My Son’s Experience
- Diagnosis
- Level 2 autistic with speech delay (non/semi-verbal)
My autistic son at age 16 began increasing in behavior and aggression issues with hitting us and banging his head until he bled. Over the course of 1 1/2 years we tried medication changes and ABA therapy. Each change would seem to work for 3-6 weeks but then he would regress and often be in a worse state.
One of his ABA therapist had an uncle who was a Neurologist that specialized in Autism and referred us to him. He performed an EEG on my son and saw that he had an older TBI that was potentially contributing to the increase in behaviors. He also asked if our son had covid around the same time that his behaviors had increased. He had and our neurologist explained that the covid virus can causes increased inflammation which could contribute to the behaviors. He also mentioned that the 10Hz frequency that helps control behavior was weak and only operating at about 7Hz. He recommended Neurofeedback therapy and purchasing a Vielight headset to administer at home.
We initially purchased a Vielight alpha headset and started administering it to our son and started seeing results right away. His behaviors were not as frequent and we he did get upset it was not as dramatic or long. We were impressed! After further research we ended up exchanging the alpha headset for a Duo and started administering both alpha and gamma to him.
Before the we started administering the gamma to our son his communication was though lines from movies. he would say a movie line phrase and that was how he talked. He did not have the ability to put sentences and words together on his own. After 3 days of the gamma he started putting different words into the movie lines to say more specific things. Within a week he was forming his own sentence (still limited but definite progress).
The biggest shock from our son as a result of the gamma was ‘why’. Our son asked us why. At 18 years old he had never asked us that before. We answered his question and he was satisfied. He asks questions a couple times a week now. At the writing of this it has been about 4 1/12 month with the alpha and 3 months with the gamma. He continues to do neurofeedback as well. He is making great progress.
My Experience
- Diagnosis
- Several TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) ages 4, 8, 16, 31
- Esophageal cancer at age 34. Received 3 rounds of chemo (cisplatin and 5fu), 6 weeks of radiation, 2 major surgeries, over 30 procedure over 18 months due to complications.
- Neuropathy from chemo treatment
- Childhood and adult PTSD
- Degenerative bone disease in lower back
- Undiagnosed but suspect to be on the autism spectrum myself
I used to be a Product Manager at a tech firm and had a web development company on the side until I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. I had to stop working in order to receive treatment and never fully recovered enough to return to work. I also had to close my business. Th biggest issues holding me back were chronic fatigue and inability to concentrate/focus. I had neuropathy from chemo and chemo brain fog.
The same time that my son had covid I did as well. It also caused my psychological perspective to shift and I started to have several PTSD episodes. I went to counseling which helped some and took antianxiety medication. That was a hard period for both my son and I.
During my research into my son’s behavior I began to understand autism better and how it effects my son. I began to see a lot of parallels between his preferences and mannerisms that were very similar to mine from when I grew up. After a while I started to think that I may be on the spectrum myself. In asking my wife and several others they all said yes, they think I could be. I had seen the results of the headset with my son so I decided to try it. I saw results right away. I felt calmer and less reactive. I was also sleeping much better and actually dreaming (after years of few dreams). I was impressed!
In one of my son’s Neurofeedback sessions I mention the results I had seen and they were impressed. The therapist mentioned that they had just received a Vielight Neuro Duo that had the 40Hz gamma in addition to the 10Hz and asked if I wanted to try it. I said sure. Within 5 minutes I went from feeling like I could fall asleep to wide awake. After the 20 minute session I felt like I was 20 years old again! I couldn’t believe it. I felt as if a vail had just been taken of of my mind. That one session’s effects last for 3 days.
We ended up exchanging the Alpha headset for the Duo and I have been using it for the last 3 months. It has given me my life back.
The lasting changes I’ve experienced with the Vielight headset
The first change that I have seen is that my brain fog is gone – both the chemo and covid ones. I can focus and concentrate about 75% of what I once was able. It has helped my pain threshold and decreased my pain overall. I am able to compartmentalize the pain instead of it being so overwhelming. I use the gamma 6 days a week with a day off. I use the alpha randomly if I notice I haven’t been sleep well. I am planning in the future to add more alpha sessions as the cold whether is one of the biggest triggers for a neuropathy flare up.
I recently had a neuropathy flare up and used the alpha and it reduced the symptoms quickly and significantly. The last cold front came in 3 days ago and have had an overall body pain since. I wondered if the headset would help with this I tried the alpha setting today. Before the session everything hurt and I had a headache but 5 minutes in and the headache was gone. By the end of the 20 minutes my overall body ache was gone also.
1 hour ago I could not write this post. I was in too much pain and my head hurt too much to focus. Now i am nearly at 1000 words. To say that this headset has changed my life is an understatement. I didn’t know why I felt the way I did or how to fix it. Doctors would prescribe different medicines but the wouldn’t work or would only work for a bit. I am going on 3 months now with this and I am feeling better that I have in 20 years!