Rehabilitation in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A mixture of neurofeedback training and Auditory Integration Training (AIT)

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of disorders with common impairments in three key areas - communication, social interaction and imaginative thought and play. Neurotherapy has been shown to be effective in most cases in improving the whole range of autistic problems. Neurotherapy facilitates the brain to self-regulate or “rewire” the dysfunctional brainwave patterns of the autistic child. This article shows the experience neurotherapy and auditory integration training (AIT) with 8 years old autistic boy. He received 40 sessions of NFT, 45min / day, and 3 days a week and also 20 sessions of AIT. The main protocol which we used was inhibiting theta (3-7Hz) and (19-30Hz) and increasing sensory motor rhythm (SMR) activity (12-15Hz) at Cz, F7, Fz and C4. Results indicated a substantial decline in autistic behavior such as considerable improvements on socialization, vocalization, self-steam behaviors, flexibility, sucking and assertiveness. The frequency of repetitive stereotyped behaviors was reduced. There were improvement in speech and language indexes and subscales of language competency. These findings provide preliminary support for the use of neurofeedback as a helpful component of effective intervention in children with ASD.