Also known by its earlier term “mental retardation,” is a condition characterized by limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior which covers many everyday social and practical skills. The disability originates before the age of eighteen.
Published in Chapter:
Application of Bio-Feedback in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Srinivasan Venkatesan (All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, India) and Hariharan Venkataraman (All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, India)
Copyright: © 2019
|Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7004-2.ch011
Abstract
Biofeedback is a non-invasive process to electronically monitor normal automatic bodily function to acquire its voluntary control. Traditional medical models place the onus on the physician to “cure” the illness. Biofeedback places responsibility on the patient to gain self-control. Its application as evidence-based practice in neurodevelopmental disorders is a nascent, unexplored, and debated area of study. This chapter outlines the meaning, nature, types, protocols, procedure, practices, challenges, benefits, and limitations in its use. Its history is traced for efficacy vis-à-vis other treatments, and other issues like cost-effectiveness, certification of professionals, gadget-enabled, and computer-assisted variants. Studies have attempted, albeit with methodological limitations, to validate its utility for neurodevelopmental disorders without any definitive or conclusive evidence for or against its use given the inability to replicate results, control or exclude confounding factors, placebo effects, and/or bias. An agenda for prospective research is given.