OhElizabeth, my son wasn't actually using Cogmed, but a customized program that this particular neuropsychologist offers. It involved some computer based therapy program in office, but also all sorts of other game like activities with cards, board games, video games, etc. For him I do think the challenge of the program was a piece of the behavioral regression. He is in public school now, (we homeschooled for several years, but enrolled him 3 years ago in a non-traditional charter), and I think he was very stressed by having to take state standardized tests for the first time, and also his classroom accommodations weren't being followed. Basically he needed a lot more structure than the school could/would provide in his classroom. We also moved during this time. So it was a lot of things. But his anxiety was through the roof and he basically started refusing to go to school, therapy appointments, do homework, etc and would have insane destructive meltdowns at home. Thankfully we were able to start ABA therapy and go on summer break, and things are much improved now, even though he started a new school in the fall. In Speech most of the time is still spent on language development, but the thing that they are working on for memory, (although not specifically working memory) and we are trying to be consistent about using at home is at the end of each session they take a few minutes to write up a little review of what they did. Usually like 4 main points with a little drawing of each activity and then a sentence describing what they did. Very similar to what our typical "visual schedules" look like at home. It sounds simple but my son frequently can't remember something he literally just did, or what we are going to do if it is out of routine, and it helps a ton for him to have a visual cue. Then he can use the review to tell me about what he did in therapy, or if we've done it at home after an activity to tell his dad what he did, or just go over it himself. His school based therapist is working to implement this "memory book" strategy as well. It is a goal of mine to start a daily journal where at the end of the day we do an entry just like that to review the main details of his day. Our professionals attribute my son's complex memory issues, (retrieval and conversion to long term are also issues), mostly to his epilepsy. It is considered controlled, but he has very active night time EEGs with lots of subclinical activity. He has a lesion where some activity originates, due to his injury, but this nighttime stuff is in a different area and our neuro thinks its a "benign" genetic form of epilepsy that is associated with language based learning disabilities and memory issues. So he may have an unfortunate double whammy. In terms of "is this how his brain is going to work forever?" For us I think for the most part probably. And as he matures, hopefully he can really learn the compensatory strategies and learn to use technology to help himself. We have some hope that if the neuro is right about the benign epilepsy, it is generally outgrown in adolescence so that may allow a burst of catching up.

My son, 11, has really similar issues (and diagnoses), although due to a hypoxic brain injury at birth. It is very overwhelming as his memory is probably the biggest roadblock to his overall learning, and I believe it is also the root of some behavioral issues as well. It is improving some over time, and he is slowly learning strategies to compensate. We do a lot of visual schedules, and he relies heavily on a calendar for keeping track of what day it is and what we are doing, have recently done, etc. He really needs lots of repetition to retain things. We started a cognitive rehabilitation program last year with a neuropsychologist, but were interrupted due to a huge regression in his behavior that took the forefront for the last 6 months or so. I am planning to get back to that soon. But the neuropsychologist was very positive about there being some potential to improve his weakest areas which are working memory and processing speed. Is your son receiving Speech Therapy? That is another place where we work on memory strategies. My son also has a language diagnosis though (MERLD.) In any case I can certainly commiserate. It is a daily struggle.

I'm curious about this as well. I'm pretty sure my son would qualify for disability, but I thought that our income would exclude us. We are in Texas. I would be interested in applying if he would qualify for Medicaid to help cover therapies that our insurance has a cap on. I've looked at the Social Security website for info, but couldn't really find info on income guidelines or much specific info. For you who are applying or have applied, have you done the process on your own, or is there an organization or attorney or someone giving you guidance?

I'd like to hear about experiences using Lindamood Bell programs at home with their children. My son has learning disabilities in all areas, as a result of a hypoxic brain injury at birth. His language related diagnosis is Mixed Expressive Receptive Language Disorder (MERLD), and he also struggles greatly with short term memory, memory retrieval. He is currently enrolled in public charter school, after 2 years of homeschooling, and is receiving speech at school 4x a week in a pilot program. He will soon be back in private speech once a week, after a break at the end of the year. Anyway, I've read a lot about Lindamood Bells programs, and visited our local center, and have considered enrolling him in a summer intensive program. The cost is very intimidating though, as it looks like a summer would cost us around $22,000 and require us to take out a loan. I realize that many parents have taken on considerable debt in order to provide their kids with the highest quality therapies. But of course add that to everything else, speech, ot, vision, therapy, neurofeedback, cognitive training programs, etc... Anyway, those of you who have used the programs, did you attend the training workshops? Buy the kit? Just the manual and wing it? I'm currently planning to take him to the center for their evaluation, and considering whether taking the training (it is offered in my area in February) is necessary? I suspect that they will be recommending multiple programs. Anyway, overall was your experience with the programs positive? The training is a bargain compared to going to the center, although it would be difficult for me to replicate the intensity at home. But the dollars saved could go into another therapy if we could make it work. Thoughts?

I thought it was a medical benefit, but I'm not completely sure. I have just found and made an appointment for an evaluation with a practice that actually directly bills insurance. So I will come back and post info on how that process goes for us. Our appointment is in January. I found this document online: https://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/ccmcontent/ProviderII/UHC/en-US/Assets/ProviderStaticFiles/ProviderStaticFilesPdf/Tools%20and%20Resources/Policies%20and%20Protocols/Medical%20Policies/Medical%20Policies/Visual_Info_Process_Eval_Orthoptic_Vision_Therapy.pdf It lists a lot of exclusions, including rehab from a neurotrauma which is our underlying medical diagnosis. So if my son doesn't have convergence insufficiency specifically, I'm not sure if we will be covered.

I know this is an older thread, but I am in the process of trying to get coverage for vision therapy for my son through UHC and was wondering how it went for you Kinsa?

Thank you so much for sharing this! We have been looking into doing PACE through our OT this summer, but I've been comparing it to Neuronet since the cost is so much less. I just couldn't find that much information on it, and this solves that!

Our neurologist recommended 50 mg of 5-htp for my 8 year old sons anxiety. It is a precursor to serotonin. I do think his anxiety has improved but he he also started taking another med at the same time which has helped him to sleep better so who knows what's making the difference.

Gina, I was just coming to post that the specific home based program recommended by our neuropsych was Neuropsychonline/Challenging Our Minds. I have no personal experience with it at all but it is the one he recommended. He also mentioned Cogmed and FastForward for therapist provided programs. I'm not sure which direction we are going to go.

My son (newly 8) was just diagnosed with Cognitive Disorder NOS, (Along with Developmental Coordination Disorder and ADHD), presumably from hypoxia at birth. He has also been diagnosed with Mixed Expressive Receptive Language Disorder. I haven't seen the written report but in our feedback appointment the neuropsych mentioned short term memory encoding problems. Like your daughter, he has normal intelligence and is working about 2 years behind. He also has very low processing speed. The neuropsych recommended cognitive therapy/training and the specific programs will be in the full written report we should get next week. I don't have a lot of wisdom but just wanted to chime in that we are dealing with the same thing. We are doing speech and occupational therapy and are definitely going to be looking into the cognitive training.

The title sums it up:) Anyone have a favorite for teaching/practicing time and money? I don't care if it is free or not as long as it's good. Thanks!

Not to hijack the thread but we are in the same situation with my son who has ADD Inattentive type. We are about to give meds a try. For those of you who've been successful with meds, has there been any noticeable effect on sleep? Was sleep an issue prior to medicating?

I'm here with you all. My DS7 has ADD inattentive, dyslexia, sensory issues, expressive language delays, memory issues ? still working on the whole picture, and is about 2 years behind his peers in most areas. As my 4 year old is maturing and developing, it is becoming more obvious to me how behind my older son is. Really I think I've just begun to accept it in the last 6 months, even though it has probably been clear to others for some time. Like the previous poster, we are having more testing done in may, and have just begun speech and ot. I'm hoping that with the extra help we can start to close the gap, but it is a lingering fear that it will continue to widen, or just maintain, and his brother and close cousins who have been his lifelong playmates will outgrow him. I haven't posted much on this board, but this group has been a huge source of support to me, and probably the sole reason that I have been able to see and come to terms with my sons differences. In fact, it may have been this very thread on the first go round that caught my eye here! So thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences!

For those of you with iPads, how much time are your kiddos spending on them daily? How much of their other schoolwork is being replaced? Do you allow all of your children time on the iPad or only your sn kid? We have an iPad and are still working on integrating it into our 7 year old sons life. He would play games on it all day if allowed:). But I also have a 3 year old and a baby. We have always limited screen time because our older sons behavior seemed to be negatively impacted and he would just be obsessed with wanting to watch more and more. However, for my struggling learner I can't argue with the fact that the iPad can and already has been another tool in our toolbox helping him to learn in a way that is actually fun for him...

Hello everyone, I've been lurking here for a little while, and thought I should come out and introduce myself. :) I am homeschooling my 7 year old son and have 2 other other boys ages 3 and 8 months. My 7 year old son has been diagnosed as ADHD Inattentive type, and we are in the process of investigating possible other learning issues...dyslexia? Memory retrieval issues? He has pretty typical ADHD symptoms, constantly in motion, meltdowns over transitions, short attention span, poor working memory, serious intensity:) ADHD is also present in family members on both sides of the family. However he also had a hypoxic event at birth, and we are suspecting that some of the learning issues are more related to this. This is our 2nd year at home, and he attended a Montessori preschool for 2 years before we decided to homeschool. We are definitely still figuring out our style as well as what methods/programs are most effective for him, although in general most of my inspiration for the early years has been Waldorf/Charlotte Mason, and Montessori. Anyway, I've read lots of posts here and have found so much inspiration and information already. Honestly, since no one I know in real life has a child with any kind of learning issues, it has just been a huge comfort reading about kids that sound like mine! Hopefully I will have some insight to contribute at some point!