WEBINAR | How to Correctly Assess and Treat Clients with Autism who Cannot Come into a Clinic

"How do I correctly assess and treat clients with autism who cannot come into a clinic?" This presentation answers the question. Given the need for remote training in this time of COVID, many practitioners are challenged to set protocols and empower caregivers and clients to treat themselves as well as their loved ones using neurofeedback. This is made even more challenging when remote training creates an absence of assessment tools such as brain maps and QEEG's. The Arousal Model, applied to autism and neurofeedback, has been used successfully by many clinicians for decades.

Lynette has successfully relied on - and refined - The Arousal Model for the purpose of remotely treating individuals on the autism spectrum for 20 years. This approach has worked so successfully that the series Fix It In Five with The Brain Broad on The Autism Channel shows her work as she improves the lives of children living in dire conditions, such as huts and underequipped apartments, globally. Her specialty is autism and many of her past clients have written books that express the benefits of her work. Louloua Smadi is one of these clients. She is the author of From Client To Clinician: The Transformative Power of Neurofeedback Therapy for Families Living with Autism and Other Special Needs, and now works with Lynette to help special needs children globally. Louloua holds a master's degree in neuroimaging from King's College London and received her board certification in neurofeedback from BCIA in 2016. Her passion for brain health and neurodiversity stems from her experience with her brother with autism as well as her own attention difficulties.

Together Lynette and Louloua will share information that helps the participant gain a fundamental understanding of the concept of Arousal – The Original Arousal Method and a revised more deeply useful version of this concept. The student will get directions on how to apply that understanding to assessment and protocol creation for remote use via computer clinics utilizing software such as Zoom. The participant will learn how to apply The Arousal Model to the whole brain disorder of autism, regardless of and inclusive to co-occurring sub disorders like OCD and ADHD, as well as how to adjust for the ongoing changes in development that the neurofeedback sessions are encouraging. Additionally, Lynette and Louloua will share some case studies as examples of how adding behavioral responding designed by biofeedback, which Lynette calls Bioplay, is essential to maximizing on the positive changes being encouraged by the neurofeedback training.

Understanding autism through the lens of the arousal model is not limited to autism and can be generalized into the entire family unit. The participant will gain a tool to also understand each and every brain in the family even without EEG to look at. In this way, they will be able to tease apart the network of connections and co-dependencies caregiving creates. By treating the entire unit as one big family brain, The Arousal Model can help clear up confusion around treatment compliance and client cooperation.

The student of this presentation will learn how to untangle the problem of brain function/family function/therapy effect and enable assessment and protocol choices to become fluid rather than just copied.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is considered a difficult disorder to treat due to misinformation around sensory and cognitive function. Many clinicians have been reticent to treat individuals with ASD, even when they come in the clinic. Understanding how to do this remotely requires a special, very adaptable tool. The cocktail of Neurofeedback, Bioplay, and The Arousal model is that tool. The participant of this presentation will leave understanding how to implement this cocktail.

PRESENTERS:

Dr. Lynette Louise

Lynette is an international brain change and behavior expert and the creator of bio-playback, a biofeedback-influenced behavioral response technique. She is frequently invited to teach on the topics of brain function, neurofeedback, behavior, and play, beliefs and cognition, for attendees of diverse interests and education. An award-winning author, filmmaker, speaker, opinion writer, host, recognized humanitarian, and consultant Lynette (known as The Brain Broad) is universally applauded for her skilled use of science and stories when speaking to and teaching groups. With extensive training in several disciplines and a 30+ year personal history of working with her own adopted special needs children, Lynette has achieved an expertise that is both scientific and intuitive. Dr. Louise is on the cutting edge of treating autism, Parkinson’s, ADHD, depression, and other brain-related disorders. FIX IT IN FIVE with THE BRAIN BROAD, her cross-culture docu-series on neurofeedback influenced bio-playback, can be viewed on The Autism Channel.

Dr. Lynette Louise has a doctorate in bioscience and has been doubly board certified in Neurofeedback (BCIA, NTCB).

Louloua Smadi, MSc, holds a degree in neuroimaging from King's College London and received her board certification in neurofeedback from BCIA in 2016. As a neurofeedback practitioner with over six years of experience in the US, UK, France, and Lebanon, she specializes in helping people with special needs and other various brain challenges. Her passion for brain health and neurodiversity stems from her experience with her brother with autism and her own attention difficulties. She hopes to help families living with severe challenges raise the bar on what can be accomplished using brain-behavior therapies.