Neurofeedback for Autism: Brain Training Perspectives from Dr. Lise DeLong

Dr. Lise Delong is a Neuroptimal Trainer based in Walnut Creek, California who has done ground-breaking research using neurofeeback for autism. As it stands, neurofeedback is one of the few effective natural remedies for ADHD and autism.

Founder and Director of Cognitive Connections, she uses neurofeedback as a primary tool to help children struggling with ADD, ADHD, autism, Central Processing Disorder and other challenging neurological disorders. We sat down with Dr. DeLong recently to discuss the recent unsettling CDC study that noted a significant increase of children diagnosed with autism in the United States. We wondered if brain training with neurofeedback could have a positive impact on this growing segment of our population.

A new CDC study made headlines because it found that 1 in 68 children in US could be identified as “on” the autistic spectrum. Does this finding change anything? Does this finding make neurofeedback more important? Why?

Dr. Lise Delong: It most definitely does, it changes the urgency with which we find new and appropriate methods for detection and for remediation.  It changes the urgency for education and technology to change to accommodate these individuals.

There are very few techniques that have had the same overall consistent and therefore predictable outcomes as neurofeedback.  Neurofeedback brain training has the end effect of calming the central nervous system so any condition is more predictably addressed.  And in the area of autism, for these individuals to access specific areas of the brain for cognition, they must be relaxed and calm, otherwise the higher function domains, such as language, reasoning and deduction are not accessible.

Do you think this news will help people to better understand autism or does it just create more fear about it?

Dr. Lise Delong: I am positive there is fear around these stats…I am fearful!  As these numbers increase we as a society are basically losing our children and grandchildren to a condition that seems as if it could be preventable.  Something we are doing or have done is affecting our children’s brains, whether it is vaccines, environmental chemicals, a gene of prevalence or intolerance of nutrition and gut flora.  These are scary numbers and people should be scared into doing more about finding a cure.  In the past we have been afraid for polio or tuberculosis, but we searched until we found a cure.  Until there is a hard fast way of reducing Autism, then we should all have some honest productive fear.

Do you think of the number of children with autism really is increasing or is this just that doctors are more knowledgeable and are diagnosing it more?

Dr. Lise Delong: In my opinion, there are several factors at play, we have more professionals diagnosing the condition and their criteria isn’t always the same; physicians, neuropsychologists, school psychologists, and even speech and language therapists.  Secondly, the ‘spectrum’ of issues to have the diagnosis has become broader, including mildly affected that may or may not have been included in the past.  But I do believe we have more children with this condition.

What would you personally like to change regarding people’s perceptions about autism?

Dr. Lise Delong: While waiting at the airport, I saw a family struggling with their autistic son, who was clearly overwhelmed and having a difficult moment. The parents looked exhausted, embarrassed, and understandably distressed, trying to manage as best they could. As they navigated this tough situation, I overheard another family walking by mutter judgmental comments, implying that a lack of discipline was the issue. It hurt to witness such misunderstanding, so I offered to lend a hand and gently shared how challenging it is for families who are often misunderstood. In a world where even support systems can be scarce, parents managing such challenges receive little relief or empathy. It reminded me of the sense of isolation felt by people who encounter biases regularly, similar to how players and operators using a casino utan spellicens face criticism and misunderstanding, as the complexities behind these choices are rarely acknowledged.

What is the most important thing for people to understand about autism?

Dr. Lise Delong: I think from my standpoint as a developmental neuro-cognitive specialist, the biggest thing that I believe would make a difference in the general public’s perception and in the way the autistic individual would understand and learn is their ‘speed processing skills’ are delayed significantly.  So, in most cases, talking slower, enunciating and keeping things as visual as possible is going to be highly important.  This plays out when following rules, changing plans for the day, understanding what their role or responsibilities are in school or work.  When a person cannot understand the rules or what is expected of them, it may look as defiance when in actuality many of these children don’t know what they did wrong after being punished.

How important is early intervention for mitigating the severely autistic children?

Dr. Lise Delong: From my perspective, early stimulation is always important for any child. I do believe the sooner we can help a child with autism with language-based programming, whether that is through applied behavioral analysis (ABA) or any other program that stimulates language, the better that child will learn in a more conventional method.  The nice part about early intervention is the professional typically finds the most appropriate method for that child and the methods of learning are usually different for everyone.

What about children who are extremely high functioning and aren’t diagnosed until the age of 6 or later? Can neurofeedback help them?

Dr. Lise Delong: I believe neurofeedback helps everyone, child, adult, elderly…even animals.  Neurofeedback is meant to help the individual regain easier access to different brain activities and states, e.g. be able to fluidly relax or focus appropriately.

As this occurs, sleep can get better and learning/comprehending also increases.  Also from my perspective, the individual gains overall improvement with all other therapies working from this balanced brain state. However, not ALL cognitive skills are being individually addressed with neurofeedback.  Therefore, I create ways to reteach those areas that are not naturally regained after being physically relaxed and mentally focused.  These domains of learning may be somewhat ‘subtle’ which is why some children are not diagnosed until they are older.

You’ve studied how neurofeedback helped to improve language skills in severely autistic kids. How do you think neurofeedback can help language skills in autistic children who are high functioning?

Dr. Lise Delong: Language is comprised of two broad areas ‘expressive’ & ‘receptive’ these two areas break down into the content of language, the form and the use of language.  Those have subcomponents such as semantics (the meanings of words), phonology (the sounds in words), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the structure of sentences) and pragmatics (the use and purpose of language).  Language is a complex form of communication that has effects on the individual whether they are listening, speaking, reading or writing.  So when we have a severely autistic individual and we say we are teaching them language is generally the expressive and receptive, meaning can they talk and do they understand what is being said.  When we are working with a child with a higher capacity for understanding, then we are working with skills that are more subtle, such as the nuances of language, idioms, dual meaning words, correct sentence formation etc…

What are some positive attributes of autistic brain function? What can the rest of us learn from the autistic brain?

Dr. Lise Delong: The brain is very complex and it makes no difference what the condition is, we all have areas of the brain that supersedes other areas.  It has been found that babies create neurons at an alarming fast rate 250,000 per minute but with autism they have been known to have 67% more neurons in the prefrontal cortex than their neuro-typical peer. This appears in a study published November 2011 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, by a researcher named Eric Courchesne.  Typical children natural go through a ‘pruning’ effect with the neurons only keeping the ones they are using that form neuronal connections, but with autism they do not eliminate these at the same rate, therefore they are not making neuronal connections.   It is hypothesized that the number of neurons in specific areas of the brain may help create ‘exceedingly’ talented musicians, or mathematicians, however, that same individual may not be able to follow a simple direction, or speak.  I have known many individuals with Autism that have loads of positive attributes and some people that have no ‘disability’ that are just mean.

What’s the most important thing you can recommend to a parent with an autistic child?

Dr. Lise Delong: Don’t lose sight that they are children, and they are your children.  The world offers a lot of different programs and techniques, know that they don’t all work for everyone and sometimes they work in conjunction with other programs.  Keep laughing it keeps the family unit stronger.  Stay strong as the community is starting to learn more about the condition they will also gain insight, tolerance and hopefully patience into your lives.  As a village of people most of us couldn’t do what you do in a day and please know many people are aware of your hardships and commend you for your internal energy and mental strength.