Yesterday we had our first official appointment with Dr. Jay to start the neurofeedback process. It begins with testing.
His office is connected to a small private school. So you enter in his suite but it’s actually connected by an atrium type room to the school and additional offices/conference rooms. We sit in his office to ask questions, which we didn’t have, then move to the smaller room with 2 computer monitors and a couch. I take a seat on the couch and F takes a seat in a chair. He is very nervous but isn’t acting that way outwardly. Instead, he opts to be sassy and annoyed by the whole process by talking back and trying to be shocking with his choice of words.
First, the Dr needs to measure his head to determine the best cap that will be used. F will get the red cap, it has 19 different white plastic sensors and a multicolor band of wires from the top. To place it on the head the Dr. wipes down his forehead and earlobes with alcohol. This is used to clean the surface and get a good seal for the testing.
Next, he takes a syringe type device that is filled with a saline solution. The solution will go into each white sensor, and will be used as a conductor for testing. This portion took longer than expected because my child has crazy thick hair and it’s relatively long. So it took multiple syringes of solution to get down to his scalp. This of course, got my sassy child more flared up and I started to regret planning a 4 pm appointment.
After some adjustments and dials turned, the monitor in front of the Dr shows the output from his brain. 19 lines of what looks like graphs with various peaks and valleys. F says “I know what this is! If it goes flat then it means you’re dead” yes, something like that. 😉 Although, I prepped F with what the test is. I explained it is just to read how strong his brain is, he apparently had it in his head the Dr could read his thoughts. So he starts doing things the Dr specifically requests he not do. 🙃
For a good reading the Dr needs a certain amount of time of specific brain activity. The activity needed is when a person is in a relaxed state, staring at a fixed object, with minimal blinking and no body movements. You know, like a statue. So of course the minute you’re asked to do that your blinking and shaking like a Chihuahua. We manage to get enough of the focused attention and reading for the session to end. After we sit there for a minute to discuss when the results would be shared; we were escorted out of the building to our car.
Immediately, F returns to his happier more cooperative self and said “that wasn’t that bad.” Me: 🤔
Me: “I know, I just don’t understand why you weren’t nicer in there.”
F: “I thought he was going to read my mind”
Me: “No babe, it’s just to see how strong it is. After we get the results we start the next session. How do you feel about that?”
F: “Ok”
The entire appointment was less than an hour and relatively simple. I just wish I knew to prepare him for sitting still and the saline solution stuff. Apparently it was a little cold and of course wet, so F used that as fuel to his annoyed fire. I’m hopeful the results will give us a good plan and F can start on a fresh slate with his next session.