We are a week from finishing with Cogmed. My son is 9, ADHD and was considered a prime candidate. Obviously we're not finished with a week to go, but I had expected to see some results during the period, and have not seen any changes. We have had issues with the product itself, and I will say that Cogmed has not been easy to work with. I work in software and after trying numerous things myself, it appears it may be an issue when the product runs with Windows 7. The audio doesn't always work, for example, when my son clicks on a button, it may or may not make a sound.(It is supposed to) So if it doesn't make a sound when he clicks it, and then clicks it again, he is counted wrong. The program is strenuous enough, without having it not work correctly. This has been very demotivating to my son, and Cogmed hasn't been helpful at all. The first time they answered me back asking me to update an Adobe product. That did no good. Haven't been able to get them to respond to me at all for the past week. The people who sold me this product are no help at all - just get in touch with support is all they say. I would not spend the money on the product. I'm not sure it has done any good, and the software itself just doesn't work properly.

Cogmed is starting to promote its training via schools as a general educational intervention -- since working memory is increasingly linked to math and academic performance:
http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2010/01/10/working-memory-a-better-predictor-of-academic-success-than-iq/

Now that Pearson is behind Cogmed, it is probably a matter of time that we start to see schools offer Cogmed, which should make it much more affordable:
http://www.cogmed.com/educators

Anonymous wrote:I'm 22, started taking Ritalin in 3rd grade. My father is a psychologist who just started offering cogmed through his practice, so I gave it a try. I have 1 day left, and my index has drastically improved. I wouldn't say that at this point it's made enormous improvements in my forgetfulness, but rather that I now seem to be consciously aware of when I'm beginning to space out, or it's easier to stay/get back on track. To the OP, it's refreshing to hear a parent speak about ADD with actual understanding. I must say, absolutely don't be afraid to try meds. DO be wary of giving him too much, as when I first started on Ritalin my psychiatrist prescribed me twice as much as I take now (at 1/3rd my current weight) and it had bad side-effects (personality-dulling, twitching). But now, in my senior year as an ME undergrad, there's no way I could possibly function sufficiently without ritalin/concerta. So definitely give it some serious thought. One more caveat, however...I think it's a very good idea to focus on teaching your son good study/life habits aside from medication. I have had a difficult time with it and have had to learn the hard way, because my whole life I just relied on Ritalin, whereas both of my parents (both very ADD) spent their lives successfully developing techniques to still get by. Just food for thought.

OP here, I just saw this. I know my response is a little outdated but thanks for the kind words and good input re. meds. We started trying some out this year but so far have not found the right type/dose, but we are optimistic. I so so appreciate all the helpful information I've gotten on this forum. Hearing first-hand information from a young adult who has lived through it is really helpful to a parent struggling to understand and help her child.

18:03, I'm the OP of this post and your description of your son when you walked into the classroom just killed me because that could have been my son (minus the horrible teacher--all of my child's teachers have been wonderful). Poor kid! Thanks for posting; it feels better to know we are not alone in this! (On another lighter note, why do these kids always wind up doing something else while in their underwear? It seems to be a common theme!)

I'm 35 years old, ADD inattentive and tried cogmed (the adult version) recently. I didn't find it very helpful, primarily because my tolerance for frustration is very low and I didn't find the exercises very interesting intellectually. But maybe for kids/adults with a higher frustration tolerance, it could be a good program.

Thanks for the post, 18:03. I really appreciate you and OP letting us know your experiences. It's so hard to know what to expend our precious resources on (time, money, energy, etc.). Posts like yours really help. I'm so, so, so very sorry your DS had that year at school that was so horrible for him. Glad to hear that he's having a better experience this year. You sound like such an awesome parent.

We are now trying Cog Med for our 7 year old. My son has been diagnosed with both ADHD and SPD. He doesn't get frustrated easily either. But he has trouble sitting in one place for too long so he takes lots of breaks, but we just started. The questions are indeed difficult. I honestly can not do some of them myself. I appreciate OP's post and am looking forward to seeing the same results in my own child after we're done with it.

Np here. Glad that you have had a positive experience, pp. I just have to add that I saw Russell Barkley speak about a month or so ago. He basically said not to spend the money on Cogmed and to have the kids play brain age on ds and those types of games. I still might try Cogmed someday but in the meantime, I am encouraging brain age.

We tried CogMed this Summer after a disastrous year in school. A combination of factors: bored kid, poor teaching practice and unhelpful teachers, new environment with new rules and a new school contributed to my son's "annus horribilis". I once walked into the classroom when my son failed to show up at dismissal, only to fun him running around, desperately looking for his agenda, making this keening sound which I had never heard before, with tears streaming down his face while the teacher stood by, ignoring him. His agenda, his retainer,school notes, his sandwich, his homework, his pencil, his pizza money.... all lost with regularity during the first term. The teachers thought he was LD. (They hadn't bothered to read his report card from his last school). My son was so, so sad when he was picked up at the end of the day. His test scores and grades were abysmal.

In desperation and seeking answers, we had him tested by an ed. psych. and the conclusion was that he was "highly gifted" with borderline attention and working memory deficits. Now armed with this, we were able to turn around the attitudes of his teachers and alter his education plan, start using some routines both at home and at school with support from his Learning Resource Teacher and, we also got him started on CogMed.

Yes, it's challenging and it requires intense concentration but he loved it. He loved seeing himself improve - he actually looked at his weekly charts and felt proud. And, most importantly, it gave him a sense of control over his environment and how others perceive him. As parents, we had to remind him every day to start his session, but that was it. No pouts, no resistance - he went and did it.

Unlike the other parent's experience where the child needed supervision during it, mine actually did better without us there. (He got too distracted). He loved the reward games at the end and that was the other motivation to get started and try hard - moving up in levels in the RoboRace game at the end.

Does it work? By itself, probably not. But when used in conjunction with all the other changes we made, maybe. Honestly, it's hard to tell. A brilliant teacher this year, a more conducive school environment, some emotional maturity, positive attitude by teachers, school admin, us and his peers, better management practices...... He's happier, more "together", calmer and more confident about his abilities to manage his environment. Yes, he still forgets stuff. Yes, I still find him in his underwear reading the newspaper when I remember distinctly telling him that he had 10 minutes to be out the door for school but yes, he seems to be coping better. And, I don't know if this helps, when I ask him if CogMed helped him, he says yes.

I'm 22, started taking Ritalin in 3rd grade. My father is a psychologist who just started offering cogmed through his practice, so I gave it a try. I have 1 day left, and my index has drastically improved. I wouldn't say that at this point it's made enormous improvements in my forgetfulness, but rather that I now seem to be consciously aware of when I'm beginning to space out, or it's easier to stay/get back on track. To the OP, it's refreshing to hear a parent speak about ADD with actual understanding. I must say, absolutely don't be afraid to try meds. DO be wary of giving him too much, as when I first started on Ritalin my psychiatrist prescribed me twice as much as I take now (at 1/3rd my current weight) and it had bad side-effects (personality-dulling, twitching). But now, in my senior year as an ME undergrad, there's no way I could possibly function sufficiently without ritalin/concerta. So definitely give it some serious thought. One more caveat, however...I think it's a very good idea to focus on teaching your son good study/life habits aside from medication. I have had a difficult time with it and have had to learn the hard way, because my whole life I just relied on Ritalin, whereas both of my parents (both very ADD) spent their lives successfully developing techniques to still get by. Just food for thought.

Is it geared to all ages? My son is 8.
thanks

Wow, PP (OP)! I just bought that book. It looks good.

OP here; I know how you feel! It is a little disappointing that I can't report more clear-cut results. I know how it feels to be searching for answers, and one of the reasons I wanted to share my experience on DCUM is because these things drain our time, resources, and our little wells of hope, and so it is hard to commit to expending any of that without having as much information as possible. If it is any encouragement though, I do see measurable improvements in my son, although I can't pinpoint that it has been the result of any one thing. My goal now is not for an immediate "fix" but for small changes over time to get him off the trajectory of failure so that by the time he is in high school, he has developed well-ingrained tools and coping mechanisms that will allow him to be as sucessful as he can be. So I'm really thinking long term, and setting a series of small goals for him that will help us get there eventually.

One book that has been helpful to us is "Smart But Scattered." We haven't instituted it wholesale, but have certainly borrowed ideas from it and adapted it to our own needs.

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-but-Scattered-Revolutionary-ebook/dp/B001OC5ZDA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Thanks so much for the update, OP. I really appreciate the detail you provide. We're in the same boat and if the gains were significant and attributable to Cogmed, I'd find a way to pay for it. I so much want to believe......Thanks, again!

Hi, this is OP here. I hadn't been on this forum in a while so I just saw all these posts.

My advice right now is that if money is tight and there are other things you can still do to help your child, I would not invest in Cogmed. Here's why. My son has made definite improvements this year. His handwriting is improving, his grades are getting better, he is more organized and better at remembering to do things, and overall things are running more smoothly. However, the improvements, while measurable, have been incremental and he is still struggling in many areas. I believe that Cogmed likely played a role, but it is simply impossible for me to measure what caused the positive changes in my son. We have worked really closely with his amazing third grade teacher this year, have worked a little with a handwriting OT, and have instituted a number of procedures in our house (checklists, very strict sleep schedules and the like) to help him get organized. He is happy, has friends and is doing ok in school (with lots of help), so we do not at this time have him on any meds, but are open to the possibility that he might need to try these out as he gets older and the demands on him increase.

So my conclusion is that while Cogmed probably helped our son, it is one piece of the puzzle only. If you've maxed out and done all you can in other areas and are looking for additional improvements, than I would try it, but it isn't a magic add-water-insta-cure. I really wish it were. I know I desperately wanted it to be, but it hasn't been.