Our Cogmed Experience
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Anonymous
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Hi!
We are on day 24. Our doc just added another week though because we had about 3 days of total tears and he wasn't able to do his coaching call with us. I would much rather be done. My son is 8, and has a hard time completing work and his reading is behind. Granted, he started Kind already reading, and now is behind. As things get hard, he shuts off. Cogmed, though frustrating and exhausting, has taught him a few things. One is sticking to something and watching the results. He loves to see his energy points soar, and we set a goal to break 1 to 2 goals per session. His control has also gotten stronger, in that he is not crying the second he gets frustarted. He may begin to, but I coach him through it and even though it's harder now, the tears are less. I'm anxious to be done. I sit with him the whole time and coach him when he does bad and cheer him when he does good. It will be intersting to see if his reading jumps up. That is what I am hoping to get out of it. If his reading improves, school will become more enjoyable for him. I will update on my story, but appreciate everyone else's experience. By the way, we have not tried drugs yet. I want to see if I can help him without first as I'm sure I was ADD and I managed to be successful in life. I learned to turn my energy into a motivator. D |
Anonymous
| I really appreciate everyone who posts about their experience. It's really helpful. Thanks so much! |
Anonymous
| We used COGMED with our 8 year old son and had good reports from his teachers that he was attending and listening better. Approximately 6 months later we started to notice he was begining to return back to his normal self. Yes trying to set aside an hour or two a day depending on your child and trying to keep him or her motivated is a challenge. It worked for us and our child is not your normal ADD/ADHD child. |
Anonymous
| khs here. I'm in North Carolina and my daughter just started Cogmed last week. She's 11 with ADHD. Tonight will be day 5. She's on vyvansse 30 mg. As I've been reading the posts I have a better idea on what to expect. Thanks to all of you. I'll let you know how things go. |
Anonymous
| My daughter did cogmed this past winter. It cost $1300 now for us here (I'm in Iowa). I didn't see instant results but the TOVA testing she did after showed she scored much better than she did while she was on vyvanse the previous year--which for us was a miserable experience with awful personality side effects plus lack of sleep and appetite. She's 14 and absolutely hated the program but she herself will admit she's now less impulsive and the behavior report she gets filled out each day--all pluses since March. Previously it was difficult to get a plus in each of her classes--she usually had one or 2 minuses each day. She did better without me coaching as I was a distraction according to her. Rewards weekly helped--a soccer ball one week, pair of shorts another--nothing too expensive but the motivation certainly helped. They told me there would be follow-up sessions to maintain and she has started those. I haven't told her yet but she has 100 sessions to try and do. About 2 per week for a year. She's just started that. These sessions tho have about 4 activities and take about 20m. The regular sessions took about an hour like someone else mentioned and she did 6 weeks rather than 5 b/c it looked like one week she totally blew off. And as someone else said--it's not an "insta-cure" but I've seen changes that I can only attribute to cogmed--still some impulsiveness but she is a teen. The way she reacts to people is much better. If your child is ADHD and meds don't work--try it. My dr said he has had limited success in getting insurance to pay for it--for instance when several meds didn't work. I'm fortunate--I was able to afford it but if you break it down--depending on what you pay for the meds--this is just a few months supply. Good luck to all who are trying it and to those who don't as well--having an adhd kid is a challenge. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the update! We're still on the fence with this and I appreciate hearing about your experience. |
Anonymous
| Getting ready to start cogmed. We go tomorrow for our initial meeting. My daughter has a learning disability in writing and reading. She works really hard but needs support to get her work done. She is on medication and I find it very helpful. I really want cogmed to work for cognigitve reasons more so than her ADD. Anyone have information concerning cogmed helping with reading ability? |
Anonymous
| Cog Med had NO effect on my DS who has attention issues and sensory issues as well. His scores fluctuated drastically. He got perfect scores one day, low scores on another day. Big waste of our money. |
Anonymous
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We are on our 4th week of Cogmed for our 8-year-old ADHD daughter and I cannot wait for it to be over! It's grueling! We paid $1500 for the program, which includes a weekly coaching call with a neuropsychologist who we were refered to after our daughter's initial diagnosis, as she was deemed a good candidate for CogMed. What I can say and recommend is this:
1. Be sure to ask why your child is a candidate for CogMed. Our doc spent a lot of time telling us why he thought it was a good option for our daughter, but it's not a good fit for all ADHD kids, so be sure you understand if/why your kiddo is likely to have results. 2. Our daughter has a low frustration level which has made the training process more trying, but has also been a great opportunity for her to develop her frustration tolerance skills. I've seen a huge improvement in just that area. 4. Trying to "squeeze it in" or do it on the run or include training time on a vacation was for us a MAJOR mistake. I would strongly suggest trying to do this during a five-week stint when you are going to be at home and there won't be competing fun things to distract your child. Also, for us, the "45 minutes of training" has been more like 70 - 90 minutes daily. We've never had a day that took less than an hour. 5. I agree with the earlier poster that it's impossible to tell what gains are attributable strictly to CogMed as I think most of us are juggling a number of "Management techniques" at any given time. My daughter, overall, seems like a happier and calmer kid than a month ago. Is it because we're doing Cogmed? Or is it all the by-product perks of Cogmed (intense daily 1:1 time with a cheerleading Mom/Dad, daily rewards and recognition for working hard and achieving goals, having a structured activity each day during the summer when things are more loosy-goosy). Or is it something else entirely, like just being away from the stressors of school? I really don't know. But she is calmer and happier and her "memory index score" is already up 20 points (for whatever that is worth). 6. This may already have been mentioned, but our doc told us that memory function gains are expected to improve post-training and it is typical to see higher scores 6-months out from training than immediately afterwards. Again, we haven't gotten there yet, but it makes me hopeful! I hope this is helpful and not jut a bunch of rambling! |
Anonymous
| Wow, I'm the OP of this post and am glad to see that it is still going two years later! Just wanted to update you on my son, who is now ten. We had a GREAT year, particularly the last 3-4 months. For us, finding the right medication/dosage has been a huge help. He also had yet another amazing teacher for the third year in the row, who really understood his issues and worked with him to help him succeed in school. As he matures, some of the habits we have been working to help him form over the years are finally, FINALLY starting to stick. As I said before, I will never know what role Cogmed has played in all of this. And yes, he still has struggles and we know there will be new challenges as he faces middle and high school. But I wanted to give some hope to all you parents out there who are losing sleep, reading everything on the internet, and worrying worrying worrying about if you are doing the right thing. Keep at it. Every kid is different and every one will respond differently to different things, so this is all trial and error. You will go down blind alleys that lead to dead ends and feel frustrated, and have to retrace your footsteps and start over again. But if you had told me three summers ago when my son was struggling through Cogmed that he would be where he is now, I never would have believed it. |
Anonymous
Or naked. Or upside down in some fashion AND naked. So maddening, but also so funny. 
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Anonymous
| I just wanted to note that we have started school again, six weeks after finishing Cogmed. My daughter placed 2 levels higher in Math and was not places in the special reading group for slow readers. This is the first year that she has not been on the bottom track for both reading and math. We are THRILLED. whether it's Cogmed, the intense 1:1 math and reading work wwe did with her over the summer, a new teacher that rocks, the fact that she's no longer in a class with a "mean girl", or that she started meds, I don't know. I just know that I have a kid that is described by her teacher as "happy, calm, enthusiastic about her work and tolerant of frustration." Is this the same kid?! I will say I do attribute the "frustratio ntolerance" entirely to Cogmed. She had to learn how to put those frustrations aside in order to complete the daily progrm. It was HARD. And she had a HUGE sense of accomplishment when she was finished. In addition, after completing Cogmed, I started working 1:1 with her on math and reading. She has NEVER tolerated me tutoring her, yet I think we were in the trenches together on Cogmed, and after suffering hrough that, she actually enjoyed daily sessions with dear old Mom. She also is not zoning out all the time, or forgetting what I just told her to do. Again, not sure what is the root cause of the change - Cogmed, meds, growing older - but we really are at such a different place than we were a year ago and just immensely enjoying the change. |
Anonymous
| PP, that's really great to hear! |
Anonymous
So did it help? Nobody cares if it was fun or enjoyable or if it was below your level....people want to know if it helps in some area of life that matters. Keeping jobs, grades, how you treat people. How can people waste time posting and not actually give the one piece of information that would be of any value. Just say, "you didn't stick with it because it was boring." That's nothing to apologize for. Nobody sticks with things that are completely boring and unpleasant without a really good reason and a lot of support. That's common sense, but to just not finish the thought is just wasting your time and everyone else's. |
Anonymous
Why the hostility? The poster was giving the feedback s/he wanted to give. Take it or leave it, but no need to lash out. |