Education Book Reviews

Steinberg, Mark & Othmer, Siegfried (2004) ADD: The 20 Hour Solution: Training Minds to Concentrate and Self-Regulate Naturally Without Medication. Brandon, OR: Robert D. Reed Publishers

ADD: The 20 Hour Solution is a nine chapter book with three appendixes for a total of 215 pages. The chapters first explain ADD and ADHD and then go into detail with the treatment process of neurofeedback. Appendix A supplies two successful case histories, Appendix B provides a commentary on the psychiatric classification of ADD/ADHD and Appendix C provides a neurofeedback practitioner listing.

For someone like myself, with no prior knowledge of neurofeedback training, the authors did a good job of explaining the process in layman's terms. They described the problems of ADD children as "deregulation" of the arousal systems in the brain. Steinberg and Othmer stress the importance of correcting problems in the central nervous system in order to resolve the issues of self-control and focus in children. Both authors believe the brain is capable of "self-healing" and that neurotherapy can accomplish this.

Steinberg and Othmer take the reader through the typical results of neurofeedback training. They say the first ten sessions lay the foundation for reorganizing patterns of brain response and flexibility. In sessions 11-20 the child forms and recognizes the brain state experience of clarity, focus and stable mood. The authors say that parents typically report that after about 10-20 sessions their children are less frustrated and don't get into conflicts as often. During sessions 21-40 the child should consolidate and integrate the responses he has learned from the structured mental challenges of neurotherapy. Forty 30 minute sessions yield the 20 hour recommendation that is the basis for this book.

The authors state that arousal functions and their regulation are closely tied to brain-body electrical signals. These are measured through the EEG (electroencephalogram) or brainwaves. An underactiviated or overactivated brain reflects its irregularities in the EEG. Steinberg and Othmer believe that by challenging and modifying the EEG response, we can influence brain activation and, ultimately, the brain's control mechanisms for self-regulation.

Neurofeedback training is administered by having the child play a video game solely with his brain, with information provided by brainwaves that are monitored through electrodes attached to his head. There is no joystick or GameBoy console. According to the authors most children find the hook-up fun. The effects caused by the child's responses to the transformed display of his brainwaves are carried through the wires away from his brain, then amplified and displayed as various elements of video games. The child is instructed to make certain shapes and their corresponding colors bigger or smaller and in one game, fly a space rocket to win a race. As the child maintains consistency, game rewards accrue. The feedback is provided in real time and the child gets to monitor his on-task performance and his consistency over 30 minute sessions. In the rocket game there are three rockets. The middle one represents desirable brainwaves and the other two rockets represent adverse brain activity that should be minimized.

As a special education teacher with a particular interest in ADD, I was intrigued by the concepts presented in this book. The increased scores on the T.O.V.A. and WISC and ADDES behavior rating scales that Steinberg and Othmer report are impressive. These same results were reported by the University of Tennessee (Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood, and O'Donnell, 1995) and by Lingenfelter (2001). In addition, the ERIC database http:www.eric.ed.gov/ contains numerous other articles documenting the success of neurofeedback training for children with ADD. After reading this book and reviewing the other literature I feel that I could recommend this treatment as a valid option to parents and teachers.

References

Lingenfelter, J. (2001). Review of the literature regarding the efficacy of neurofeedback training in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ERIC Report No. ED457634. Retrieved December 1, 2004, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED457634

Lubar, J., Swartwood, M., Swartwood, J., & O'Donnell,P. (1995). Evaluation of the effectiveness of EEG neurofeedback training for ADHD in a clinical setting as measured by changes in T.O.V.A> scores, behavioral ratings, and WISC-R performances. Biofeedback and self-regulation 20(1), 83-99.

Pages: 215    Price: $14.95     ISBN: 1-931741-37-9

Reviewed by Ivy Fauntleroy, University of New Orleans

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