Brain Care Services
Evie’s Story
Just over 3 months ago my daughter Evie (15) completed a course of neurofeedback training at Brain Care in Tweed heads. It has been completely life changing ! And I feel like I need to share a bit of her story.
Leading up to this over the past 2 years, Evie’s life had severely deteriorated. She had developed epilepsy and had to be on strong anti epileptic drugs to try and stop the extended and sometimes multiple tonic clonic seizures she was suffering that more often than not ended up with her in hospital for days at a time.
The trauma of the seizures and the impact of the diagnosis, along with the terrible side effects of the medication such as severe tiredness, total lack of motivation, very sad, very frustrated and angry to the point of rage, anxiety, feeling totally anti social when she had been the most social kid around before. At the last appointment we had with the neurologist before we underwent neurofeedback, they wanted to put her on another medication along with the original one, presenting a whole range of even more side effects.
To say this totally affected not only Evie but our whole family unit is an understatement, we were absolutely at our wits end. Then under the guidance of Nerida Saunders at Brain Care Evie undertook her neuro feedback training and even after the first few sessions we could see noticeable differences in our girl. The training itself was easy and enjoyable for Evie in a very friendly, caring, safe and relaxed environment. (She was actually sad when it finished)
Since completing the training Evie has not had one single tonic clonic seizure !!!!!!!!!!!!!
And even if that was the only outcome then that would have been enough for us but there have been so many other amazing changes in her too. Such as:
-Increased motivation
-Increased energy
-More sociable
-More organised
-Less anxiety & stress
-Happier to go and involve herself in school
-Enjoying life more
-More pride in herself and more interested in self care such as diet
-Being able to think ahead and experience feelings of excitement
-Smiling more, laughing more and having such a better quality of life.
I cannot put into words how grateful we are for the training and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. It has changed Evie’s life so much and our whole families life for the better.
Zan’s Story
I have been with Brain care from way back when it was called Solstice mind matters, and I’ll say this; Dr Saunders, Rustam and everyone at the clinic saved my life. I have savant autism- Aspergers- and without dr Saunders and the therapy I went through I would still be hiding under tables, having horrible meltdowns, and not being able to function in general, or even attend school, or university, or achieve my dreams. I haven’t yet achieved my dreams, but Dr Saunders was one of the first and the very few in my life who’ve always believed in me, and taught me that despite my being autistic, I am capable of doing anything I want in life. With her therapy, Im able to see things clearly, deal with social situations, and am able to “pass” socially when need be. I’m also able to better express myself than I had before, where everything in my head was a pure blur of sound and song and sight. I want to thank Dr Saunders for that, as everyone else at Brain care. Because without them, I think I wouldn’t even be here today.
Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
Thank you.
John’s Story
John is a ten year old boy who catches the bus every morning to the local primary school where he is enrolled in Year 4. He enjoys STEM activities, art and Maths in class, and loves playing handball during break times. He also plays in the local soccer competition every Saturday morning, participates in swimming squad every Monday afternoon and does gymnastics two afternoons each week. He has also been diagnosed with Autism since he was five.
During this time, John and his family have been on quite a journey across two day care centres and three schools. John struggled with the stimulation surrounding him in these settings and frequently became very aggressive – hitting, biting, scratching and kicking teachers and other students. His parents came to fear the sound of their phones ringing and became regulars at meetings convened in order to address John’s behaviours. Mid way through John’s Year 1, his parents withdrew him from his school, where his placement had become untenable.
Since his diagnosis, John’s parents had used Government funding to access a paediatrician, Aspect Outreach services, speech therapy and behavioural therapy, all of which had very limited impact. Indeed, John’s aggressive behaviour escalated at home to the point where his parents had to resort to medication due the extreme nature of John’s physical aggression. Thankfully, John’s parents were able to enrol him in a nearby Aspect Special education class. The amazing teachers at this school did a wonderful job in managing John’s behaviour – the aggressive incidents became less frequent and John’s learning began to improve. John’s parents were able to ease him off his medication. However, the concerning behaviours were “stiil there” – John, his teachers and his parents were simply learning to manage them more effectively.
In 2017, using NDIS funding, John began working with the staff at Braincare. He was tested for specific deficiencies in his brain’s functioning and then began an evidence based treatment revolving around psychology and neurotherapy which was able to target identified areas of concern in his brain’s functioning. John’s treatment has been ongoing since that time, and has produced dramatic and life changing results for john and his family. John is much more in control of his emotions, is able to reflect on challenging circumstances where things have gone wrong and has not demonstrated a “red zone meltdown” for over two years. While John still struggles to form friendships, he is achieving success at school and in the community, and his parents overall consider his behaviour to be no better or worse than any other ten year old boy’s behaviour.
John will always benefit from support, but this support will be far less intrusive than what it might have been. John’s parents have no doubt that the amazing work being done by Braincare has been a key player in John’s story.