At the University of Missouri, researchers are bringing the innovation of neurofeedback, in retraining the brain of students with autism, into the 21st century. By using video games to stimulate brainwave connections in students seemingly disconnected with the world around them, researchers have discovered a medical approach in retraining their brains. If students with autism have retrained brain capacity that increases their focus and concentration in mainstream classrooms, the potential of total educational access and engagement would be greatly enhanced.
According to Guy McCormack, Chair of the Occupational Therapy Occupational Science Department at the University of Missouri, “the ultimate goal is to lay down new neural pathways and, hopefully, see changes in focus and attention span, social interaction, improved sleep and appetite,” (Source: Science Daily - Neurofeedback May Help 'Retrain' Brainwaves In Children With Autism-1). For school communities, the implications of this research for students with autism are phenomenal. By helping students consciously control their brain to better focus in mainstream classrooms, neruofeedback training can help the brain construct alternative neural pathways for cognitive growth and development.
- Students with autism can be trained to regulate their brain activity to enhance their learning access in school communities.
- By providing neurofeedback, as students play with videogames, researchers can provide proactive and positive feedback as students’ brains are retrained and rewarded to focus on the task at hand and follow through on the cognitive engagement.
- With neurofeedback, students can make conscious choices in how they choose to focus and within those choices, an increased access to learning can occur.
- Retraining the brain is not science fiction for students whose brains may not be in sync with the demands and rigors of the traditional classroom.
- The research around neurofeedback for students with autism can greatly improve their academic performance in most classes that require greater focus and concentration.
- In a math class, students can follow the process of problem solving with improved concentration.
- In a website design class that requires a sequential building of steps in constructing a website, students with autism can use a specially designed web program that provides visual cues when the student’s attention and focus begin to shift to a lesser attentive state.
Neurofeedback offers the greatest hope for bringing medical innovation into today’s classrooms for students with brain activity that’s different, but highly viable for learning.
University of Missouri (2008, April 24). Neurofeedback May Help 'Retrain' Brainwaves In Children With Autism. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 18, 2009 from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/04/080423175535.htm