METHOD
12-week Cortical Integrative Therapy Program
RESULTS
At the conclusion of the twelve-week treatment program, E.F. showed considerable gains in her ability to verbally communicate as noted by an independent examiner, a school psychologist. Her overall academic performance, as noted by her classroom teachers and parents, was also significantly improved.
There were also other documented gains. Prior to her participation in the Cortical Integrative Therapy program, E.F. attained an overall standard verbal score of 46 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Subsequent to the WISC-III testing and after completing Cortical Integrative Therapy, E.F. attained a standard verbal score of 62. Although these are two different tests, the psychologist wrote, “Although these are two different tests, these results were unexpected and the use of two different tests would not solely account for these gains.”
In addition, according to her family, E.F. was observed to have significantly fewer blinking episodes that were formerly the ominous prelude to disruptive and recurrent seizures.
DISCUSSION
Microcephaly complicated by craniosynostosis is often associated with major intellectual deficits and learning disabilities including mental retardation. Behavior problems such as distractibility and echolalia can also occur. E.F. was able to perform only up to the second grade level in her academic career, and her quality of life was severely restricted. But when a multimodal approach using techniques aimed at facilitating inter-hemispheric communication was provided, evidence was produced to indicate that when such techniques are applied, the prospect of indirect neuronal or network modulation occurring as cortical pathways are stimulated becomes a real possibility.