUTEN FREE/CASEIN FREE DIET
This has been developed for individuals who have allergies or toxic response to gluten (found in wheat,oats,rye,and barley,among others) and casein (found in dairy products). Some indications of allergy or a toxic response to gluten and casein are diarrhea,constipation,hyperactivity,red face or ears, flatulence,and pale skin. Basically peptides that are derived from an incomplete breakdown of certain types of food are affecting neurotransmission within the central nervous system. There are urine and blood tests which can show the level of peptides that the person has. www.gfcfdiet.com www.celiac.com www.autismndi.com

GREAT LEAPS READING
Grea Leaps is a one-on-one program designed to be taught in short five-to ten-minute practice sessions. The child completes several timed one-minute readings under the direct supervision of the teacher or tutor. The goal is that the child will have no more than two errors per reading. As soon as the child meets the goal with one passage, he "leaps" to a passage written on a slightly more difficult level. The program focuses on teaching sight words via small phrases with the idea that reading phrases in context will work around the common tendency of struggling readers to skip or stumble over small function words. www.greatleaps.com

INTERACTIVE METRONOME
Interactive Metronome (IM) uses special interactive equipment in order to improve your child's sense of rhythm and timing. This is a form of occupational therapy that enhances the mental ability to plan sequence and process information. The person performs a series of repetitive hand or foot exercies in time with a computer-generated beat. He wears headsets to listen to guide tones, and sensors attacheed to his hand or foot send signals back to the computer. If he hits ahead of the beat, he hears an auditory tone in the left side of the head. If he hits after the beat, the tone comes from the right. When the person is able to hit on the beat, a reward tone is heard through both ears. The person becomes better able to to sustain focus,disregard distractions,and stay on task for longer periods of time. www.interactivemetronome.com

IRLEN LENSES
Psychologist Helen Irlen discovered that many she worked with were able to improve reading fluency when using colored lenses. She came up with the term Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome aka Irlen Syndrome to describe the condition that she was treating with the colored lenses. Some symptoms of Irlen Syndrome are problems with working under bright lights, problems with reading print on white or high gloss paper, or perceiving print as moving around or getting blurry. There are wide selection of colored lenses, www.irlen.com

HERBALISM
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Many plants synthesize substances that are useful to the maintenance of health in humans and other animals. These include aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Many are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated — a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. In many cases, substances such as alkaloids serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.

Certain herbs such as Chamomile (calmative), St. John's Wort (mostly used for depression) and Lemon balm (used for nervousness) are used to treat autism symptoms. Nervine herbs including Hops,Chamomile,Scullcap,Catnip,Lavender,and Spearmint have been used treat ADHD symptoms. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/herb_All.html#N http://www.herbmed.org/index.asp

KETOGENIC DIET
This diet has been developed for people with seizures. It is high in fat, low in protein and carbohydrates. When the body burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy, it creates ketone bodies, which in turn suppress seizure activity. Supervision of a neurologist and help of a knowledgeable dietician is strongly recommended. www.standford.edu/group/ketodiet

LEVINSON MEDICAL CENTER
Dr. Harold Levinson is a psychiatrist and neurologist who believes that neurodivergent conditions stem from a disturbance in the inner ear which is important for equilibrium. According to him, this disturbance causes the brain to receive scrambled signals which in turn produces the symptoms commonly associated with neurodivergence. Dr. Levinson treats patients with a combination of medications that include anti-motion sickness antihistamines and medications used to regulate attention. www.levinsonmedical.com

LINDAMOND-BELL LEARNING PROCESSS
Lindamond Learning Bell Processes is a set of programs to address different types of underlying weaknesses associated with reading difficulties through program of intensive therapy and practice.

Lindamond Phonemic Sequencing (LIPS), which builds phonemic awareness skilsl through developing awareness of the mouth actions which produce speech sounds. The process uses Socratic questioning,mirrors,mouth pictures, and descriptive labels such as "lip popper" for the /p/ to help the person connect the sounds of words with the process of producing each sound in speech.

A second program, Nancibell Seeing Stars: Symbol Imagery develops the ability mentally visualize the identity,number,and sequence of letters for the sounds within words. This strategy helps improve word recognition and spelling skills.

A third program called Nancibell Visualizing and Verbalizing builds reading comprehension and critical thinking skills by enhancing a child's ability to create mental images related to language and reading and to describe the images in words. The therapist uses a systematic series of questions such as asking about color,size,shape,or movement to stimulate detailed and vivid imagery. www.lindamondbell.com

MASSAGE THERAPY
Massage is the practice of applying structured or unstructured pressure, tension, motion, or vibration — manually or with mechanical aids — to the soft tissues of the body, including muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, joints and lymphatic vessels, to achieve a beneficial response. A form of therapy, massage can be applied to parts of the body or successively to the whole body, to aid the process of injury healing, relieve psychological stress, manage pain, and improve circulation. Where massage is used for its physical and psychological benefits, it may be termed "therapeutic massage" or manipulative therapy.

Deeper massage techniques, as well as joint compression are thought to be helpful with autism. Massage meets the basic human need for contact or touch often assumed to be absent in people who have autism. It provides them with positive experiences with being touched and touching. Massage may also be helpful in dealing with ADHD. the goal is to stimulate the parasympathetic relaxation response when working with individuals with ADHD. http://www.intamassage.com/

MERCURY DETOXIFICATION TREATMENT
Mercury is present in dental analgram,certain types of seafood, and in thimerosal, a preservative found in some vaccines. It is highly toxic and some individuals are extremely sensitive to it. Before starting mercury detoxification treatment, patients are recommended to correct as much as possible any nutritional disturbances or "leaky gut" problems. This is because of the drugs and supplements used for mercury detoxification can increase the growth of bacteria and fungi. www.autismresearchinstitute.com/ari/mercury/consensus

MUSIC THERAPY
In music therapy, goals are tailored to the needs of each individual and may include: increasing nonverbal interaction, such as turn-taking and eye contact; exploring and expressing feelings; and being creative and spontaneous. Nursery rhymes and other songs could help with developing speech. www.musictherapy.org.

NEUROFEEDBACK
Neurofeedback is a learning technique that helps a person become aware of and learn to regulate his own brain wave activity. Neurofeedback training is given through the use of specially designed computer games. The person sits near a computer monitor displaying a computer game with electronic sensors placed on his earlobes and scalp to monitor brainwave activity. As the person relaxes and focuses his mind, the computer responds by moving elements on the computer screen. http://www.isnr.org/index.cfm

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Occupational therapists help people who have difficulties with tasks requiring small and large motor coordination. An OT helps people overcome difficulty with writing with pencil/pen,cutting with scissors,tying shoelaces,copying from a blackboard,or catching a ball. Assessments are carried out to discover the needs of the individual and provide support to learn skills in those areas. www.aota.org

PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (PECS)
This is a practical communication system that allows a person to express his needs and desires without being prompted by another person, by using pictures or series of to form a sentence. The child first learns to communicate by handing someone a picture of the object he wants, then sentence strips, and so on. Not only does this facilitate communication, it motivates the child to interact with others. Co-developed by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost, this method helps relieve the frustration of those unable to speak and does not inhibit a child's ability to acquire and use speech. www.pecs.com

RAPID PROMPTING METHOD (RPM)
RPM is a method used for teaching academics by eliciting responses through intensive verbal,auditory,visual,and/or tactile prompts. RPM aims to increase students' interest,confidence, and self esteem. Prompting is intended to keep students focused while allowing students to be successful. This is a very low-tech method requiring only paper and pencil. A lesson might begin with a teacher's simple statement, followed by a question about what was just said. Next, the teacher writes possible answers and spells answers. RPM was developed by Soma Mukhopadhyay. Originally, Soma taught her son and then tried her method,improving and adapting it to different learning styles in a classroom of severely autistic children in Los Angeles for two years. www.halo-soma.org

RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENTAL INTERVENTION
Devloped by Dr. Stephen Gutstein, the primary goal of the RDI program is to systematically teach the motivation for and skills of experience-sharing interaction. It is a parent-based clinical treatment and begins at each child's level and teaches skills to the next level. www.connectionscenter.com

SENSORY INTEGRATION THERAPY
Sensory Integration Therapy is a specialized form of occupational therapy aimed at helping a person to better integrate and manage sensory input. It was developed by Dr. Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist who believed that many learning and behavior problems arose from difficulties children had in responding and reacting to stimuli such as noises,light,touch,and movement. It is thought that they avoid certain types of sensations or seek preferred stimuli in order to balance out their nervous system. Techniques may include deep brushing, swings for vestibular input, contact with various textures, bounce pads, scooter boards, or weighted vests, and other clothing.

SPEECH THERAPY
Language delay is often one of the early warning signs of neurodivergence. Speech therapists play an important role by evaluating the child's level of functioning,using a devlopmental approach. Once in school, speech and language therapy should be part of the child's educational provision www.asha.org

SON-RISE PROGRAM
The therapy was developed by the parents of a child diagnosed with autism. They spent every waking hour with their son with goal of developing a bond. They started out by imitating this ritualistic behaviors. After three years, he no longer showed any signs of autism and is now an Ivy League university graduate. The key to this treatment is to join the child's repetitive behaviors, showing unconditional love, thereby enticing the child to emerge from his world, and eventually utlizing his motivation to advance learning. www.son-rise.org

TOMATIS METHOD
Dr. Alfred Tomatis found that neurodivergent children often have difficulty distinguishing between low and high pitched sound frequencies and do not perceive high frequency sounds well. He also theorized that language problems could be caused by right ear dominance. Sounds captured by the right are directly transmitted to the language center in the left hemisphere of the brain. Sounds captured by the left ear go first to the right brain hemisphere of the brain before being transmitted to the language center in the left hemisphere of the brain which is less efficient for listening to the sounds of language. Dr. Tomatis developed a device to retrain the ear by switching constantly between two channels, low-pitched sounds and high-pitched sounds. The switching forces the ear to adjust continually to changing sounds. The children listens to electronically filtered recordings of Mozart,the mother's voice,and Gregorian chants through headphones that have a special bone conductor on the top. The listening exercises are gradually combined with active exercising using the voice to maintain learning. Through this training, children essentially relearns the listening process. http://www.tomatis.com/English/index.htm

VISION THERAPY
Vision Therapy is a designed to help people with eye problems such blurred vision,eyestrain,headaches,and double vision. It is also for people who have problems losing their place,omit words, close one eye, or show difficulty sustaining reading for long period of time. Vision problems can occur even with 20/20 vision. The problems tend to be corrected by specialized lenses or prisms or with specific eye exercises and practice geared to helping the person learn to use his eyes effectively. Some of the visual skills are the ability to locate and inspect a series of stationary objects(fixation),the ability to clearly see and understand objects at near distances (near vision acuity),and the ability to shift focus from near to far quickly (accommodation) and the ability to keep both eyes aligned on near-point work (binocularity). www.covd.org

Raymond